The Camargue and some Roman Stuff

We woke to another bright sunny morning, emptied and filled our tanks before hitting the road. We were up and out early again and as we didn’t plan on driving very far we took a gentle drive down to Saintes Maries de la Mer. We crossed the Petit Rhone into the Camargue and then headed south to this “quintessential seaside resort”. Our route took us past lots of the famous wild white ponies and a field full of bulls - we didn’t stop here!

As we approached Saintes Maries de la Mer, we realised that it was quite small which meant it wouldn’t take long to see. So, instead of parking in the paid Aire, we stopped in the free motorhome day parking area.

After coffee we walked along the coast path and then the beach until we came to the harbour. We walked for a while along the sea front of this not unattractive little town. Having reached the far end of the sea front we turned round and walked back to Kiki. The route along the beach was bracing as quite a strong wind was blowing in our faces.

We headed north east towards Arles, crossing the Rhone and skirting around the city to Fontvieille where we’re staying tonight in the Aire de Camping Car.

Having parked Kiki in a nice spot under some pine trees we set out to see the Alphonse Daudet’s Mill which is on a small hill next to the Aire. This windmill, built in 1814 was made famous by Daudet in his collection of short stories - “letters from my windmill”. It was also painted by several artists including van Gogh. The mill was restored in 1935 and again more recently.

We returned to Kiki for lunch and afterwards set out again in search of the Barbegal Aqueduct and Mills. After a couple of km walking through the woods we came across the aqueduct which was built by the Romans to supply water to Arles. We followed the aqueduct across the valley where it disappeared in a cleft cut into a rocky outcrop. Walking in what would have been the aqueduct, we exited on the other side to find a steep drop down the hillside. All of the way down there were ruins of watermills which were originally powered by the water from the aqueduct. This complex has been referred to as “the greatest known concentration of mechanical power in the ancient world”. At one time there were sixteen overshot mills working here which are considered to be the biggest ancient mill complex.

We made our way back to the village and followed a short trail to see three other windmills and some of the old town. We then returned to Kiki for our evening meal before settling down for the evening.