Camargue national park. How to get to pink flamingos

The region of Provence, the Camargue Natural Park is unique in every respect - it is unusual, colorful, with amazing expressiveness and beauty of nature, holidays like no other, gypsies in national costumes, bullfighting and mistral unpredictably blowing wind.

The park stretches over 857 square kilometers in the delta of the largest French river, the Rhone, and Professor Louis Mangin, who served as head of the French National Society for the Protection of Nature, took an active part in its creation in 1928. The Camargue received the official status of a protected area in 1970, when the question arose of protecting wetlands and the Mediterranean coast stretching over 343 square kilometers. Later, the park was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The nature of the Camargue park

The landscape is very interesting and unusual for ordinary state reserves. This is an ancient region, a third of its territory is occupied by reed marshes, and here you can also see salt marshes, sea lagoons, beaches, channels, stiff-leaved forests and sandy islands. The semi-steppe picturesque natural complexes are recognized as the last site on the European territory that has been preserved.

The main treasure of the Camargue Park is the world of birds, 272 species of birds nest here: birds of prey, waterfowl, near-water and passerines. But the main natural attraction of the reserve are flamingos. Ornithologists number about fifteen thousand of these graceful birds with pink plumage in the Camargue, a third of which remain in the park for the winter. It is only here that you can see beautiful birds at close range and it is best to admire this bird in the morning hours, when pink flamingos are being fed. True, the charm of flamingos sung by poets may fade under the impression of the merry scenes that play out during the feeding of these scandalous birds. They are constantly yelling, arrange it is not clear why disassembly and brawls, the noise is unimaginable while the ducks are quietly eating up the food scattered for the flamingos.

In the unique protected juniper forest, where the trees reach fifty centimeters in diameter and rise up to seven meters in height, more than a hundred different species of mammals live in brackish estuaries and reed beds. The “visiting card” of the reserve is recognized not only as flamingos, but also small black bulls and wild white horses that are not found in any other European country. Animals can only be seen at a great distance, if tourists want to take pictures for themselves, then the lens should be taken at least 400 mm.

There are three hiking trails in the Camargue Park: the Flamingo Trail, the Drover Trail and the Safari Trail. The Safari Trail invites tourists to drive around the park in an SUV, the Flamingo Trail to see wonderful birds, and the Drover Trail to admire wild boars and local bulls. When choosing a hiking route for yourself, tourists should definitely wear a hat and take mosquito repellent with them.

Attractions

An interesting legend is told about the Gypsy Mary temple, built in the fifteenth century: they built a chapel of the followers of Christ, whose names were the same - Mary, and they had a maid named Sarah. For some reason, the parishioners prayed to the maid in the hope that she would convey their prayers to her mistresses.

It is not known how it was in past centuries, and today only fifty people live in the Camargue Park, who like to organize fun mass celebrations for tourists, hold black bull fights and arrange theatrical performances, prancing on white horses. The bullfight held in the reserve is real and only Spanish bulls are released into the arena, as the local residents of the Camargue bulls feel sorry for them and play only bloodless games with them.

In the town of Sainte-Marie, you can see the bird museum, and in the town of Aigues-Mortes, a wonderful view of the park from the tower of the city wall offers a wonderful view.

Camargue Park is primarily a place where tourists are offered outdoor activities: cycling, horseback riding, fishing and, of course, hiking. You can also order an excursion by jeep or by boat on the water part of the reserve. In the vicinity of the Camargue Park, a beach holiday is possible.

How to get to the Camargue Park

The park opens to the public at nine o'clock in the morning, and the entrance ticket costs 7.50 euros.

You can get to the Camargue by sea, from the city of Arles and Nimes by bus and by renting a car. Bus tickets cost 5 euros and the trip will take from half an hour to an hour.

In the south of France, on the Mediterranean coast, .

The Camargue is a wetland, a mixture of salt marshes, reed marshes, sea lagoons and alluvial sand islands. These places were chosen by numerous birds and many animals. The symbols of the Camargue are pink flamingos, black bulls and unique wild white Camargue horses that exist only here.

