If I had to imagine what my paradise should look like, it would probably look as muscat-like as the Camargue.
A beautiful, vast region of land (of course, relative to what we are used to in Israel. Everything is vaster than that.) All marshland covered with vegetation and mostly horses!! The color of the sky – clean! Virgin, smooth, no trace of pollution! Breathing air in every way. The Camargue region is famous mainly for the white horses it has – everywhere!! Wherever you turn your head – wide, beautiful white horses.
Every time you look away, you'll want to stop - take a picture and frame it. Endless pastures. Green - gray - red - yellow and other colors that I never thought would be in a swamp. In the Camargue region, the population is mostly agricultural, simple people for the most part and not too flattering. Which is nice, to give my politeness muscles a rest from these French. Still nice, but for some reason I felt that as Israelis this niceness was more natural. And whoever wasn't nice - wasn't nice either inside or out. Less refined facial features, and the accent is no longer round and smooth like a baby's bottom. More rough and a little Spanish-sounding. Maybe because of the proximity to Andorra. The farmers grow fine local goods. Among them are a variety of seasonal fruits, Toro sausage from O-la!! of Toroims who grow up and live there excellently, free and happy until...
Apples – oh my, they came from heaven! We visited there a few days before Rosh Hashanah. My eldest daughter claimed that these apples don’t need honey. They are both the honey and the apple!! And she’s right! Pure delight. You can go horseback riding there, (it’s advisable to book in advance.) and in general. The feeling is that the horses there rule with a high hand.. They are first in the order of priorities. They are painted everywhere (a dream!!). They and their yummy yummy toro.
A water crossing where every half hour (pff
The Camargue is made up of tiny villages of a few houses, and its “big” town is Saintes Maries de la Mer, a cool town with a young vibe but not only that. A lively, pleasant and vital atmosphere. It is next to the sea, and has a market that operates on Fridays and Sundays at least. Full of horse and bull stalls, maps, horse equipment, fine food, people in a high mood. It is a pleasure to walk around there.
Pay attention to who is the most important in this parking lot and takes up a lot of parking space!!
There is an information center for tourists and in general in this sweet city where you can keep up to date with the many events and festivals in the Camargue. Horse and/or bull festivals - obviously, and there are quite a few. And a rice festival - because they grow great rice there. And food festivals, sea festivals and everything you want and more. We arrived at a time when bullfighting was taking place in the town of Le Gros Du Roi. In which the bull is not harmed in any way. We intended to go in, but due to technical parking problems - we gave up with a heavy heart. This town, by the way, looks very nice. We didn't have time to delve into it, unfortunately. Because time was short - and the patience of the girls even more so. In the area there is also the town of Aigue Morte, which has an ancient medieval town. In practice, this means - tourist restaurants, tourist shops, and cobblestone streets like they used to. And of course, an expensive parking ticket. You can and should give up, especially if you plan to visit Provence, because there are a million such towns and there are plenty of other opportunities to waste your money on nonsense. Come in if you're there, there's no point in coming here. We, who happened to be there because we thought we had something to look for, landed on the very day a wedding was scheduled to take place near the city offices. And millions of red and white hearts were scattered all over it. The girls jumped on them with enthusiasm, just like Israeli girls who had been polite and reserved for too long.
Accommodation in the Camargue region
We stayed at this lovely B&B that was upgraded from a stable and farmhouse to a small estate with charming rooms and a wonderful atmosphere, and a few horses of the place. Our apartment was incredibly sweet and tastefully decorated. A little small for a family with 4 children like us, but for most families it should be enough. Breakfast by the pool. Warning of flies and mosquitoes…. Nothing to do. Still a swamp, despite all the charm. In short – a real experience. (I recommend looking for another place for a horse ride if you want one).
In the entire Camargue, there is nothing to build on the GPS. It has become so unreliable that it almost seems intentional. A kind of – I don’t! want! to! go! into! this swamp!!! And the phones are down too!! A disaster in that respect, a paradise in so many other respects. I heard that in the summer, or in a season other than the one we visited (September), there are also flocks of flamingos everywhere in the Camargue. And if all that….isn’t enough for you – you should know that a cultural figure named Lorenzo grew up in the place – the flying Frenchman, that’s his nickname… that’s why! (The picture is from the internet. It came to me from a source unknown to me)
In short. At least once in your life. Travel to my private paradise – the Camargue region. And give me your love.
