Ever been to the Camargue in torrential rain? Now we have, and it was great, especially after the rain stopped.
The Camargue is a huge river delta formed by the Rhone River. The result is a very fertile, although sometimes salty, delta. Rice is grown there in paddy fields, it is famous for it's white horses, its black bulls and its flamingos. We got to see lots of flamingos. Yes they are pink - apparently the colour is a result of their diet of crustaceans and they turn their natural white colour in the crustacean off season when there are fewer crustaceans to eat. Suggest you all think about your intake of crayfish and shrimps in future.
We stopped at Sainte Maries de la Mer, a small town on the coast.
The town is named for the 2 (or 3) biblical Mary's who washed up there after being set adrift in the Mediterranean, and were met by 'Black Sarah'. All have since been sanctified, hence the name of the town. I'm afraid you'll have to look this story up if you need to know more, as it's a bit complex for right now - but it is fascinating and well commemorated in the towns church.
Lunch today is worth a mention. We ate gardiane de toreau - a local recipe for bull stew with rice. It was great, and definitely a new culinary experience.
Also visited the city of Arles, where it was raining too. Arles is well known for its roman remains, and for Vincent van Gogh having lived there for a period. As well as painting some of his most famous works in Arles (the hospital garden, the yellow cafe), he also cut off his ear there! Hard to beat that!
Arles has a well preserved roman amphitheatre (used for plays etc) and arena (used for gladiatorial battles). The arena is still in use today for various things including bull fighting. Still finding it incredible that such structures still exist 2,000+ years after they were built and in some cases are still in use today for more or less similar purposes.
There is definitely a Spanish flavour in this part of southern France, which is relatively close to Spain, and for a long time was actually part of Spain. One similarity is bullfighting. Interestingly there are two types of bulll fighting both of which take place at the Arles arena. Spanish bullfighting with matadors etc (which always has a bad outcome for the bulls.) And Carmaguese bullfighting which involves men trying to collect 'trophies' attached to the horns of the bulls as they run around in a bullring. Each trophy is worth money to the one who gets it. The stars are the bulls which are not harmed in any way and after a long career eventually get to retire gracefully. One suspects they may then be employed as gardiane de toreau, but this was not made clear.
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