Sète

I went to visit some places in the south-west of France, starting with Sète (where I have been before – see post here). I must not forget that this is meant to be a blog about Paris, so I will try to make this short… - just show you some pictures, impressions...

As you can see from the top picture, I was met by a windy Mediterranean, but the weather soon changed for the better.

In the port, among the armada of yachts, there were also a number of sailing boats, ready to leave for a race, “The Generali Solo”.

If you want some proof of the much better weather the following days….

Sète is also a commercial and… fishing port, much to the pleasure of the seagulls.

A general view of the centre and one of the canals – Sète is sometimes referred to as the “Venice of Languedoc” (the name of the region). From the top of the “Mont St. Clair” you have a nice panorama of the city….

… and also of the long flat coastline, with beaches, salt production, vineyards… all the way down to the Pyrenees – which you may see vaguely on one of these photos…

… as well as of the “L’Etang de Thau”, the largest of the lagoons you can find along this flat coastland, known for all kinds of seafood, but especially for oysters.

I can’t resist against showing some local street art.  Easy to recognize the artist of the one to the left: “Seth” (see previous posts here and here). (By the way Seth and Sète is pronounced in the same way in French.)  The other one is by “C215”.

To finish… some proof of the blue sky and some seafood lunch.

… and as usual, some maps, also indicating some other spots I visited during my too short stay down here. I will try to make it brief in some coming post(s).

Sète, Georges Brassens...

Normally, this should be a blog about Paris, but before resuming my “normal” Paris posts, allow me to make a last exception – at least for a while.

To sum up our common experiences during the Transsiberian / Transmongolian trip, Alain invited me to his home in Montpellier and to do some sailing on his boat, berthed at Sète.

The weather couldn’t have been better, considering that we were in October. In addition to sailing, we could also do some bathing and in the very clear sky admire sunsets, the moon…

… and enjoy some nice seafood. (Just behind Sète is the lagoon, Etang de Thau, where some 12.000 tons of oysters are produced annually.)

I have already posted * about Georges Brassens, an icon in France, one of the most celebrated poets, singers-songwriters. He was born at Sète in October 80 years ago and died in October 20 years ago. One of his most famous songs is called “Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète” (Petition to be buried on the beach of Sète).

You can see that this video has been partly filmed in a charming little fishing port on the Etang de Thau. Today Georges' name appears on one of the small streets in the little port.

Finally, Georges was never buried on the beach, but in an ordinary family grave, however still at Sète, but not at the more spectacular cemetery, overlooking the Mediterranean (where the tombs of Paul Valéry, Jean Vilar – who created the Avignon festival - … can be found).

We also took long walks along the road Via Domitia, created by the Romans and in use for centuries, but today visible “here and there”.

*/ If you go back to this post, you can read about the little house where he lived for 22 years, sharing the life of an old couple. I passed by again the other day and could see that several people had left flowers, words...