The Medi, The Camargue And More

It’s now week ten and still we keep moving around France………it doesn’t look like we’ll manage to squeeze in any more countries; so much for being a tour of Europe!  We feel like we are constantly on the move, we don’t often seem to stay in one place for very long and yet we seem to be missing so much along the way, or rushing through places where it might be nice to stay longer.  Rodney is still keen on squeezing in Switzerland, but we only have less than four weeks left and we have to get back up the full length of France for the ferry on July 23^rd.

Meanwhile, we started week ten with a quick breakfast and a de-camp, which was then severely delayed by my discovery of the can of Coca Cola that Rodney had placed in the freezer the day before.  Great idea, as it is so hot down here, but unfortunately the coke was no longer in the freezer.  It was now frozen all over the walls of the freezer and dripping everywhere inside the tiny fridge.  It took us ages getting the whole thing clean and ‘unstickied’, before we could close it up and get on the road.

We drove back to Agde and strolled around the old town and a flea market; we saw a few classic items, but with nowhere to put them, we passed on by.

Next stop was Cap d’Agde where we strolled around the yachts and took a phone call from Rosie in Australia!  Thank you so much for ringing, it was lovely to feel connected again and to hear all the news from Sydney.  As it was now lunch time, we sat in one of the restaurants on the quay and Rodney ate another huge pot of moules with frites, while I had a not so good version of goats cheese salad, before heading back to Eileen.

Now we were heading further east; back past Marseillan, though Sète, over the Canal du Rhone, through Palavas les Flots, Carnon Plage, La Grande Motte to Le Grau du Roi.

We thought this would be the best area to find a big supermarket, but every one that we managed to find had barriers at the car park that were too low for us to get under!!! I ended up walking with my French basket and Rodney stayed in the van to rest up a bit.  Finally, with the food cupboard and the fridge re-stocked we turned north up to Aigues Mortes.

This is an amazing place, set on the edge of the salt marshes of the Camargue.  It is a completely walled city, which from the outside looks just like a big old empty fort.  But there are entry doors on each corner and one along each side and when you go inside there is the most lovely old mediaeval city, with cafes, and shops and lots of tourists.

It really took me by surprise and it was a shame we couldn’t stay longer.  A couple of Aussie girls on bikes, tried to recommend a campsite to us, but their description was so vague and despite driving around for ages we couldn’t find it, so decided to aim for the coast, as was our original intention.

By the time we arrived at Stes Maries de la Mer, it was 8pm.  We pulled up at the Aires on the Promenade and managed to find a slot for little Eileen amongst all the big boys that had already set up camp.  We went for a stroll along the front, expecting to see a long, wild, sandy beach, but it has been ‘renovated’ with enormous boulders creating groynes and lots of small sections of bathing areas.  It wasn’t attractive, though I suppose it is functional for the holidaymakers, but we decided to leave early the next day and drive on further east.

What a way to start the day!  We took 12 photos before breakfast !!

We woke early and as we hadn’t really unpacked much the night before, it didn’t take long to set off.  In fact, we left before the council official had arrived to collect the fee, so we ended up having a free overnighter.  We discovered two brilliant roundabouts on the way out of town and managed to get pictures of both of them.

Then we drove across the Plaine de la Camargue. We spotted our first flamingos, they are such strange creatures and walk surprisingly fast through the water; I guess it’s those long legs.

We pulled up somewhere right on the edge of the Etang de Vaccarès and ate the jamon, melon and pastries that had been intended as last night’s dinner.  We saw lots of the beautiful white horses that are so famous in this region, but unfortunately never saw a gardian (cowboy) rounding up the small black bulls.

Parking in Arles was fairly successful and we spent hours wandering the streets, visiting all the spots made famous by Vincent Van Gogh and also some very good Roman remains.

It’s a lovely town, but it was very hot and dusty. We stopped for lunch and much needed cold drinks at the ‘Café Amphitheatre’.  We ordered jamon sandwiches, but received fromage…..I’m sure my French really isn’t that bad, but it was served with a smile, and we had already had jamon for breakfast, so it was all good……

As we drove out of Arles, with my right knee now wrapped in ice, we started to see rocky outcrops and the scenery changed dramatically from the previous week.  Our next stop on today’s ‘Rodney Tour’, was the Moulin de Daudet (the famous poet lived here) just outside Fontvielle.  Rodney wanted to re-enact a photo that his father took of him when he was 15 years old.  He tucked his shirt in and pulled his shorts up over his waist (a la 1967) and I took the photo.  Unfortunately, when we checked the original, the steps were in a different place, his shirt wasn’t tucked in and we needed Ivan there to complete the picture.  He did, however, still have blonde hair.

We drove past the Abbaye de Montmajour, where the wonderful film ‘A Lion In Winter’ was filmed back in 1968; no time to stop, Rodney still had another place to visit before the day was finished.  Around 3pm we arrived at the amazing Les Baux de Provence.  The view of the place as you approach is fabulous and when you arrive in the village at the top of the hill you find a lovely place with marvellous views of the surrounding olive trees and fields of grapevines below.

I fell in love with Les Baux, especially after we had visited the Chateau des Baux .  I wish we could have arrived earlier, as it would have been wonderful to spend the whole day wandering around the ruined ramparts and gazing out over the surrounding peaks.

We also had to get to the Carrières de Lumières at the far end of the village.  This was an extraordinary experience.  The caves, created by the quarrying of limestone, have been turned in to a monumental backdrop for multimedia shows.  You walk through a small door and find yourself in an enormous cavern.  Music plays as enormous paintings by Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin are illuminated on the 14 metre high walls.  There are pillars of rock in the centre, so you walk around these in the dark looking in all directions at beautiful pictures.  Sometimes they even look as if they are 3D.  It was wonderful and I would have loved to have stayed longer and watched it all again.

Finally, exhausted and dusty, we drove up to Remy de Provence and pulled in to the Camping Pegomas.  It was late and the swimming pool was closed, so we both had cool showers and fell in to bed exhausted.