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Wednesday, June 21, 2017

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!

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