Travel another way

Still from Joan’ s diary (one of our guests on our tour to Provence).

After our field trip to the manade in Camargue (see previous post), Jackie drove us about 15 min to Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, a town right on the Mediterranean. This town is a favorite with the French people because it is sunny, beautiful, simple and NOT touristy. Les Saintes Maries de la Mer is also known as being the town where all the gyspy folk gather. (I was SO excited to hear about the gypsy people that I was singing ‘Gypsys, tramps and thieves…’ in the van.) Les Ste Maries de la Mer has lots of seafood joints and of course beef. Now before you say ‘oh no, they ate Gastion’ you should know that bulls compete from age 3 to age 12 or so. They then ‘retire’ and go on to live to old age, dying at 18-22 years of age. Only the least aggressive bulls, the ones that never quite measure up as a competitor or a stud, go off to slaughter. Its a very small percentage, and because of that, the meat from the bull is considered a regional specialty. Also, when a champion bull dies, he is buried in a deep grave, standing up, facing the ocean. Its considered an honor to be buried this way. (Maybe I should change my final request to include a beach chair and a good book.) So yes I had bull for lunch, along with the local rice. Hey, I’m allergic to seafood so when in Camargue….

After lunch we drove just a few minutes to Camargue Parc Naturel (Nature Reserve) where we met up with an ornithologist (Fred) who took us on a walk around the a bird reserve. We got to see many species- herons, ducks, egrets, swans, vultures, storks, owls, coots, and hundreds and hundreds of pink flamingos!! This nature reserve/aviary started about 30 years go in the marshy area once known for hunting. Now it is home to tens of thousands of birds, some of which come and go with the season and others who like it so much they just stay. The center is also where all rescued and/or injured birds are taken for treatment, convalescence and in most cases eventual release back into the wild. The only birds in cages are those requiring special care. Many birds throughout Europe are tagged with leg bands, so when they see a new face in the crowd with a black leg band they know he came from Germany. That way researchers can track migration trends. It was yet another interesting day here in France.

Pink Flamingos in the Naturel park of Camargue

As a final note I’d like to mention that we had another Wonderful dinner back at La Bastide du Bois Breant, our Inn. I guess it was only fitting that since I had bull for lunch that we all had duck for dinner, followed by Profiteroles au Chocolat. Sorry mes amis Daffy and Donald, but dinner was delicious! Joan D from California.