Summer holiday 2004
le Cap D´Agde − France


Wednesday, 7th July

Today I have planned to pay a visit to the nearby town of Séte. Last year I was unable to this, which I regretted very much. Nearby, because Séte is only about 18 Km away and is situated east of Cap D´Agde. If you follow the directions to Agde you will soon see road signs with directions to Séte as well. Once I leave Cap D´Agde it becomes reasonably quiet on the road. Driving east I pass a small lake at my right and in the far distance in the middle of the water I notice a large group of flamingo´s foraging. At first instance I am thinking of a zoo, but this is clearly not an enclosed area. These are wild birds. Amazing! This promises to be an interesting tour.

After having passed two or three round-abouts, on my right behind a small rim of dunes, I can see transparent emerald green waves breaking on the beach. Here it still is a fairly deep beach, about 200 feet. As I get closer to Séte the dunes gradually become less deep, only about ten feet, and the beach not much more then about 50 feet. I pull over park the car, and stroll across the beach for a few photographs. I am always on the lookout for some nice pictures that I can use as "wallpaper" on my computer. Walking through the dunes I look into the direction of Séte and as far as the eyes reaches I can see beach. Later on I check the mileage counter of the car it is about 12 kilometres long. Once finished with the photographs I return to the car and continue my drive to Séte.

As I get closer to Séte, alongside the road many cars are parked. Amongst them are lots of campers. Most of these are parked halfway the sand dune at the middle of this relatively narrow stretch of sand that separates the "Bassin de Thau" from the Mediterranean. That´s right, a narrow stretch of land! Because that is where this road is build upon, a 12 kilometres long and fairly wide sand dune that separates these two large bodies of water. Looking at the inland side, in the distance I can see the railroad track that connects Agde with Séte.

There are also quite a number of camping sites to be found at the inland side. I turn around and look at the beach. In spite of the vast number of vehicles parked here, the people on the beach still have lots and lots of space around them. It is far from being crowded here. There is still a firm wind blowing today and some of these people take advantage of this and are kite surfing. I sit down on top the dune for a while and I observe how transparent emerald waves with their white heads break on the beach. It is simply beautiful here.

When I reach Séte I park the car at the beach site. Unfortunately there is no shelter here from the sun. But, so be it! I then begin my walk-about at the west side of Séte. Around me there are lots of high-rise hotels and suburban houses, not very interesting I am afraid. Thinking I will soon find the more interesting areas of Séte I continue my walk along the lengthy seaside boulevard. Let me explain to you that Séte is build at the coastline on a forward faced rocky outcrop that rises quite high above the sea, looking much like a Christmas pudding. It is around this huge circular shaped rock that the houses were build and the aforementioned boulevard leads, allowing people a fabulous panoramic view across the Mediterranean as far as the eye reaches.

Having walked for about half an hour and still not having seen a sign of the town´s port I decide to return to the car and drive al the way. After again another half an hour I am now driving where I left off walking. I follow the boulevard and eventually I do find the port entrance at the far east of the city. This is as far as you can go by car. The road ends here at a small round-about that enables you to circle around and head back again. There is a small parking area that is hardly being used at all. In the direct vicinity there are hotels and what looks like a casino. All together this is not a very interesting site to explore further. So I leave the same way as I came out here and return to the resort. I am disappointed to say the least!

Having arrived at the resort I am asked whether I am interested in a walk along the beach. My son would like to search for some more shells and possibly some marine animals. The idea of dipping my weary feet into the cool ocean water (and probably scare the fish) is quite appealing. So the both of us head out for the Roquille beach and we begin our stroll through the water into the direction of "Plage du Mole". Out here there is always something interesting to find like fish, crabs, anemones, etc. etc..

Tonight? Well, we don't do very much tonight. We just hang around a bit, have a drink and enjoy the cool evening.