The Camargue - part 3

Our bedroom in Relais de la Poste was on the third floor,60 steps up - no bother, steps are a part of everyday life here, she pants! Down the 60 steps again and we checked out Place de la Republique in Arles.before heading for food.

Irish pub in Arles.

Jim liked this doorway.

Place de la Republique - known for its obelisk.

L'Hotel de Ville, Place de la Republique

Cathedrale St. Trophime, Place de la Republique.

Eglise Sainte Anne, Place de la Republique

Food consisted of Gardiane de Taureau a la Camarguaise - a bit like a beef daube (stew) but the meat is bull and is very tasty!

Having spent the night in Arles where we saw little of the city other than Place de la Republique, we were ready to take a trip to Aigues Mortes and then the trip that skirts the Etang de Vaccares and goes southeast to the salt pans.

Aigues Mortes (meaning dead waters and referring to the expanses of swamps and marshes) is a walled medieval town and is considered the purest example of 13th military architecture. It is quite imposing on first sight and, according to what I have read, looks very much like it did in the Middle Ages.

A sweet/biscuit shop.

These little biscuits are a specialty of Provence but I hadn't
the courage to ask for one only to taste!

Jim was impressed by these tins of sardines - chocolate of course!

These are fruits confits (glace fruits). I bought some. The little oranges
are particularly good because they are still full of juice. Yes, I ate them!

This is Notre Dame des Sablons in Aigues Mortes, the name probably referring to the sandy marshes which surround the town. I was fascinated by the stained glass windows in the Church which are very different to the usual (and usually beautiful stained glass in lots of churches). The glass is lead free with a regular sponged effect. It was really nice but impossible to get a good photograph of it as the photo below shows.

I'm getting a bit worried - what is this fascination with churches?

One of the gates to the town.

Part of the walls

Front view,

We could have stayed much longer in Aigues Mortes but knew that we had a lot of kms to cover before getting back to La Motte d'Aigues.

En route again towards Arles but then in a southeasterly fashion to skirt L'Etang de Vaccares. We saw more white horses

 and more flamingos, in the distance.

How can you call such a vast expanse of water an etang?

The Lonely Planet had recommended Mas de Saint-Bertrand for a rustic lunch and there's nothing I like more than rustic! So we searched it out. We shared a starter of Tellines, a tiny local shellfish that Saint Bertrand serve as a salad - cold, dressed in a mustardy dressing. They were gorgeous. They are a bit like clams but so tiny that you are bound to use up more calories trying to find the meat in them. Then, of course, the dressing compensates for that!

Pictures of where we had lunch. This place had its own Mrs. Friel - the
Mama who goes round checking everything is ok!

Another example of the plane tree-lined roads in Provence.

Pics of salt pans in Salins de Giraud.

Mountains of salt.

Machinery associated with salt farming.

There were lots of these helicopter-like insects flying about.

A truck arrives with its load of salt 

And tips it onto the salt mountain!

And, having seen as much of the Camargue as possible, we made our way back to La Motte d'Aigues where we are currently planning the trips for our last week in Provence!