Séjour in Sète

After the Perpignan wedding, I wasn't in any hurry to return to Grenoble as I don't have much work at this point in the year, so I decided to spend a couple nights somewhere new.  After consulting a map, I randomly chose the city of  Sète.  This turned out to be a wonderful choice. While I didn't know much about Sète before going, it's quite well known for a few things.  

Canals

Sète is sort of a Venice of France.  There are canals throughout this port city.  It's very pretty to walk along the canals and see the boats.  I spent both nights having dinner at restaurants along the canals.  Being along the coast, seafood was the perfect choice and during my two days in Sète, I ate fish soup, stuffed mussels (a specialty of the city), little fried fishes, seafood pasta, and moules-frites.  There were some very affordable restaurants with three course menus for about 16 euros.

Beaches

A short bus ride away from the port and town center are some really excellent beaches.  I tried two.  I think I had perfect timing before tourist season really picked up and I found the beaches to be not too crazy.  I also really liked that the sandy beaches had a gentle incline into the water.  I went quite far in, all the while being able to touch the bottom.

Oysters

Sète has an interesting location.  The city is a major port and is on the Mediterranean.  However, a short stretch of land separates the Mediterranean and a very large lagoon (L'etang de Thau).  It is in this lagoon where fishermen farm oysters, and it is very important for the economy of the region.

Those are the oyster beds you see in the distance.  This pic was taken from a hill overlooking Sète.

Jousting

Yep, I said jousting.  This is a local tradition that takes place during the weekends throughout the summer and culminates in a six day festival in August.  Participants are on two boats and wearing all white.  There are ten people rowing, two musicians, one guide, and about five jousters per boat.  The boats row toward each other and the jousters try to knock each other off into the water with their lance.  They also carry heavy wooden shields to protect themselves. Each festival day ends in a victor who hopes to later win the ultimate St Louis Festival in August.

The fishermen row the boats parallel to each other and the musicians play a type of flute and drums.

The jousters face off.

The loser  gets knocked into the water!

French Wedding

Yesterday, I came home from a mini vacation to the south.  I was invited to attend a wedding in Perpignan, so I went there for a quick two night stay.  It was very nice to be back to a place I considered home for a little while, and I enjoyed walking the familiar streets.  However, most of my short time there was spent with wedding preparations and at the wedding and reception.  It was interesting to see some of the differences between French and American weddings. Let me tell you about some of the differences.

1.  The Ceremony

All French wedding ceremonies must take place at city hall.  An additional church wedding is optional, but everything must go through the government basically.  The ceremony is quite short, and it's only the couple at the front of the room (the wedding party just hangs out on the side or in the seats).  The mayor (or a representative if they aren't available) thanks people for coming and reads some laws that the couple agrees to, they sign a paper along with four witnesses, and it's basically done!  The couple exchanged rings, kissed, and walked out to the crowd where we threw confetti at the newlyweds.

The ceremony at City Hall with the mayor

2.  The Cake

The traditional French wedding cake is nothing like the tiered, frosting-covered version we see in the US.  Instead, it's a tower of profiteroles.  It was great!

Just Married!

3. The Party

The French see a wedding as an excuse to throw a big party.  We drove to a cute venue in another village for the reception.  The party started outside on the patio, with little appetizers circling around such as cured ham being cut directly off the leg, calamari, mini burgers, and oysters.  There was music, places to sit and chat or a space to dance and a nice grassy area that made for good pictures.  Eventually, people moved to sit down for even more food and drink with seafood and other meats being BBQed right on the patio.  The couple revealed their cake and everyone was served three profiteroles from the tower along with a glass of champagne.  At this point it was getting quite late, and the DJ moved inside so as to not disturb the neighbors.  I was surprised how many people were still around at this point, old and young.  I finally left around 4:30 AM, but there was still a good crowd hanging out.

The evening venue

The next morning came much too early, and I was off to a two night stay in a town called Sète before returning to Grenoble.  I really loved Sète, and that's coming up next...

Mesa Verde and Canyons of the Ancients

Hello kind readers!

As you may have noticed, I'm catching up on a few blog posts.  I recently took almost a year's worth of pictures off my camera and found some gems hidden in the more than 1,000 unseen pictures.  There are a few events and places I'd like to share with you even though it was a while ago now, so let's continue! Next up is southwestern Colorado.

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During the winter, I took the long journey home, traveling more than 24 hours from Grenoble to Denver to go home for the holidays.  I've been realizing more and more how much I love being home with family during this time of year.  It is truly a special time.

After the festivities of Christmas, and before welcoming in the New Year, my family and I drove to southwestern Colorado for an adventurous getaway.  Our main destinations: Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and Wolf Creek Ski Resort.

Mesa Verde is best-known for its cliff dwellings where the Ancestral Pueblo people built villages into the sides of steep cliffs.  These people called this area home between AD 600 to 1300, and then seemed to disappear, leaving little to no clue where an entire people could have gone.  The national park protects and continues to study these cliff dwellings and various archeological sites.

I found this area to be very interesting, marveling at the thought of climbing a cliff to go home.  With the help of the archeologists and the park, the cliff dwellings are kept in quite good conditions.  While not able to enter the cliff dwellings in winter, we saw them from afar and even had a hike along a snowy road where we saw wild horses and observed the aftermath of a forest fire.

Next up was Canyons of the Ancients National Monument where we went for a muddy day hike.  The area is protected by the Bureau of Land Management and includes hiking trails and one of the highest concentrations of archeological sites in the U.S.  We took a long hiking loop across red rocks, through muddy pits, and with incredible views of rock formations and reaching landscapes.

Coming to the end of our getaway, we brought in the New Year with some powder at Wolf Creek, a nice little ski resort that wasn't too crowded and quite affordable, and a few hours of hot springs on our way home.  

It was a fun adventure to an area I had never been.  I learned more about the history of my home state and continue to be fascinated by its beauty, history, and culture.  I would absolutely recommend this area to any visitors wanted to know more about southwestern Colorado.

Mesa Verde Cliff Palace

A view into the dwellings

Wild horses in Mesa Verde

Hiking in Canyons of the Ancients

Rock formations in Canyons of the Ancients

Yes it was winter, as you can see in this shot taken on the drive home.