Surely, You Joust

Sun Herald

Sunday July 29, 2007

Rick Allen The writer was a guest of Languedoc-Roussillon Tourism and flew British Airways.

Get Sete for some extreme water sports of the medieval kind, Rick Allen writes.

JOUSTING still going strong in the 21st century? You'd better believe it. Granted, it's not quite as bloody as Lancelot and Galahad might have known, but don't be fooled -it's not for the faint-hearted. And it can still pull a crowd.

These days the jousts are nautical events, on boats on the Grand Canal in the southern French seaside town of Sete, during the Festival of St Louis in August.

Local men, usually fishermen, form teams of 10 and dress from head to foot in white. At the stern of each boat on an elevated platform behind the oarsmen, stands the jouster armed with a three-metre lance and a shield, ready for action.

If that's not enough, each boat, decorated in either red or blue and flying the team flag, has on-board music - tradition says it should be a drummer and an oboist - to provide a beat to which the oarsmen row. Then, with music blaring . . . charge!

There's no confusion about the winner: he's the one who ends up dry. The loser finishes up in the drink, much to the amusement of the thousands of spectators who line the canal.

If this all sounds a little crazy, well, Sete is a bit like that.

With a population of 45,000, it is the second biggest sea port in France after Marseilles and is best known for the canals that crisscross the city.

Think Venice with a French accent. And better oysters, but back to that later.

Sete also happens to be the point at which the magnificent Canal du Midi, which runs across the width of France to link the Atlantic with the Mediterranean, joins the sea.

Sete's location on the Mediterranean coast is the reason it is such a cultural mixing pot today. From very early days it was a major trading post for ships from northern Africa, Britain and southern Europe, and a walk down the street will reveal restaurants from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, and an even wider range of languages being spoken.

The centre of the city is undoubtedly the aptly named Grand Canal, the widest and most picturesque of all the canals.

We were fortunate to stay at the Grand Hotel, which sits right on the canal, smack bang in the heart of the city. It's a wonderful old place with superb architecture and a grandiose charm. If nothing else, find time to take a look at the hotel's central courtyard - it's like stepping back into another century.

To walk along the canal is to stroll past wall-to-wall restaurants, where the seating spills onto the footpath. It's ideal for people-watching.

Lining the banks of the canal are huge, high-tech fishing boats with all the latest sonar equipment. These head out daily and you can't help but feel that the fish don't stand a chance. Squeezed between these massive monoliths are older, tiny timber fishing boats that have obviously been in their families for generations.

Looking down on all this is the highest point in the region, Mont St Clair with commanding, 360-degree views. If you want to walk off your lunch, you can go by foot to the summit, but let me warn you, it's hard work. Then again, after the lunch I'd just eaten along the canal, so was getting out of the chair.

On the slopes of Mont St Clair lie Sete's most expensive suburbs with superb views over the city, canals, harbour and Mediterrranean.

If you turn your back to the city, you get equally spectacular views of the tiny fishing village of Bouzigues and the vast seawater lake it sits on, the Bassin de Thau. This lake is renowned for producing same of the most highly regarded mussels and oysters in France.

One of the local oyster fishermen, Jean Pierre Molina, showed us around his operation and then took us to his little restaurant, L'Arseillere, to sample his wares. It seems most of the fishermen also have nearby restaurants, usually low-key affairs within a couple of hundred metres of their fishing bases. It means that when you order fresh oysters, you can be sure they're from the lake that morning.

Are they the best oysters in France? "Possibly. The conditions in the lake are ideal," Jean Pierre said. "But it's like asking what is the best wine in France. Everyone has their own opinion. Put it this way: we never have any trouble selling them."

It was time for a change of pace. My guide, Danielle, wanted to show me something completely different: a quaint village up in the mountains called St Guilhem-le-Desert.

To say that St Guilhem is charming is to do it an injustice.

"Some people say it is the prettiest village in all of France," Danielle said.

I could believe it. Its rich history drips from every wall. Contruction of the village was started in the late 800s by a knight, St Guilhem, who was renowned for both his fighting prowess and his chivalry.

It seems all the fighting had worn him down and he was looking for a more spiritual existence - cutting Saracens' heads off can do that to a fellow - hence his village in the remote mountain valley that he hoped would bring him closer to God.

He was eventually canonised and St Guilhem-le-Desert went on to become an important place of worship for travelling pilgrims.

The village sits high up in a narrow, rugged ravine. Through the centre of the tiny village - it has only one hotel, with just five rooms - runs a stream, crystal clear and cold. We were fortunate in that it had rained before we arrived and the stream was running freely.

The dominant feature of the village is the old abbey, sitting serene and graceful on the lovely central square, Place de la Liberte. Tourists can enter, of course, but even then, tradition must be observed. It was 6pm and it was time for prayer. We could stay, but only if we promised to whisper.

St Guilhem is like that, with only the occasional grudging acknowledgement of modern living.

Across the square from the abbey is a pizza shop, but it is in an old stone storefront under a medieval arcade that has been unchanged for centuries. Outside sits an old stone fountain and a massive tree, hundreds of years old, that spreads its shade over most of the square.

A peek inside the old houses reveals tiny stone rooms and a steep, narrow staircase. Open-plan living? Sacrebleu!

Outside the village are a number of walking paths that follow the ravine. There is a Saracen fort high up in the cliffs that overlooks the village, and a dilapidated fort on the outskirts of the village. But the truth is this is a place that allows you to step back in time and reflect.

Just an hour separates Sete from St Guilhem by car, but in every other sense it's a world away.

And that's what makes southern France so alluring.

© 2007 Sun Herald

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