A Dip in the Med, then off on the Costieres de Nimes wine trail

14.06.11 Dip in the Med, then off on the Costieres de Nimes wine trail

Another warm day (mostly around the 30 mark) in Provence begins with a reasonably brisk walk through the nearby rice fields. Rubbed on the anti-insect spray and kept the long pants on and it seems to have worked. Headed down to St Maries at the coastal edge of the Camargue for a swim in the still surprisingly cool waters of the Med.

Walked into the town then for a nibble or two, including the obligatory ice-cream. Then paid two euro to climb the church tower. That wasn't the end of the climbing. The roof tiles are more or less concrete slabs and you can climb to the very point (see pic) to get the best views over the town, it arena and beaches.

Church viewpoint in Sts Maries. More photos here

Following the Michelin Green Guide Wine Regions of France, we headed for Gallician “a classic wine-making town”. Didn’t try too hard to find the recommended Cave before ending up in Cave Pilote where we tasted both white and red before buying a few bottles of the white. Better luck with the red in the next stop: Vauvert.  Here, in Les Vignerons, we were happy with our samples of the 2005 Noble Gress.

Had thought we’d missed a local viewpoint, Pont des Tourradons, but re-discovered the trail by chance. Not overly spectacular but worth a detour nonetheless and yet another example as to how the French use their resources with walking paths and cycling paths running across and in some cases alongside the canal (The Rhone-Sete).

We ended our afternoon (it was about 6.00pm) in St Gilles, in a supermarket of all places. It was our first visit to a real one as the Eco, in town, is more a mini. And so ended our hunt for some super-glue, to repair the Sat-Nav's position in the car!

At the traiteur, we picked up some Gardienne beef, a prepared dish of the local bull meat. It is proving very tender and that Costieres de Nimes is going well with it.

A bientôt!