Arles and the Camargue

Arles has always been on my bucket list and it didn’t disappoint. The town dates back to Roman times and the amphitheatre remains.  It is here that “bullfights” take place.  However they are different from the bullfights in Spain where the bull usually dies.  The most well known event is the Cocarde d’Or where ribbons are tied on the horns of the bull and young men run into the arena to try and get the ribbons.  Perhaps more spectacular than the arena though, was the Roman theatre.

Next, we went to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a lovely little seaside town that had a real Spanish feel.  Unfortunately, because it was Sunday and the weather was spectacular we had trouble finding a park, so we stopped for lunch and then headed straight for our next destination.  But lunch was amazing!  I had a goat cheese salad for entrée and then a bull steak in a mushroom sauce – YUM!!!

This area is famous for the Camargue, a swampland in the Rhône river delta. It is known for its white horses, bulls and birdlife (there are meant to be lots of flamingoes but we only saw four).  We did a nice little boat cruise on the Rhône, the highlight of which was seeing the “guardien” with is bulls and and his horses.  The foals are born dark coloured and don’t attain the white colour of their parents for 6 or 7 years.

Our final stop before arriving in Nîmes was Aigues-Mortes, a fortified village which was procured by Louis IX (St Louis) in 1240 as a base to send troops to the Crusades.  The streets were teeming with tourists, so I can only imagine what it would be like in the height of the tourist season in summer.

We did a little drive around Nîmes when we arrived but didn’t stop to take photos.  However, there is an amphitheatre which is even more impressive than the one in Arles.