Geography of the Camargue:

The Camargue is divided by branches of the Rhone into three parts:

• Little Camargue (Petite Camargue) in the west of the Little Rhone
• Big Camargue - in the center between the Little and Big Rhone, mostly a lagoon.
• Plan du Bourg to the east.

Camargue landscape:

The Camargue is a flat, flat landscape of interspersed ponds and meadows. Not as impressive as the neighboring ones, but the main thing here is not the landscape, but nature. You don't even have to look too closely - you will see the most interesting birds and animals in their natural habitat. It does not matter how you go to see the Camargue - by car, on foot or by boat - nature, amazing in its naturalness and beauty, awaits you.

To admire the birds, it is worth visiting the Pont de Gau ornithological park - it is from there that photos of tender flamingos crowded in the pond. Well, in addition to them, there are many other birds, information about which can be found from the information boards. The park is equipped with special viewing platforms to make it more convenient to admire the birds and disturb them as little as possible.

Ornithological park Pont de Gau:

This is a huge nature reserve with an area of ​​120 hectares, where you can see 260 species of birds. Some of them live in the park permanently, while others migrate depending on the season. For tourists in the park, a special route has been developed with viewing points in some places. The map can be obtained at the park, along with the entrance ticket.

• Entrance: 7.5 €
• Opening hours: summer 9:00 - 19:00

Camargue horses:

About 4,000 wild horses of a special local breed, which are called the "Camargue Horse", live on the territory of the Camargue Reserve. An interesting fact is that the foals of Camargue horses have a bay or black color, but over time it brightens and becomes snow-white. Zoologists are still arguing about the origin of these beautiful animals. Genetically, the Camargue is close to the ancient horses of the Upper Paleolithic, common in Europe about 45 thousand years ago. Camargues differ from thoroughbred horses in their extraordinary endurance and unpretentiousness.

According to historical chronicles, after the conquest of Gaul, Julius Caesar quartered the veterans of the glorious 6th region in. They started breeding and improving the breed of local horses. It began to bring a good income, so it soon became a prosperous city.

View Camargue:

There are several options for admiring the beauties of the Camargue:

• On foot(there are several routes in the Camargue, on foot, by bike or by car. There is one route from, there is a themed route with flamingos)
• On a tourist mini train(from - 7 euros, inexpensive, but shaky)
• On the ship(from there are cruises on the Little Rhone, an hour and a half, 12 euros, with stops to admire the animals closer)
• Horse rides(depending on the time, from 20 euros per person, by prior arrangement)
• Car safaris(approximately - from 40 euros for 2 hours per person)

Cruises in the Camargue from Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer:

Most often, they go to the Camargue from the resort town. From here, in the high season, several routes along the Little Rhone depart, lasting an hour and a half. The trip is accompanied by comments. The ship stops at a couple of places so that tourists can take pictures of the animals closer.

• Cruise duration: 1:30
• Cost: 12 euros
• Route - Petit Rhone - from Saint Maries-de-la-Mer to Bac du Savage with stops at horse and bull farms when you can take pictures.
• 3 companies: Bateau Camargue, TIKI III, LES QUATRE MARIES
• Departure from the port of Sainte-Marie de la Mer
• Boarding is 15 minutes before departure.
• The minimum group is 6 people.

Cruises to the Camargue:

• Bateau Camargue: From July 9 to August 31: 10:45, 14:30, 16:10, 17:55, in September: 10:30, 14:30, 16:10, from October 1 to 13 10:30 and 14: 30, from October 14 to November 1 - 14:30.
• TIKI III: April - September 10:00, 14:30, 16:15, from July 14 to August 31 - additionally 11:30, 18:00, the second half of March and October - only 14:30.
• LES QUATRE MARIES: 10:30, 14:30, 16:15, in July - August - additionally at 18:00.

Click on the image to enlarge the map.

Photo 1: Camargue. Provence, France.

1. The Biosphere Reserve (Camargue) is located at the mouth of the Rhone River, in the very South of France in Provence,. The Rhone River, flowing into the Mediterranean, is divided into two branches and therefore the Camargue is divided into 3 areas: east of the Greater Rhone lies Plan du Bourg, between the Greater and Lesser Rhone lies the Greater Camargue, and west of the Lesser Rhone lies the Lesser Camargue.

Photo 2. White horses Camargue and flamingos.

