Think of the ultimate hot, humid, bustling port town and you have Sete. On first arrival, this town can seem like every other gritty working harbour, complete with malodorous fishing trawlers and salty seadogs outside rundown cafes and bars. However, if you dare to take a few steps back into the ancient alleyways or manage to drive out to the strips of white sandy beaches, you will discover a very different place.
The drive into Sete is itself an adventure through some of the most spectacular scenery in France –the Camargue. The home of pink flamingos, wild bulls and white horses roaming the salt pans, the Camargue is a swampy desert and hot as hell. Peering through the heat haze are isolated stalls selling fresh produce from the area – rice, salt, cheeses, wines and herbs. A road trip dreamland!
Gary and I stayed at a family-run hotel on one of Sete’s outlying beach areas. When we arrived, the quaint hotel was being manned by the owner and husband, who did the French trick of speaking to us fast and fluently in his mother tongue, knowing full well that we didn’t speak a word but hoping that by just carrying on we would at some stage get the drift. Apart from some contention over the the ‘obligatory’ breakfast for an extra seven euros each which we could not get out of, we managed to decipher the conversation and settled in.
That night, we strolled along the ancient canals in Sete proper, having drinks in the harbour overlooking the setting sun whilst a little orchestra played across from us - so special, so French!
PS although we thought that a forced breakfast would not taste that great, it was actually a wonderful memory sipping our coffee together on our private little balcony overlooking the morning waves.
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