Flamingos in the Camargue

The Camargue National Park, the Rhone river delta wetlands, is a requisite excursion for any visitor to Arles. For the week we are in Arles, we had to contend with two national holidays and one Sunday for bus schedules, in addition to forecasts of thunderstorms. After some hesitation, we decided to brave the Sunday crowds. Did we pick a good day!!

We saw flamingos all day long, thousands of them, a few orders of magnitude greater than all we saw in the two years we lived in Florida.  I was so excited -- it was like the Galapagos plus Uyuni. I realized this must be what parts of Florida would have looked like before all the development. We mostly walked on the dike, out and back. Almost everyone else was on bikes, many family outings.

The mosquitoes were ferocious. We were not prepared. A couple of times we had to reduce ourselves to be repellent beggars. In the afternoon, the breeze picked up, mosquitoes lessened. This place is supposedly perennially windy. Later we learned from the tourist office that it was a particularly good day to see flamingos. I wonder whether it had to do with the wind. Well, things do work in our favor, every now and then.

We rode the early bus to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. All was quiet when we arrived and headed straight for the path along the dike to the lighthouse phare. The parking lot was empty save for a few overnight RVs.


The man made beaches near town were deserted.




3 hrs and 13 kms to the lighthouse Phare de la Gachole.


But the flamingos were busy hunting for food in the shallow waters of the marshlands.












The path/road at the top of the dike was very good for walking ie less mosquitoes, flat, and not busy....yet.


After an hour or so we headed over to walk on the beautiful Mediterranean beach.


A view back to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.


The sand flats were endless it seemed.






And after about 5 kms on the sand we were back on the dike with the lighthouse in view.


The lighthouse had some shady picnic tables and an information center. A good stopping point for both walkers and cyclists. We ate our lunch there.


On the way back to Saintes-Maries there were many cyclists and many flamingos.










Here you can see the beautiful red and black colors of the flamingos, although my camera zooms poorly.


Occasionally we saw the flamingos flying. Very cool!


Back at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, it was busy: horseback riding tours, sunbathers, and day trippers, and more.








The church in Saintes-Maries has a black Saint Sarah image that is revered by Roma people.

Water, water everywhere from the Sorgue

On the last day of a weeklong stay in Avignon, we made a day trip to see the Sorgue river. We took the bus to L'Isle sur la Sorgue, then walked (no buses AT ALL until later in the summer) to the source at Fontaine de Vaucluse.  It was a very windy day, so no bicycling for me. For someone that associates wind with natural disasters such as typhoon and hurricanes, I have been learning and getting used to the Mistral here. I am glad to have made this trip.

Even though the name of the source is Fontaine, it is not what I thought of a spring with fixed output.  Instead, Fontaine de Vaucluse has unknown depth and indefinite origins, its output is associated with snowmelt and rainfall.  On this day in the first week of May, there was a lot of water.  No wonder they have over a hundred weirs to manage the river.  In L'Isle sur la Sorgue, it was great fun going around to look at old water wheels (both for water and power).

Furthermore, a part of our walking route took us along the banks of the Carpentras Canal which takes water from the Durance river 69 km from Mallemort to Carpentras.  It was super cool to walk on its viaduct over the Sorgue.  John and I both find all this water management fascinating.  I guess at core it is a manifestation of civilization.

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is such a watertown that the Tourist Office's self-guided tour is of the town's 13 or so waterwheels + the church....Here are a few waterwheels.






Sun-Ling leads the walking tour.






Near the bus stop.


This wheels was used by a convent to water their vegetable garden.


Upstream, just at the edge of city center, is a pond called "the basin" where the water from the Sorgue is dispersed around town. A lovely spot.




We continue upstream a kilometer or so following the road and bikeway. The clear moving water is invigorating to the soul.




Then farther upstream the river is diverted by weirs into two distinct flows. From here we head west and north to follow the road to the Carpentras Canal.


Walking along the manmade Carpentras Canal with its pleasant path was full of surprises: a golf course, nesting swans, and the canal aqueduct over the River Sorgue.






Took this shot during our lunch break.




Swan's nest at left.


As we near Fontaine Vaucluse and the Sorgue river, we find that the Carpentras Canal is not diverted from the Sorgue as we thought, but instead crosses over it (and a road) on a bridge. Wow! And one can walk over the canal bridge. Wow!








And great views below to the Sorgue river waterworks and weirs.




Time to head up to the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. Following the Carpentras Canal will have to wait until another day. So we climb down to the road and walk up to the Fontaine going under the canal bridge.


Once in the town of Vaucluse, we spot a bench that demands we take another break. ;-)


A lower pool where weirs control the flow.


Along the last stretch towards the source, there is a museum and of course a cafe/resto.


And finally the source; the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.




It's a dramatic setting, with water rushing along, and a Chateau above.




On the 10 kilometer walk back to L'Isle we see some canoeists about to enter the Sorgue.


Sun-Ling's Van Gogh-ish photo.


We take a detour to a Fishing Club outpost along the Sorgue. Very peaceful.


Arriving in Avignon, we see green leaves in the gutters, evidence of the strong Mistral winds of the day.