2. Photo 2: Camargue,, reed lagoon. Camargue, Provence is a truly unique region in the South of France. Provence, perhaps, has no equal in France in terms of the variety of landscapes and industrial zones. Alpine meadows, mountains, plains, Mediterranean beaches and marshy areas such as the Camargue, make traveling in Provence an exciting adventure. In addition to natural beauties, Provence has the most picturesque, a lot of historical sights and artifacts that have survived to this day from the time of the Ancient Roman Empire.

3. Camargue Biosphere Reserve. Provence, France.

Photo 3. Camargue Biosphere Reserve, Provence, France.

In 1977, the Camargue acquired the status of a biosphere reserve, and it is largely thanks to this status that this marshy lowland has preserved the richness of flora and fauna. More than 300 species of migratory birds find rest and food in the Camargue during long seasonal migrations. The Camargue is also famous for its high-quality rice, the plantations of which are located mainly in the territory of the Petit Camargue. The fauna of the Camargue is not inferior in diversity to its flora. The famous black bulls of the Camargue are highly valued in neighboring Spain, in addition, there is a fairly large population of wild white horses and pink flamingos in the Camargue.

4. How to get to the Camargue.

The nearest airport to the Camargue is the air harbor of Marseille, the capital of Provence. It is very convenient to get to the Camargue from Paris by rail. You need to buy a ticket for the TGV high-speed train to Avignon (about 40 euros), and then from Avignon get to Arles or, after that, transfer to a bus to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

5. Routes in the Camargue. Provence, France.

Photo 4. Sunset in the Camargue, Provence, France.

a) The Riders' Trail. For inquisitive travelers, there are three interesting routes around the Camargue. The first walking route is called Draille de Mejanes, the so-called trail of drivers 4 kilometers from Sainte-Marie. Walking along this route, you can see a herd of black bulls on natural pastures and numerous families of wild boars in reed beds.

A photo. Camargue, Provence, France. Curtains on the Espiquette beach.

b) Flamingo trail. At 5 kilometers from the Salis de Giro, a route begins where you can admire huge flocks of pink flamingos in their natural habitat at the mouth of the Rhone River () Also, in places where small sandbanks appear every now and then, you can admire the flocks migratory birds, if the time of your excursion coincided with the period of immigration.

Photo 5. Bridge over the Rhone, Camargue, Provence, France.

c) Safari trail. The jeep ride seemed to be the most interesting for us. The price is 20 euros for an hour and a half and 100 euros for an 8-hour trip, plus an hour for a free lunch.

6. Sights of Provence near the Camargue.

Photo 6. Expanses of the Camargue, Provence.

Near the Camargue there are several picturesque small towns of Provence. Aigues-Mortes is notable for its ancient fortress wall, which is quite well preserved to this day, in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer you can visit the most interesting ornithological museum, and from the height of the city hall tower, you can enjoy an amazingly beautiful view of the Camargue. On the Camargue coast there is a magnificent deserted Espiquette beach, about 8 kilometers long. The beach is wild, but very picturesque and absolutely free. Do not forget to bring some food and drinks with you, there are no restaurants near the beach.

7. The city of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, the heart of the Camargue, Provence, France.

Photo 7: City of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Camargue, Provence, France.

- a small town in the western part of the Camargue, Bouches-du-Rhone department, the starting point for a variety of excursion programs and safaris in the Camargue reserve. But Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mer, as a typical representative of the cities of the South of France, is quite remarkable in itself. This is a calm and cozy town of Provence, in which a little more than 2.5 thousand inhabitants live. The main attraction of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is the ancient 11th-century cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-la-Mer, whose architecture evokes thoughts of a medieval castle with a main donjon tower. Judge for yourself: photo 7 - the main nave of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-la-Mer, the city of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, in the vicinity of the Camargue, Provence, France.

Photo 8: Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer neighborhood.

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is also notable for its stunning sandy beaches on the Mediterranean coast of France. In 2012, thanks to them, the city of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer entered the top 10 places for a beach holiday in France. Nothing strange, but 6 cities in this ranking belong to the region of Provence, France. The beaches of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer compare favorably with their counterparts on the Cote d'Azur, which is some 30-35 kilometers from Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. The picturesque surroundings of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer attracted the attention of such great artists as Van Gogh and Picasso, and the famous American writer Hemingway fished several times near this small town in the southeast of Provence.

