La Camargue, where to find the nature trails

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Arles, birds, cours Camarguaise, discovery trails, Domaine de Mejanes, Etangs du Vaccares, Reserve National de Camargue, Ste Maries de la Mer, the bulls, Visit La Camargue, Wildlife

If you are a true committed nature lover, venture into the inner sanctuary of the Camargue, the Reserve nationale de La Camargue. This very intensely protected area contains the central pond called Le Vaccares, mostly used for scientific research. The wildlife- birds and fish – is naturally undisturbed here, and you won’t come across the cabins and herds of bulls and horses that most people expect from the Camargue. When you arrive you can pick up maps and information at the center of information of the natural Parc of La Camargue (04-90-97-70-82), April through September., daily 10-6 and October through March, Saturday through Thursday 9:30 – 5. To explore this area you will have to go by foot, bicycle or bike paths.Also you won’t be able to diverge from marked trails. If you keep going north you will come across the converted sheep -ranch – now museum, Le Musee Camarguais ( Mas du Pont de Rousty, D570. April through September, daily 9:15 – 5:45, October-March daily 9:15-5:45. Lying between Arles and Saintes Maries de La Mer, it explains the region history, produce and people, also a good place to get information on nature trails.

Where to find the bulls

Near the northern shores of Vaccares, one of the larger ranches in the Camargue has been turned into a show place of all things Taurine. Bullfights, ferrades, horse rides, and spectacle taurine ( bull- baiting) are some of the activities offered at the domaine de Mejanes Paul Ricard. People learn about the history of the unique regional species of bull-fighting, the Cours Camarguaise, in which bulls are not killed in the arena but simply taunted by runners, who try to pluck off a red cockade and two white tassels mounted on the bull’s horns. http://www.mejanes.camargue.fr . At the easternmost point of the Etang du Vaccares, another good visitor center is found at La Capeliere. Center of information of la Reserve National de Camargue. The  center has maps, exhibits on wildlife  and three sentiers de decouverte ( Discovery trails, 3 ml south of Villeneuvel Romieu.

Anne Suire

http://www.luxurytravelconsultant2.com

Domain de Mejanes, Camargue

Le musee Camarguais

The Bulls of La Camargue

Don’t fence me in: France’s ” Wild West”

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gardians, Hostellerie Pont -de-Gau, La Camargue, manadiers, moors stew, parc ornithologique du pont de Gau, Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Stew Gardianne de taureau

A Tour of the Parc Regional of Camargue

As you drive through the few roads that crisscross the Camargue, you will usually be within the boundaries of the Camargue, http://www.parc-camargue.fr. Unlike many state  and national parks in the US, this area is privately owned and utilized within the rules imposed by the state. The principal owners are the ranchers ( Manadiers), with the help of their gardians keep it for grazing their wide-horned bulls and their broad-bellies white horses. Some claim that the Moors imported and Arab strain and is prized for its solid endurance. The curved horned bull may have been imported by Atila the Hun. If not participating in a bloodless bullfight or may end up in  the wine-rich regional stew ( beware!), the stew is called la gardianne de taureau.

Where to find the birds

Up north a few miles from Stes -Maries-De-La -Mer, the main town in the Camargue, is a private reserve called ” The Parc Ornithologique du Pont de Gau”. On some 150 acres of marsh and salt lands, birds are very welcome and protected ( but not confined what so ever). Injured birds are treated and kept in large pens, to be released if and when ready. Boardwalks ( including a short, child friendly loop past the easy viewing stands) snake over the wetlands. The longest one leading to a blind a half hour silence, binoculars in hand, can reveal unexpected treasures.. Near the park entrance is the hostellerie -Pont-de-Gau which offers hearty meals much favored by local ranchers. Pont-de-Gau, 5kms ( 3 miles) from

Les cignes, Camargue

Park ornithologique in Gau

Wild Camargue and the birds.

Land and water, Camargue.

Wild Camargue, a sanctuary of birds

The stew, La Gardianne de Taureau

04-90-97-82-62. http://www.parcornithologique.com

Anne Suire

http://www.luxurytravelconsultant2.com

Don’t fence me in: France’s “Wild West” Part 2

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Christian lacroix, Fete des gardians Arles, Frencg gardians, La Camargue, Levi Strauss, Provencal cowboy

Deep in the heart of Provence?

While the thought might give a pause to some of Texas residents, historians now tell us the the American cowboy is actually descended from the French gardian, the Provencal cowboy. Horace Greeley who wrote ” go West”, advised that in the early 19th century, these Camargue ranchers did exactly that:shipping out to the French colony of New Orleans, then they spread out across America as the first horse-wranglers. They brought along their black felt hats, string ties, and to the later gratification of Levi-Strauss – bleus de travail or jeans invented in the Provencal city of Nimes. Their festival wear: including traditional velvet vests- seen in full glory during the Fete des Gardians in Arles in May- inspired a local resident and now designer Christian Lacroix. Today Les Gardians are a unique breed, proud of their centuries old traditions and disdainful of the Hollywood cowboy poseur. Insular and taciturn they love to kid you when they first meet you, if you take offense they will kid you even more and if you don’t take offense, they will warm up to you.

La Camargue.

Anne Suire

http://www.luxurytravelconsultant2.com

Les Gardians

Les gardians, Camargue.

Don’t fence me in: France’s “wild West” Part one., the French style of ranches

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La Camargue, the bulls, the marshes, wild horses

The Camargue reserve, Provence‘s extraordinary nature park. A flock of flamingos suddenly erupts from a stand of black-green parasol pines, or a group of herons mince one-legged through rice  paddies. Then ahead of us , a bandanna-wrapped guardian – a kind of open -range cowboy, roams the fields on a white horse, prodding horned bulls whose bloodlines predate the caves paintings of Lascaux. The best time to see the Camargue is at dawn, the large gasp of the Rhone as it seeps over the Delta into the Mediterranean sea. This Edenic preserve, where exotic flora and fauna live in splendor in lagoons and salt marshes remains France‘s the most distinctive nature wonderland.

La Camargue is a land of haunting beauty and was one of the forgotten areas of France, only a few decades ago. You will discover a peculiar ecosystem all its own and a culture that is wild, quirky and isolated and just as unique. With the marsh grass stretching to the sea, the Camargue is what the French call a desert of water ( watery desert). At the Camargue‘s heart is the reserve Nationale Zoologique et Botanique. A 30,000- acre of area set around the Etang de Vaccares lagoon – a bird watcher paradise famed for its rich sightings of egrets, bee-eaters, cranes , sandpipers, flamingos and definitely hundreds of other species. For some reasons, nature has been blissfully untouched – almost. You will find isolated mas ( farmhouses, now sometimes converted to luxurious ranches); Manades, the French style of ranches, where the famous bulls are often corralled ; and Cabanes, white washed houses with plaited straw roofs used as residences by the guardians. Horses are for rent everywhere, and a gallop across this wide lonely prairie country will set you apart from the ordinary run of tourists.

Anne Suire

http://www.luxurytravelconsultant2.com

Cabanes in Camargue.

The guardians in Camargue.

Flamingos.

Wild horses.

The bulls.

The Lagune with a flock of birds.