From Cliffs to Marshes

We left Bandol yesterday and stopped for lunch at the pretty little town fifteen minutes away called Sanary sur Mer before getting on the autoroute to head further west.  

Our destination was Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the region known as the Camargue.  Thankfully, in spite of the continuing issue with gas shortages, we managed to fill up without any problem.  In contrast to the towering cliffs along the coast we'd seen on our tour of the calanques, the Camargue is flat - it is the delta at the mouth of the Rhone - and is filled with lagoons, marshes and several villages including Saintes Maries de la Mer which was our destination and where we will stay for two nights.  

The region is famous for its birds, particularly flamingos, horses and cattle.  We stayed at a hotel in town - on previous visits I had stayed 2 or 3 km outside.  This time was perfect as the parking near the hotel was free and it was a short walk into the centre which is filled with restaurants, bars and shops.  We walked around when we first got there and stopped for a drink at a bar on the seafront.  It was very, very windy so it wasn't possible to enjoy the sea as much as we'd hoped.  Sand was being blown everywhere!  On the way into town, we passed lots of hotels which offered "promenade a cheval" on the Camargue's famous white horses. 

Although the Hotel Les Palmiers is only a 2 star hotel,
the room is charming and very comfortable with a nice balcony.

The following day, we visited the Ornithological Park of Pont de Gau.  The entrance fee was 7.50 euros and well worth it.  You walk along trails and boardwalks through a marshy habitat for pink flamingos, herons and other migratory birds.  There are helpful information signs, some in English, explaining the habitat and identifying the birds and other creatures you may see on the walk.  We saw a coypus also known as a nutria (never heard of it before) which is a very large rodent.  The one we saw was almost cute - I said, almost!  Needless to say the marshes filled with flamingos were an impressive sight.

From Saintes Maries de la Mer, we will make our way north into the Luberon for a couple of days before gradually making our way back to Nice.  We have been lucky with the weather, aside from the wind here and some cloudy conditions.  It is still lovely and warm.