8. .

Photo 8: white horses, Camargue, Provence.

About 4 thousand wild individuals of the local horse breed live in the vicinity of the Camargue. These are the so-called Camargue horses, the correct name is the Camargue horse. A slightly irrational spectacle of wild horses prancing along the edge of the surf in the very center of densely populated Provence, some fifty kilometers from half a million Marseilles, it is this unusual accessibility of the pristine harmony of wild nature that attracts many tourists to the Camargue. The white horses of the Camargue have a characteristic ash-white color, but it appears only by the age of three, until this age the Camargue horses have a black color.

Genetically, the Camargue horses are close to the ancient horses of the Upper Paleolithic, which roamed the vastness of Europe about 45 thousand years ago. Compared with their thoroughbred counterparts, Camargue horses are distinguished by extraordinary endurance and unpretentiousness.

There is a mention in the historical chronicles of ancient Roman authors that after the conquest of Gaul was completed, Julius Caesar quartered the veterans of the illustrious 6th legion in the city of Arles (located in Provence, on the banks of the Rhone River, 45 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea, located in the Bouches-du- Ron). So these same veterans took up breeding and improving the local Camargue breed. Over time, this became quite a profitable business and Arles became a fairly prosperous city in the South of France in Provence.

The most famous of the regional natural parks include the Camargue Nature Reserve, which occupies the entire western part of the vast Rhone Delta (an area of ​​​​about 81,780 hectares).

These ancient regions of salt marshes, reed marshes, sea lagoons, hundreds of channels and sandy islands are considered the last site in Europe where you can see relic semi-steppe natural complexes that have completely disappeared in other areas.
Here, on an area of ​​almost one and a half thousand square kilometers, pink flamingos, egrets and many waterfowl still nest, and in total up to 300 species of birds have been recorded. In the unique juniper forest (local juniper reaches a height of up to 7 meters with a trunk diameter of up to 50 cm!) and in endless reed beds of numerous channels and brackish estuaries, there are more than a hundred species of mammals. But the "calling card" of the Camargue, along with pink flamingos and small black bulls, are wild white horses, which are also not found anywhere else in Europe.
Important advice! If you want to make a fruitful photo session, you will have to take at least a 400 mm lens, and preferably more. Animals are kept at a very large distance.
In several places there are special trails with observation posts from where you can look at the fauna of these places.
Another tip: come to the Camargue in the morning, preferably before dawn. I'm sure you can take wonderful pictures with birds there.

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Camargue - the most expressive area . The Camargue is gypsies and holidays like nothing else; it's a bullfight; it is a unique nature reserve; this is a mistral and that says it all. Mistral wind in translation means "master", because it blows when it wants and how much it wants, it is always unexpected and unpredictable. But it has an exact duration - 3 days, 6 or 9. Its speed starts from 50 kilometers per hour and reaches 150. If they are not imbued with and do not feel its mystical power, then you can easily go crazy, which many do.

In the town of Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mer, on May 24, a holiday is celebrated: Saint Sarah's Day- the patroness of the gypsies. On this holiday, gypsies from all over Europe flock here - the whole city and the church of Sainte-Marie become a gypsy Mecca. Every Catholic gypsy dreams of being in this temple at least once in his life on this very day. It's like for Muslims to make a hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, for Christians to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and for Buddhists to visit the temple of Buddha, where his tooth is kept. The Church of Saint-Marie was built in the 9th century. Here are the relics of two Marys. The name of the town of Saint-Maries-de-la-Mer is translated as Saint Mary from the sea. And that's why. In 40 AD The Romans decided to get rid of the relatives and friends of Jesus Christ. They put them in a ship without a sail and oars and sent them to the blue sea. On that ship were - Mary Magdalena, Maria Salome, Maria Jacobleva, Martha (who defeated the Tarasco monster in Tarascon), Lazarus, Maximilian. It was with all of them that the ship landed on the shore of this town. There was also a certain Sarah with them. Who is she and why exactly did she become a saint and patroness of gypsies? She comes from, at one time she was the wife of Pontius Pilate. But after she converted to Christianity, a high-ranking husband rejected her. She became the leader of a nomadic tribe. Once she had a dream in which an angel appeared to her and said that she should become a servant of two Marys. She found them and went to their service - and so she ended up with them on the ship. And why did she become the patroness of the gypsies, and not St. Mary Magdalene or Mary Salome? And all because the reputation of the gypsies says that they are not very honest. And, allegedly, they are ashamed to directly address through the holy well-behaved virgins, and Sarah, since she was a servant, became their mediator.

