May 7, 2019: the Camargue, the Rhone delta

Looking for warmer weather, we are heading south today to the mouth of the Rhone.

The Camargue is a huge delta for the huge Rhone river which splits south of Arles into two channels that enclose a triangle of 360 square miles of sand, marshland, and salt flats.

Part of it is a national reserve and home to many species of birds and animals. flamingos, white horses and bulls are the highlighted species here. There are many small roads and dikes (some driveable) that cross the Camargue, offering views of the scrub land and ponds full of water birds. Outdoor activities are most popular - horseback riding, biking, hiking. It is also possible to canoe or kayak the petit Rhone branch on the east side of the boundary. If it were warmer, the sandbars along the Mediterranean Sea would be full of sun bathers and swimmers.

Janis, Clark and a lone fisherman are the only ones on the beach today

But the weather has been fickle this year. Summer temperatures in February and March and winter temperatures in April and May, according to our server at lunch. (We've noticed!)

There are only 3 towns in the Camargue, Arles at the top, Aigues-Mortes on the western edge, and Saintes-Maries de la Mer on the Mediterranean on the west.

We headed to the Sts-Maries to wander the town and have moules frites for lunch before exploring the rest of the Camargue.

moules frites (mussels and fries) and gardianne de taureau (bull stew)

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, view from the top of the church

Saintes-Maries de la Mer is so named because tradition has it that this is where these ladies landed after being put to sea in a boat without oars or sails during the persecution of Christians of 45 AD. In the boat were Mary Salome and Mary Jacobé, along with Mary Magdelene. These women were the first to witness the empty tomb of the resurrection of Christ. With them were Sara, Mary Jacobé's servant, Mary Magdelene's sister Martha and her brother Lazarus, Maximin and Sidonius were also in the boat.

Where they landed, a fresh water spring flowed miraculously on their arrival. That spring flows under the church.

the spring is visible below the floor of the church

In the 14th century, the bones of Mary Salomé and Mary Jacobé were found along with a large piece of marble (now embedded in the church and named the Saints'Pillow).

The marble Saints' Pillow

Their bones were entombed in a reliquary which sits in an opening above the main altar of the church.

The reliquary of the saints is visible above the altar

Mary Magdelene supposedly went to Saint-Maximin-la Sainte-Baume to the  east. Martha went to Tarascon to tame the monster. The two Mary's and Sara remained where they landed. The whole story is rather complex and difficult to get straight. If you're dying to know more, see this website.

Sara is venerated by the gypsies and they gather at the end of May each year for a celebration in which they carry the statue and the reliquary of the two Marys to the sea and back. Her statue is kept in the crypt of the church along with the prayers and offerings of those coming to ask her help or thank her for a miracle.

Sara's statue

The present church is 12th century, but there was a church here before that time, the crypt being part of that. The current church was built as a fortress over the spring of fresh water to keep the locals safe from marauding Vikings and Saracins.

Church view from apse

Dave climbed to the parapets to take some photos. The rest of us wandered a couple of streets while we waited. Full of tourists and the types of stores you find at beaches everywhere - but of course, with a provençal twist.

streets were full of people and tourist shops

driftwood horses outside a shop selling horseback tours

Vincent Van Gogh visited here for a week in June 1888 and at that time the town was a fishing town with not very many people. He left us a couple of impressions in his series of boats by the sea and a painting and drawing of the town.

Van Gogh - Fishing boats at Sts Maries de la Mer

I've never before seen this painting by Van Gogh, but it's clearly a view of Sts. Maries de la Mer as it was in 1888. 

Today the town looks nothing like it did in Van Gogh's time. It is full of restaurants, ice cream shops, ready-made sandwiches, and souvenir shops.

The beach is sand here and there are miles of beach to spread out on. There are lots of vacation rentals, as evidence of the à louer signs in many windows.

We ate on the patio of a restaurant near the beach. Dave got the gardianne, a specialty stew of the Camargue made from bull meat, very tasty. The rest of ordered moules-frites (mussels and french fries). The sun was behind a cloud and there was a wind, so eating al fresco was a bit chilly.

our moules frites

Back in the car, we are now headed in search of the horses, bulls, and flamingos for which the Camargue is famous. It doesn't take long riding through the marshland roads. We made frequent stops to photograph out the window or to walk back for a photo.

These white horses are famous. They were once wild (maybe a few still are) but now most are in stables and ridden by tourists across the marshes.

These horses are born brown and turn white after a couple of years.

A riding stable. I noticed a lot of thatched roofs this time in the Camargue. 

These flamingos aren't very pink. No shellfish? Perhaps.

We were surprised to see this stork in its nest right by the side of the road. 

The stork didn't seem the least bothered by people watching it.

We followed small one lane-two lane roads (by that I mean roads which allow bi-directional traffic, but are really only one lane wide. One hopes never to meet a car. But it happens. We slow to a crawl, move over as close as we dare to the side of the road which has no shoulders and the French car - or truck- flashes by at normal speed, mirrors nearly touching. Don't know how they do it.)

Camargue bulls - In southern France, bull fights don't involve slaying the bull, but rather the matador must remove a flower or scarf from the bulls horns. That doesn't make them less unkind to the bulls, as they are taunted to make them angry.

Driving along the Étang (pond) de Vaccéras we were in a wilderness, occasionally seeing another car or a couple of hikers or bikers. But no civilization. Just marshland, water, and frequently water birds of one sort or another.

We stopped at a nature center, La Capelière, which had a 1.5 km walk through the marsh with blinds through which one could theoretically see wildlife. A few ponies, ducks and an unknown type of water bird were all that were seen. I stitched on a sunny bench outside the nature center (not handicapped accessible) and watched people come and go - some on bikes, many with cameras with long lenses - bird watchers for sure.

We continued down the east side of the étang to the Salin-de-Giraud - a small town whose industry is reclaiming salt from the sea. Huge shallow earthen pans allow sea water in and the water evaporates, leaving the salt behind. It is then harvested and put in great huge piles ready for further purifying and eventually packaging,

salt ponds evaporating

Piles of salt waiting further processing. Those teeny pieces of machinery are industrial bulldozers

Finally, we stopped one last time at the beach, this time on the eastern side of the Camargue where endless sand bars provide swimming opportunities for lots of people. No one is on the beach now - the air temperature is in the 60's, the day is partly cloudy and there's quite a chilly breeze coming off the sea. But in the summer, the small population of Sts-Maries  (about 2500) will increase to over a half million. We can't imagine the roads and beaches and town being able to absorb that many people.

beach on the west side of the Camargue

Within an hour and a half we are home. We've spent the day in a landscape very different from that around Sarrians. We are amazed by how varied the landscape is here within a very short distance. Mountains, valleys, lots of small peaks sporting castles on each one, the large Rhone river, and the flat, sandy, marshy lands of its delta. It's a good break from storming castles on hilltops.