Sète

31.08.13

Once we left Uzès, we continued driving on very familiar roads.  We were so happy to arrive in Anduze for lunch since that was the place where we had stopped before arriving at our Quissac rental.  It's a charming little village and we knew exactly where to park and where to find a great lunch.

The "Templier" tower and its ancient clock still take centre stage in the centreville.

 

Lots of motorbikes stop here on their tours.

M by the fountain.



K enjoying his lunch.



Our waiter was pleased to know we were Canadian and told us all sorts of stories about his friend's trip to BC - how he saw whales and bears and went fishing in clear waters.  His friend couldn't get over how they drove for hours on end without seeing too many inhabitants and without the scenery changing much.  We laughed since we think France has so much to offer in very limited space: drive 10 km and you're enjoying different topography, different history and even different accents.  Everything is so concentrated in France.

 

We had hoped to sleep at the Roman Hotel in Sommières.  Little did we know that there was a wedding that day and the two last rooms were taken about 10 minutes before we arrived!  The Tourist Information told us that Sète was the closest place and that it was a lovely port town, so off we went.

 

We stayed at L'Impérial on the Corniche.  It was not dirty, but not all that clean either.  A fishy smell throughout.  Very hard water which made the toilet stained and unappealing.  We quickly made our way to the shores of the Mediterranean where we enjoyed watching boat jousting.  Boisterous water jousting tournaments, dating back to 1666, form part of the patron saint's festival in August, Saint-Louis. 

 

A jouster for each team stands on a raised platform and the teams row as fast as they can.  When the boats come close, the jouster aims his long pole at the opponent and tries to knock him down.  Sometimes he's successful, and other times the boats simply pass each other without drama. 

Sète is a major fishing and industrial port.  It has a gutsier, more raffish air than much of the leisure-oriented Mediterranean, with its stores selling ships' lamps and propellers, and its quayside restaurants full of hungry sailors  demolishing vast platters of mussels, oysters, and sea snails straight off the boat.  Most of Sète's restaurants can be found in a stroll along the Grand Canal, with its Italianate houses painted in pastel colours and with wrought iron balconies overlooking Sète's network of canals and bridges. 

 

The waterway is long and offers something for every interest.  If you enjoy seafood, you've come to the right place.  We stopped at Le Grand Bleu and I had "loup de mer", which is sea bass, and Karl tried the "dorade" which he found oily. 

 

The anticipation was becoming palpable.  We would be in our "home away from home" very, very soon...  Those days of carrying suitcases in and out of hotel rooms would soon come to an end.  Hooray!