The Camargue is a vast plain south of Arles in Western Provence, between the Mediterranean  and the two arms of the Rhône delta. It comprises large brine lagoons or étangs, cut off from the sea by sandbars and encircled by reed-covered marshes which are in turn surrounded by a large cultivated area. Approximately a third of the Camargue is either lakes or marshland. It is western Europe's largest river delta, and also indeed technically an island as it's wholly surrounded by water

The eastern arm of the Rhône delta is called the Grand Rhône; the western one is the Petit Rhône. A further expanse of marshy plain just to the west of the Petit Rhône is the Petite Camargue. There are few towns of any size in the Camargue. Its "capital" is Arles, located at the extreme north of the delta where the Rhône forks into its two principal branches. The only other towns of note are Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, about 45 km to the southwest, which is the site of the annual Roma pilgrimage for the veneration of Saint Sarah, and the medieval fortress-town of Aigues-Mortes on the far western edge, in the Petite Camargue. Tourism is a major source of income. Each year the Camargue is visited by over one million tourists who come to see the unique flora and fauna of the area - the famous Camargue horses, bulls, and birds - including the famous flamingos which provide a marketing brand of the Camargue National Park.

When to go

The climate of the Camargue can be harsh, ranging from scorching heat in summer, sometimes with 100% humidity, to desiccating cold whipped by icy winds from the Alps in winter. The area is also subject to the famous Mistral wind blowing from the north-north-west down the Rhône Valley. The best times to go are in spring and autumn when you can expect lots of sunshine and warm temperatures.

Transport

Fairly frequent buses run between Arles and Stes-Maries, where you can rent bikes. The other means of transport to consider is riding, and the Association Camarguaise de Tourisme Equestre in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer offers guided tours for all levels of horsemanship.

For transport as an end in itself, there's the paddle steamer  Le Tiki III , which leaves for river trips from the mouth of the Petit Rhône, off the route d'Aigues-Mortes, 2.5km west of Stes-Maries (mid-March to mid-Nov), and the Soleil , which leaves from the port in Stes-Maries (April-Sept). There is also a Camargue Marina for yachts.

Be wary of taking your car or bike along the dykes : although maps and road signs show which routes are closed to vehicles and which are accessible only at low tide, they don't warn you about the road surface.

The boundaries of the Camargue  are not apparent until you come upon them. Its horizons are infinite because land, lagoon and sea share the same horizontal plain. Both wild and human life have traits peculiar to this drained, ditched and now protected delta land. Today, the whole of the Camargue is a Parc Naturel Régional, with great efforts made to keep an equilibrium between tourism, agriculture, industry and hunting on the one hand, and the indigenous ecosystems on the other.

The Camargue is home to the bulls and to the white horses that the region's gardiens , or herdsmen, ride. Neither beast is truly wild, though both run in semi-liberty. The Camargue horse, whose origin is unknown, remains a distinct breed, born dark brown or black and turning white around its fourth year. It is never stabled, surviving the humid heat of summer and the wind-racked winter cold outdoors. The gardiens likewise are a hardy community. Their traditional homes, or cabanes , are thatched and windowless one-storey structures, with bulls' horns over the door to ward off evil spirits. They still conform, to some extent, to the popular cowboy myth, and play a major role in guarding Camarguais traditions. Throughout the summer they're kept busy in every village arena with spectacles involving bulls and horses, and the work carries local glamour. Winter is a good deal harder, and fewer and fewer Camarguais property owners can afford the extravagant use of land that bull-rearing requires.

After World War II, the northern marshes were drained and re-irrigated with fresh water. The main crop planted was rice, and so successful was it that by the 1960s the Camargue was providing three-quarters of all French consumption of the grain. Vines were also reintroduced - in the nineteenth century they had survived the disease that devastated every other wine-producing region because their stems were under water. There are other crops - wheat, rapeseed and fruit orchards - as well as trees in isolated clumps. To the east, along the last stretch of the Grand Rhône, the chief business is the production of salt, which was first organized in the Camargue by the Romans in the first century AD. It's one of the biggest saltworks in the world, with salt pans and pyramids adding a somehow extraterrestrial aspect to the Camargue landscape.

The only town, or rather overgrown village, and the main resort, is Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer on the sea close to the mouth of the Petit Rhône.

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Walking in the Camargue

There are three main walking trails around the protected central area of the Carmargue. You can skirt the Réserve des Impériaux along a drovers' path, the draille de Méjanes , between Cacharel, 4km north of Ste-Maries, and the D37 just north of Méjanes. Another trail, with one of the best observation points for flamingos, follows the dyke between the Étangs du Fangassier and Galabert, starting 5km west of Salin-de-Giraud. Between these two is the Digue à la Mer running just back from the beach of Stes-Maries' bay.

If you are walking in the area, be warned that mosquitoes are rife from March through to November; keeping right beside the sea will be OK, but otherwise you'll need serious chemical weaponry. Biting flies are also prevalent and can take away much of the pleasure of this hill-less land for bicycling. The other problem is the winds , which in autumn and winter can be strong enough to knock you off your bike (though fortunately you won't have to cope simultaneously with biting insects and high winds!). Conversely, in summer the weather can be very hot and humid.

White horses and black bulls

The Camargue horse is an ancient breed that has lived wild in the harsh environment of the wetlands of the Rhone delta for centuries, possibly thousands of years. They are small horses, reknowned for their  stamina, hardiness and agility. They are never stabled, but well able to survive the humid summer heat and the biting winter cold. They are the traditional mount of the gardians – the Camargue "cowboys" who herd the black Camargue bulls. Camargue horses galloping through water are a popular and romantic image of the region, and ubiquitous on postcards and other tourist souvenirs!

