Sete

What a laxy day! It was not far to travel from Arles to Sete, where we were soon comfortably installed in our hotel at La Corniche, about  twenty minutes walk from the town, five minutes from a lovely little beach, virtually empty at the moment!. The area is evidently quite new, with lots of rather ugly appartments, but it was fine for a couple of nights, combining beach and town. 

We were recommended some local restaurants and opted for Le Mistral, serving virtually only seafood. We ordered two local specialities, not really knowing what we would get. The first was deep fried baby squid, as on the left of the photo, and. I took seiche, which I thought was fish, but turned out to be octupus, as on the right of the picture. Both were rather rubbery, but still tasty. I probably would not rush to have them again, though, but was pleased to have tried something different.

As it was such a glorious evening, we headed into the city, enjoying a rainbow on one side of the road and a beautiful sunset on the other.

In a short time, after an easy walk, we were in the heart of he Festival of Music in Sete, with groups or performers playing at all street corners. What a nice atmosphere!

Fish, fish and more fish. Unfortunately, much as I love fish, I am not a great lover of shellfish, and mussels and oysters were a major part of most menus. At only 2.5 euros a kilo, the mussels seemed ridiculously cheap in the market . 

Of course, there were not only fantastic stallls of fish and fresh produce, but also a good range of amazingly colourful desserts.

We enjoyed a fascinating hour people and waiter watching just outside the market. Our waiter was remarkable. He had dozens of  tables to look after and yet remained very calm, friendly and super efficient. He carried massive trays full , either with new orders or used glasses, etc, saving himself unnecessary steps, and minimising the times he had to cross a busy road back to the bar. He had an incredible memory, as he went from table to table taking orders without writing them down. We were in awe of him.

What an interesting place to sit. I am glad our seats were more comfortable than these in the photo below!

Sete itself is a picturesque town of canals and narrow lanes and streets. It is not just a tourist town, and yet the roads along its canals are teeming with restaurants, bars and cafes all competing with their set menus. They all look lovely, so it is the luck of the draw. We found one right on the side of the canal which offered fish as well as mussels, etc, but my dish was somewhat disappointing, sadly! However, the view was fabulous.

As luck would have it, there was the first jousting on water competition. It is obviously as important to them as rugby is to us. We had a prime position behind the ten judges, and although we did not quite understand the points system, we found the afternoon really interesting, and I loved the passion shown by many of the participants. The judges also took their job extremely seriously and occasionally had to fend off angry jousters who swam over to them, climbed over the fence and abused them if they felt the opposition had fouled! 

How the jousters kept their balance on top of the steps behind the boat was extraordinary, amd how the oarsmen were able to row for so many hours was also no mean feat.

But of course, the idea was to knock the opponent off. Some of the falls were most impressive, and we also saw a few injuries. It seems quite a dangerous sport, actually, but at the same time, the jousters spend a lot of time simply siiting on the steps of the boat, waiting for their turn, as their team mates get knocked off the boat!

After such excitement, and a very warm day, we wandered back to a small bistro near the hotel, where we had a magnificent three- course meal with wine for only E19.50. A great finale to a fabulous holiday.

With a few hours to spare before leaving, we had a marvelous, refreshing last dip in the Mediterranean. 

A great holiday.