Now, I do love the Côte d’Azur, I do. Or I have come to love it after my dives for the rare pearls of peace and the past. They can be hard to come by. Not so on the wide-open other side of France’s Mediterranean coast. If authenticity is what you seek, Sète, a half hour south of Montpellier, is ready for her close-up. But only if you are shooting a documentary because this girl has a day job. A polar anti-thesis to Cannes, it is the second largest port on the French Mediterranean after Marseille, one instigated by Louis XIVths own Colbert. Materials of all sorts are launched across the world and the fish is as fresh as you can dream of (more of that very soon). The Grand Canal winds its way between the Bassin de Thau and the shimmering sea and yet the ambiance entirely lacks the frothy romance to deserve its nickname as “The Venice of Southern France.” Locals, of whom I was lucky enough to have one show me the ropes, call it an island but it isn’t quite one. Sète is of the in-between in several senses. Prosperous times have been followed by rough economies and then back again. And it shows. This is not a place to come looking for a dream but to wake up (hopefully not in one of the sailor’s bars) and realize that you just might love it somehow, despite or because of the rusty iron balconies, the grated plaster, the glint-eyed sea captains that will threaten a punch if you take their photo. But there are also hipster hotels, a contemporary art museum staffed by pouting young folk draped in black, a burgeoning photo festival and one of the world’s most beautiful concert venues in a Vauban fort positioned for sunset over the waves. I just want to take my hankie and polish the corners a bit. But Sète might prefer to be left just as it is, to follow the ups and downs of its own tide.
Dear Jane and Lance…..
I loved your comment. I wondered at Herve's (my partner, who's French)immediate veto concerning Sete. The town seemed quirky, offbeat, and fun to me…and, yes, "rough around the edges" (just like Memphis and New Orleans, which I've known extremely well since I was 5 or 6 years old).
I'll admit….my first thought, upon hearing that all-too-quick veto and recalling that Herve has just turned only 40, was "Okay…any ex-boyfriends are liable to still be kicking around".
And, yes…I asked him "What's the problem…does an ex-boyfriend of yours live here or something?"
the fact remains that the only towns we've fled over the past eight years were precisely those vaguely-creepy ones which were just…..too manicured and curated….Senlis, Carcassonne (not so much curated as simply disneyfied), and the particularly off-putting Sarlat le Canada. All are wildly endorsed by all American travel-guides.
None of those towns has visible garbage cans or stray cats or anyone looking even vaguely Algerian (or, for that matter, patently un-chic old ladies in picked polyester, well-below-the-knee skirts, obliviously walking each other to mid-day mass down the exact middle of the street), and the only cars you'll see prowling the tiny streets are Mercedes and similar brands. In my book….that counts as creepy.
Alll done and said, I need to visit Sete. It sounds refreshing in several ways.
—-david terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
Lucky you to have spent such time Meze!! And yep, that is it in the seventh photo down. Yum, yum, OYSTERS!!!!! Yep, we saw the jousting boats–that seems crazy!!
Absolutely Liene. It is one of the most beautiful that I have seen anywhere in the world! What an incredible view for a final resting spot.
It really is Laura. It was a great day out all in all. I would happily go back.
Dash, no!!! I think of you as living very far away! To think that we were so close is just so frustrating–and yet I know that we both feasted utterly on the good things from the sea. I have a fantastic address that I will post about soon.
I really would love to meet you. I could take the train to Montpellier–would that be half way?
Bisous!
Hi Heather! Sète looks beautiful and so different from many of the villages along the coast that look somewhat contrived. Clearly I need to get over there and have a look. I love your photos. The gallery looks especially intriguing.
Back again after a very busy day out, so now I have read the wonderful words which accompany the beautiful pictures.
I explored this fabulous place many years ago, but had honestly forgotten all about it. How freshly the memories come back to me, now looking at these images! I remember wondering, all those years ago, why it didn't get more recognition because it seemed to me (in a much too brief visit) to be a place of much character as well as beauty.
And I just have to add : how gorgeous is the comment from Jane & Lance?
Hello Heather:
Well, we rather like the sound of a 'rough round the edges' Sete. Indeed, this looks to be exactly our kind of place with the dubious looking locals, the peeling plaster and the rusty ironwork. Home from home for us!
Weirdly enough (to have spent part of each Summer, for the past 8 years) in Rousillon (Argeles and Perpignan, to be specific), I'd never seen even a glimpse of Sete until this past October…when we were fleeing that flophouse in Carcassonne and before eventually fetching up in Montpelier.
The "Oyster parks" that "French Girl in Seattle" mentioned were one of the most inexplicable things I've ever seen (in my defense, I should emphasize that we don't really have them in the mountains of East Tennessee, where I'm from). I made Herve pull the car over, so I could take some "The folks back home won't believe this one" pictures.
I suggested spending the night there, but Herve, in a rare fit of snooty-boots, told me "Basically, Sete is our version of the Redneck Riviera" (for those who don't know, the "Redneck Riviera" is the decidedly un-glamorous, semi-industrial coastline between New Orleans, Louisiana and Pensacola, Florida). Personally?..I figured that would mean there would be a dearth of bourgeoise, fanny-pack-wearing, children-toting, loud, milling, drink-spilling,and generally unpleasant tourists….which would make Sete the exact opposite of over-commercialized Carcassonne (which would make it exactly what I wanted on that particular day).
Still? We didn't get to stay. I'm going to forward your posting to Herve and flip into my high-manipulative mode…perhaps we can stay there at least one night this coming month. Did I tell you that, just as we're buying and moving into a "new" house here, Herve's also inherited his great-aunt's big, old (a 17th century townhouse mashed up into an 18th century townhouse), quirky house in Argeles? I've visited there several times over the years. We're scheduled to go down and look it over in late June and sign papers (this being France, there will be a LOT (to say the very least) of them; perhaps I can sneak up to Sete while he's signing things for two days).
thanks for the lovely photographs and obviously successful sell-job on Sete.
And just to answer the unasked question?….Remi's photograph of the hippos is going to be hung over the Ladies' bathtub in the "new" house. Did I tell you that this 220 year old house was, throughout the 90's transofrmed into a high-end B&B? Consequently (and in complete contrast to most old houses) we have a surfeit of full-bathrooms….5 in all. My mother (who lives our family's very typical, big, 19th century house with its just-two, tiny bathrooms) has asked me "Five bathrooms?…Just how many people do you plan to be washing at any given time?"
Level Best as ever,
david Terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
Once again you nailed it. You put into beautiful words exactly what I felt when I saw and explored Sete. And your photos are fabulous. Hope to see you soon…