St Gilles - Les Saints-Maires- de-la-Mer and back 7 May

We left Port St Louis one month ago, 7 th April and are now almost back where we started, that is Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, which is close to  Port St Louis, along the coast.

Just cannot resist buying these bottles of wine with the beautiful labels.

The wine is from the Camargue. Bulls, horses and flamingos on the labels.

I have been wanting to see the Camargue since I was a child. My mother showed me a painting of the wild, white horses galloping across the marshland. This is the picture I have had in my mind for years. Now I wonder if it was only white horses, not wild horses in the painting. Now we are here they tell us that the horses are very gentle and are mostly used to round up the Bulls.

Anyway, here at last. Visited the Parc Ornithologique, Pont de Gau. Took a 6 km walk and saw hundreds of flamingos, various types of herons and many other water birds.

Carl managed to capture a photo showing the red on the wings.

Today we have learnt that the belief that flamingos have red/pink under the wings is because they eat pink shrimp, is Not True! 

But not even Carl turns brown from eating chocolate mouse.

Another flamingo.

And so the White, definitely not wild, horses.

Friendly

My first Camargue horse with a donkey friend.

And now at long last I have been to the Camargue and seen the horses. Great biceps after all the locks!

But actually, the Camargue is more well-known for the Bulls. Inquisitive French Bulls came to check us out. We were told that the French Bulls are smaller than the Spanish Bulls and are used mainly for games. For example, a pink flower is placed on the head/horn of the bull and the game is for a person to try to remove it. 

The Spanish Bulls are larger (this is still  a French bull) and are used in Bullfights which still take place in Southern France.

Stopped in the busy holiday town, Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer for lunch. This town is the place where the gypsies have their festival in May. This year it takes place around the 25 May. I will leave the description and history of this festival to Carl.

While we had lunch a two man band with typical Gypsey Kings music came to play. The cheeky little girl in the background started a quite provocative dance in front of them. I think they are related.

We were told we had to visit this church which is on the Pilgrims way to Santiago.

Our driver David was not satisfied that we had only seen the church from a distance so we were obliged to walk there. A most fascinating church and story to tell. According to me, Carl, and my understanding of French and google translated broschure it was the three ladies Maria Magdalena, Maria Salome and Maria Jakobi and their staff who were thrown out of Palestine and put in a boat without sail and rudder at about year 45 and the drifted all of the way to this tittle town. It was quite a miracle as the Marias were the true witnesses to the resurrection and their landing in the Camarge was the start of the mission and spreading of the Christian gospel. Among the crew/passengers was Sara who was the servant to Marie Magdalena. She - Saint Sara - is the patrone to the gypsies. Every year there is a gypsie pilgrimage to Saintes Maries, this year at the end of May. 

This place and church is also on the main pilgrim route on the way to Santiago. Maria Salome is also the mother of Saint James (Santiago). So here we are at a cross point of pilgrim routes. Isn't that amazing. 

Here is our driver, David, who drove us around the Camargue.

David wanted to give us a momento/memory of the day and took this photo with his camera. He told us that the photo will slowly became visible. By the time he left us this is as far as it got! We did not tell him that our heads had disappeared.

Saturday evening on the promenade. Lots of activity with people walking up and down. We have met a very pleasant Dutch couple, 5 swedes on an outing, they live in St Tropez, and the mayor of this town who is trying to sell the scrappy boat next to us.

All in all a very friendly evening, before dinner we took a stroll around town and then ended up at Chez Tony at the lower end of the port.

Believe it or not at Cafe de la Gare was the place where all my (Carl) dreams came true. 

Fresh oysters and other shell fish was sold and served on the street. 

All the fancy restaurants around the Mediterranean and Canal Midi have been beaten by this street initiative. I pity all these suckers who pay overpriced oysters at 10-12 Euro for half a dozen. No at this place we got the absolutely best quality Bouzigues oysters at 9 Euro for a full dozen. Beat that! 

I will move to St Gilles.