France Trip: Jouteurs de l'Eau - Water Jousting in Sête

Monday, May 18, 2026

One day at the beach, I was telling a young English-speaking lady how to order a carafe of water for when you want tap water (un carafe d'eau, SVP), and she asked if I'd seen the water jousters the day before. And I was like WHAT?! So I used my French-sleuthing skills to determine that the tournois de joutes is a semi-regular occurence in Sète, so I hadn't, in fact, missed much of anything. As part of the Fête de la Saint-Pierre, there would be even more water jousting tournaments than usual. July seems to be a popular month for tournois de joutes

And that is how I spent a couple hours each day watching various water jousting tournaments. It seems to me that most men were into it for the manly grunt-yell they got to do when they stabbed their opponent's shield.

There's a lot that goes into these jousts. There's training schools, of course, but then on the day of there's the boats, the rowers for the boats, the captains, the musicians on each boat with their straw hats, all the equipment, spectator stands, etc. Such a fun thing to stumble upon and experience!

France Trip: Fête de la Saint-Pierre in Sête

Sunday, May 17, 2026

I had not done any real planning, but ended up in Sète by recommendation of a tour guide a week earlier...and it just so happened that my visit to Sète coincided with the Fête de la Saint-Pierre (Festival of Saint Pierre), the patron saint of fishing. Which...in a fish town is...a decently big deal. I was in my apartment when I heard nonstop playing of a brass band, so I went on a little stroll to Rue Mario Roustan, where I was greeted by this lively, lovely procession!

Groups of boys and men in blue and white stripes, carrying wooden models of boats with effigies of the saint and lots of florals, through little streets lined with crowds of people. Leading to Église Saint-Joseph. Such a wonderful thing to randomly discover by chance! I probably should've been more diligent in my visit to the Tourism Bureau earlier that day...

France Trip: La Plage de Sète

Saturday, May 16, 2026

Most of my days in Sète would involve taking the bus to the plage, and walking a ways down the agave-lined paved path to grab a beach umbrella at various little beach cafés. Sète is where I descovered limoncello spritzes, which is a lovely way to enjoy a spritz, if I do say so myself.

Some days, I'd buy a sandwich at the boulangerie on my way to the beach, and shoobie my day away.

Sète is on the Meditterranean, so the beaches are just delightful.

France Trip: Around Sête

Friday, May 15, 2026

Five night in Sète, France to recover from my travel ailments...and enjoy the beach! Sète is a lovely little fishing town on the Mediterranean Sea (as well as the Étang de Thau). My boulangerie tour guide recommended Sète (as well as Antibes) to me, and his recommendation was spot on, which we'll see in future posts.

In the meantime, here's a bunch of photos from walking around this quaint little town. Such as the Place du Pouffre above, with its aquatic statues, as well as the view from right outside my AirBnB (above-right). That hike up the hillside, all stairs was...quite the workout. There's a reason why my suitcase had to be small!

Lovely scenes along the Canal Royal (Canal Midi? Canal du Rhône?). Lined with lovely little cafés, and fancy boats. The streets that branch off from the main canal-streets are full of great little shops, boulangeries, more cafés, etc. Just a wonderful place to amble around.

France Trip: Narbonne

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

There is absolutely no reason for tourists to visit the small town of Narbonne. Unless, of course, you're following a personal rule of not transferring at train stations. So I spent one night in this delightful little town, absolutely and utterly charmed by how pleasant it is. There's a lovely canal to walk around. Little shops tucked into small roads around le Place de l'Hôtel de Ville.

Dinner was duck confit pizza from Restaurant L'Ave, with a view of the Roman Road (la Via Domitia). Not much else was open, 'think I must've arrived on a Sunday (an hebdomodaire-ly issue for us travelers). Breakfast before heading back to the train station was an over-the-top strawberry pâte à choux from Monsieur Pâte à Choux.

There was a free shuttle that dropped me off near my AirBnB and the train station. Once I found the stop near the train station (took a bit of effort), it was smooth sailing! However, my AirBnB in Narbonne had the smallest spiral staircase of my entire trip...and then the host had given me the wrong code for the door. Nothing says fun like sitting at the top of an un-air-conditioned "European death stairs" siphoning wifi from underneath the door of your AirBnB while waiting for a response from your host! But all travel is expected to have moments like these. After 15 minutes, it was resolved and everything was great.

France Trip: Carcassone

Sunday, May 10, 2026

Carcassonne was delightful. Surprisingly delightful. Europeans are not the greatest fans as it was basically reconstructed by an architect in the 1800s, and it's not 100% historically accurate, but the restorations have resulted in an absolutely enjoyable, beautiful little tourist trap.

I walked around the ramparts for hours. And then greatly enjoyed wandering the tangle of little historic streets lined with shops and restaurants. Had some regionally-appropriate cassoulé for lunch, ended up at a café in a dusty courtyard for Aperol Spritzes. Just a wonderful way to spend the day.

The only place where you see reference to The Carcassonne Board Game is in the Tourist Fffice, where you can purchase various versions of the game...as well as some over-sized wooden meeples pieces.

I took a full-day bus tour from Toulouse, and rather than return on the tour back to the Pink City...I hitched a ride on Le Petit Train Touristique Carcassonne back to the SNCF train station to head to my next stop!