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Camargue contents

Ungrateful area at first sight, but......

Salin de Giraud-Albaron

Horses and bulls 

Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Aigues-Mortes

Provence-Camargue-Horses and bulls 

Shortly before arriving in Saintes Maries de la Mer we find again a Centre d’Information du Parc National Naturel in GINES. It was created with the intention to let tourists not too much in a hurry to learn and deepen their knowledge of Camargue. Just next to the center is the Bird park of Pont de Grau. Take your time here. If you’re on a Guinness book record trip to visit Provence, Camargue and Cote d’Azur in two days, forget it.  Here you find indicated and marked paths over terrains of 12 and 50 hectares giving us the opportunity to watch birds, horses and bulls in all tranquility in their natural environment. If we are looking for the “unspoiled and free nature” in Camargue we cannot allow to ignore such opportunities, especially since the nature is screened always everywhere against invading visitors.
Meanwhile we have seen the first white horses and black bulls behind dirty fences. Little is known about their history. The theory that the short and small Camargue horse would originate from the Arabian horses on which the Saracens terrorized the south of France in the 8th century is being rejected. Its build has nothing of an Arabian horse (don’t be surprised, I didn’t become suddenly a horse expert, I read this in my bibliography;-)) but everything like the magic horses which lived about a million years and of which a mass grave was discovered in 1866 at the foot of the Solutré rock in Burgundy. A dubious opinion is that these horses, chased by hunters, jumped in panic of the rock.
Despite the Camargue bulls have a history as old as the horses, we can be sure that their forefathers clearly come from Africa and Spain. But because of their centuries presence in Camargue they acquired the characteristics that you will only find in this region. The enormous animals weigh between 300 to 450 kg and the and live in a herd which is called “manade”. About thirty of these manades live in Camargue, which means about 5,000 bulls. Sometimes a bull escaped from a manade to live a solitary life. The “manadier”, owner of a manade, leaves them alone.
The Camargue bull is raised for certain sorts of games, but much less bloody as the Spanish ones. Sort of childish games where the “razeteur” tries to withdraw its cockade, tied around the horn. Another game of which the Provencaux are very fond of and excited them a lot is the “encierro”. Four or five bulls are set free in the streets and the public enjoys exciting them by cashing them without being hurt. Let’s not forget that also this tradition of innocent nagging goes back to Roman times.
Next we continue to Saintes-Maries de le Mer.

 Bibliography

James Henry, “A little tour in Provence”(Strauss and Giroux, New York 1983), Klingshirn, William E., “Caesarius of Arles” (Cambridge University Press, 1994), Lenthéric, Charles, “Les villes mortes du Golfe de Lyon” (Plon, Paris 1876), Maurras Charles “L’Etang de Berre” (ed. Champion, Paris 1924) Picon Bernard, “l’Espace et le temps en Camargue »(Actes Sud, Arles 1988)-Guides du Routard 1999 (ed.Hachette), « Animaux de Camargue », by  P. Perez (ed. Pershing , Perpignan 1996)