Étang de Thau and Agde

B came over early in the morning with some dark sheets of film so that we could observe the transit of Venus. I'm not sure what we actually saw because the dot of Venus was so small against the sun and the orientation didn't match the diagrams that B had brought along. Then I had breakfast and accompanied B to the town to get his breakfast. He bought some bread and bananas at the market.

Here is a view of a canal by daylight. In the background are the slopes of Mont St. Clair. As you can see it was glorious weather. (Note from the future: Sète and its canals formed the backdrop for the award winning French film The Secret of the Grain years after my visit.)

We walked to La Plagette which is on the southern shore of Étang de Thau. This lake is a coastal lake separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land upon which Sète is built. The main canal of Sète links the lake with the sea. The intriguing geography was one of the reasons I had wanted to visit. The lake is a rich source of fish and shellfish, and also used for recreational sailing. We saw where the canal meets the lake from a small village on the eastern bank.

Then we went to the train station where I made my sleeper reservation for a few days later. We caught the train for a few kilometres west to visit the town of Agde.

Not far from the station is where the Canal du Midi terminates by entering L'étang de Thau. The canal forms part of a water route between Toulouse and Sète, i.e. the Atlantic and Mediterranean, avoiding the transport of goods around the Iberian Peninsula. It has a fascinating history, but you'll have to follow the hyperlinks to delve further.

Today the canal is used for canal cruises, including self-hire ones. Bicycles are provided with the bateau so you can stop at scenic spots and tour the surrounding countryside a bit on bike. Then you take your dinner at some rustic French restaurant and retire for the night on your boat without having to worry about being breath tested. It must have been a series of Global Village programs on this canal that piqued my interest in this part of France.

Then we walked to the old city and explored it a bit. We lunched at a Moroccan eatery; I had a merguez sandwich. I remarked that Mediterranean cities would be more attractive if there were no dog shit on the pavements. Agde is not by the sea. For that we would have had to travel to Cap d'Agde. It has naturist resorts, and we weren't into that so we had no intentions to go there.

After a siesta, we took an evening walk along Promenade du Maréchal Leclerc to the small centre of La Corniche. The road hugs the seaside and passes the port of Sète.

The area is attractively landscaped and obviously a holiday retreat. I wondered if it was more affordable than Côte d'Azur. I supposed that even if were, if it became more well-known, prices would become comparable.

On our return to Sète, we accepted the blandishments of one of the numerous restaurants and had a seafood dinner. I had a meal of mussels. We had good conversation over the table and then called it a night, agreeing to meet tomorrow morning to ascend Mont St. Clair.