We'll follow the sun

Sun, sun, sun – did I mention it is sunny here?  We are now in the Haute Languedoc national park, a bit inland, as the weather in France in general seems to be improving – hope it is in England too, we have heard that the drought restrictions have been lifted.

 

We left Saintes Maries de la Mer, in the Camargue, as we were gradually losing the battle with the mosquitos.  On our last day there we went back into the town for a last call at one of the superlative ice cream parlours and a look round the cathedral.  The cathedral crypt was amazingly hot and stuffy from hundreds of votive candles; not content with the 2 Saintes Maries that the town is named for, there is also a shrine to St Sarah.  Apparently this saint is particularly important to the ‘gitanes’ (gypsy travellers) and in late May her statue is paraded into the sea.  We were beginning to wonder if there was enough oxygen in the crypt, then thought that the candles would go out before we expired, but it didn’t feel very healthy.  Saintes Maries also has a bull ring, but the French version of entertainment with bulls is less damaging to the bull than the Spanish – the men have to grab tassles tied round the bulls’ horns, within a 15 minute time limit, so it sounded more dangerous for the men than the bulls, but we didn’t go and find out.

We decided to follow the sun along the coast so we travelled west to Agde.  I wouldn’t rush to book a fortnight, but it made a very pleasant stay and was indeed sunny, most of the time.  We arrived in hot sunshine and decided to walk to the beach to have a look, which was lovely along the path by the river Herault as it flowed into the sea.   We saw some black clouds blowing up over the sea, but didn’t take much notice as they didn’t seem to be coming our way.  Back at the campsite we were making dinner when it started to rain and a ferocious squall lifted the awning off the tie-downs, not a happy sight.  We could only think to haul it in, despite the now torrential rain, so team Mathias leapt into action with me hanging on to the awning for dear life while Ray pattered about in the developing quagmire pulling out the remaining pegs and winding it in.  It must have provided the evening’s entertainment for our neighbours.  Even before it had stopped raining, the site staff came round and laid down pallets so we could cross from the van to dry land!

Agde is in three parts, the fishing port where we stayed, the city (tiny town), and the ‘cap’  - a purpose built resort.  The city was unexpectedly pretty, with narrow three storey houses built from the local stone which is black basalt – looks like black pumice stone – and a fortified cathedral.  It is also very ancient, founded by the Greeks on the site of an old Phoenician settlement.  On the edge of the town there is a circular lock that connects the Canal du Midi to the river Herault.  It has three exits, so three sets of gates, which was unusual and interesting for those interested in locks.  The third picture is a huge trompe d'oeil painting on the side of several houses - much better than a blank wall. 

Agde, cathedral

Agde, circular lock

Agde, trompe d'oeil

The beaches are long, sandy and windswept, but the weather was so good (did I mention the sun?) that we had a couple of days real seaside holiday and actually swam in the sea – well, we didn’t spend all that time driving to the Med without swimming in it, even if it was freezing.  Ray, of course, is now as brown as a berry; I have gone for the Neapolitan look – brown, pink and white stripes.  Praise the Lord for sunblock.

Now we have turned inland and are up in the hills at St Pons de Thomieres.  It is stunningly beautiful and we have cycled to Olargues, one of the ‘plus beaux villages de France’ (most beautiful villages in France) – I don’t know what you have to do to become one, but there are a lot of them.  Anyway, it was lovely, especially as there is a cycle path along an old railway track from the campsite, which is great to cycle on and relatively flat.  Today being the hottest day we have had so far, we decided to go for a tramp in the hills – again a spectacularly good walk, with superb views up and down the valley.  And for our birding friends, we have serins flying around – they are probably quite common here, but something new for our lifetime list, and doing what the book says – singing from tree tops and looking like escaped canaries!

Olargues

Chapel with blue sky

voie verte cycle path

view from the cycle path