The black cattle with upward sweeping horns are also native to the Camargue marshland. They are hardy animals, noticeably smaller that most modern breeds of bull, thriving on the marshes where they live semi-wild, tended by the Gardians riding the famous Camargue horses which share their habitat. They are raised for their distinctive meat which has a high reputation among gourmets, and also rounded up and sold for bull running bullfighting.

Wildlife

The Camargue bulls and horses are just one element in the area's exceptionally rich wildlife. The Camargue is home to more than 400 species of marsh and sea birds, waterfowl and birds of prey, and the brine ponds provide one of the few European habitats for the greater flamingo. The flamingo is the emblem of Camargue - a modern wheeze to appeal to tourists.

The marshes are also a prime habitat for many species of insects, notably (and notoriously) some of the most ferocious mosquitos to be found anywhere in France. Wild boars, beavers and badgers, tree frogs, water snakes and pond turtles may also be spotted. 

The flora of the Camargue is specially adapted to cope with the saline conditions. Sea lavender, wild irises, tamarisk, wild rosemary flourish along with reeds and juniper trees. These last, which grow to a height of 6m, form the Bois des Rièges on the islands between the Étang du Vaccarès and the sea, part of the central national reserve to which access is restricted to those with professional credentials.

Birdwatching

Though the Étang du Vaccarès and the central islands are out of bounds, there are paths and sea dykes from which their inhabitants can be watched, and special nature trails. The ideal months for bird-watching are the mating period of April to June, with the greatest number of flamingos present between April and September.

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is best known for its annual festival on May 24-25, when the town is swamped with Romanies asking favours from their patron Ste-Sarah. It's also a good base from which to explore the Camargue, with plenty of reasonably priced accommodation and restaurants. On the way there you could drop in on the Musée Camarguais, halfway between Gimeaux and Albaron, which documents the traditions and livelihoods of the Camarguais people through the centuries, in the old sheep barn of a working farm. At Pont de Gau, just 4km short of Stes-Maries, the Centre d'Information Ginès has exhibitions on the local environment and is the place to go for detailed maps of paths and dykes. Just down the road is the Parc Ornithologique with some of the less easily spotted birds kept in aviaries, plus trails across a twelve-hectare marsh and a longer walk, all with ample signs and information.

Stes-Maries is an extremely pretty, if excessively commercialized town. Its streets of white houses and the grey-gold Romanesque church, with its strange outline of battlements and watchtower, have been turned into one long picture-postcard pose. It exploits its monopoly as the only Camargue resort and every leisure activity is catered for, to excess. There are kilometres of beach ; a pleasure port with boat trips to the lagoons; horses - or bikes - to ride; watersports; the arènes for bullfights, cavalcades and other entertainment (events are posted on a board outside); and flamenco guitarists playing on the restaurant and café terraces - it can all be very good fun.

As for sights, the fortified church of Stes-Maries allows a look at Sarah's tinselled and sequined statue, which is carried into the sea each year . It's at the back of the crypt on the right, and always surrounded by candles and abandoned crutches and callipers from the miraculously cured. The church itself has beautifully pure lines and fabulous acoustics. During the time of the Saracen raids it provided shelter for all the villagers and even has its own freshwater well. Between March and Oct the church tower is open, affording the best possible view over the Camargue.

A few steps south of the church on rue Victor-Hugo, the Musée Baroncelli is named after the man who, in 1935, was responsible for initiating the Romanies' procession down to the sea with Sarah. This was motivated by a desire to give a special place in the pilgrimage to the Romanies. The museum covers this event, other Camarguais traditions and the region's fauna and flora.

The Stes-Maries tourism office can be found on Avenue Van Gogh,  Te : 33 4 90 97 82 55 - Fax : 33 4 90 97 71 15

The Legend of Sarah

Sarah was the servant of Mary Jacobé, Jesus' aunt, and Mary Salomé, mother of two of the apostles, who, along with Mary Magdalene and various other New Testament characters, are said to have been driven out of Palestine by the Jews and put on a boat without sails or oars.

The boat apparently drifted to an island in the mouth of the Rhône, where the Egyptian god Ra was worshipped. Here Mary Jacobé, Mary Salomé and Sarah, who was herself Egyptian, settled to carry out conversion work, while the others headed off for other parts of Provence. In 1448 their relics were "discovered" in the fortress church of Stes-Maries on the erstwhile island, around the time that the Romanies were migrating to western Europe from the Balkans and from Spain.

Romanies have been making their pilgrimage to Stes-Maries since at least the sixteenth century. It's a time for weddings and baptisms, as well as music, dancing and fervent religious observance. After Mass on May 24, the shrines of the saints are lowered from the high chapel to an altar where the faithful stretch out their arms to touch them. Then the statue of Black Sarah is carried by the Romanies to the sea. On the following day the statues of Mary Jacobé and Mary Salomé, sitting in a wooden boat, follow the same route, accompanied by the mounted gardiens in full Camargue cowboy dress, Arlesians in traditional costume, and spectators. The sea, the Camargue, the pilgrims and the Romanies are blessed by the bishop from a fishing boat, before the procession returns to the church with much bell-ringing, guitar-playing, tambourines and singing. Another ceremony in the afternoon sees the shrines lifted back up to their chapel.