Since I embrassed the nomadic life and travel around, mainly in France, I realized that my country is full of magnificent and unique places. I particularly love spending my time in the middle of nature, in parks where wide open spaces are also synonymous with calm and tranquility. Today, I wanted to present to you my favorite place I have visited in the beggining of this year 2024, Camargue.
My love for the great outdoors has pushed me to spend most of my time wandering in mountain areas, an ideal playground for physically demanding hikes, whether on foot or by bike. Reliefs offer unique panoramas, treats for photography lovers. For these reasons, after my tour of the Iberian Peninsula, I didn't see the sea or the ocean again until my foray into the Bouches-du-Rhône departement and more particularly into the Camargue regional natural park.
I peregrinate aboard my faithful hippopotamus of a vehicule and choosing destination depending on the weather. At the end of winter 2024, the mildness of the Provençal climate has surpassed my apprehension of the Mediterranean coast, its towns, its beaches and its many prohibitions against vehicles like mine. And I did not regret it. When the whole country has seen violent storms, sudden and historic snowfalls, record rainfall, I was cycling in summer clothes on gravel tracks which cut and crisscross the surface of the sea in search of pink flamingos.
In documentaries or in people's mouths, when they talk about Camargue, very often they mention the pink flamingos, the bulls, the horses, the salt marshes, but no one refers to the hordes of mosquitoes. You know, sometimes, when we walk in parks or in the forest, we see small swarms of midges. It's harmless and if you pass it a little quickly, you sow them easily. Well in Camargue, it's the same, but in a hardcore version. Mosquitoes have replaced the midges in the swarm which has transformed into a horde and there, you have to run quickly while slapping your face because you have felt one which has landed on your ear or cheek ...
My first two nights in the park were excruciating. I am well aware that my old van, with its old door seals and the daylight that this can cause, makes my vehicle not completely airtight from the outside. But from this fact to fighting all night and crushing around fifty mosquitoes without interrupting the flow of these nuisances, I had never experienced that.
During the day, it wasn't visible, but during dusk, I saw a horde of mosquitoes settling just above the rear doors of my van. I, then, folded my bike in the trunk, packed up all my things and fled away to another location. I was lucky afterwards, I was no longer bothered by them. But the postcard with the chairs and the table put outside the van to have a drink or a dinner at dusk in the Camargue is just staging.
I only visited the eastern part of the park, from Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer to Salin de Giraud and even though the area is relatively small, I find that the best way to explore the area is to bike around. By foot, you cannot cover a large area during the day and you'll find yourself stuck in the same picture, in the same landscape. By vehicle, you can't go everywhere, some sections are closed and others are really difficult because they are full of potholes, which makes the trip exhausting. This is particularly the case for the roads that lead to Beauduc beach, the sea wall to the sea. By bike without good suspension, it's already brittle, but by car, I can't even imagine.
However, I saw vans and cars crusing at 10 km/h, trying to find the best trajectory on the sand track between potholes and risking getting bogged down in small bowls of water. Yes, at the end of the path, there is a large isolated beach where kitesurfing and naturism enthusiasts meet to indulge in their respective passions and lifestyles, but is the risk worth it? I didn't take that risk, since I have a bike and I don't kite.
The entire coastline from Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer to the mouth of the Rhône is magnificent. There we come across ponds as far as the eye can see, colonies of pink flamingos and other birds whose names I don’t know. The bike allowed me to take paths between the different ponds to reach the Faraman lighthouse, its semaphore, the Giraud salt marshes and finally arrive at Piemanson beach. Superb stroll when the mistral is sleeping. With the lack of relief, as soon as the wind blows, the biking experience might become a bit more complicated.
Don't hesitate to take a look at the corresponding photo album and I'll see you later. Kisses.
KITOFOTO