The most important moment of the festive ceremony is the removal of the rakke - the sarcophagus in which the relics of St. Mary are buried. It descends from under the dome and then pandemonium begins. During the French Revolution, the robbers shook out the holy relics on the floor of the temple, and the locals collected them and hid them in their homes, and when the revolution ended, they returned the remains to the temple. Since then, the relics have been kept under the ceiling, and only once every few years they are sent to Lourdes (a city in western France, where the sick are healed with water from the spring of St. Bernadette). After the service, the statue of Saint Sarah is taken out of the temple, carried around the city, after which they are dipped into the sea and everyone dives (regardless of the fact that the water is still cold at the end of May), after which the statue is returned to the crypt until the next holiday.

In the harsh year of the Spanish Inquisition in the 16th century, mass expulsions of Jews and Gypsies began from Spain. Well, the Jews are a different story, but as for the Gypsies, they settled in the Camargue. This is a harsh region for Provence: sweltering heat in summer, the rest of the time - maddening mistral. In order to live here, you have to want to live here. The people here are harsh: they ride semi-wild horses and raise bulls - this is a cowboy area. Most of the population lives on farms and carefully honors ancient traditions. The men are somewhat reminiscent of American cowboys, but the French riders, who are called guardiens, are 300 years older than them. All family members usually work on the farm.

The wives of French guardiens are called Arlésiennes. A real Arlesian knows and observes local traditions and rides a horse. Every three years, the Queen of Arles is elected. To do this, she does not need to walk the catwalk in a bathing suit, on the contrary, the Queen of Arles must be able to embroider, speak Provencal, know the traditions of Provence and ride a horse. The Queen is present at all holidays. And for the family it is a great honor when their daughter becomes the Queen of Arles and the photos from the competition are the main home relic. By the way, there should be exactly 83 pins in the upper part of the Arlesian dress. It takes at least two hours to get dressed and hair done! The most expensive part of the costume is the headband. In winter, Arlesian women do not wear fur coats, but wrap themselves in woolen shawls more than 4 meters long.

The men's costume consists of a bright gypsy-style shirt, denim trousers with stripes, boots and a black velvet jacket with red lining. Moreover, this national costume of the guardiens was invented by the Russian artist Pryanichnikov. He combined the English and Russian lines in it. The British, entering the smoking room, threw on a velvet cape, which absorbed the smoke of tobacco and thus the rest of the clothes were not smoky. Guardians spend a lot of time with horses and bulls, and so that, upon returning home, the owner does not smell of animals, he takes off his velvet jacket in the hallway, which has absorbed all the aromas of the stable. And the Russian line is because the artist Pryanichnikov was the personal battle painter of Tsar Alexander III and always depicted him in a uniform with an indispensable red lining on his jacket.

The symbol of Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mer and the entire Camargue is the cross, on the upper part of which there is a trident, with which the guardians drive the bulls. The cross itself symbolizes faith - the heart in the middle means faith. And the anchor at the bottom of the cross is the sea.

Bullfighting is very popular in the Camargue.. In France, bullfighting is not prohibited - it is real here, with all the consequences. Here, only Spanish bulls perform at bullfights. As a rule, the bull enters the arena only once. Because here you either pan or disappear. Those bulls that come out victorious in a duel for the second time are no longer released into the arena. Since they gain experience and are not going to run after a rag. Bulls, after all, contrary to popular belief, do not rush to red, but react to movement.

The Camargue bulls, unlike the Spanish ones, are noticeably smaller and their horns are not directed forward, but upwards. Unlike the Spanish bulls, they do not participate in bullfighting - the locals feel sorry for them and they simply participate in games that are bloodless for them. Metal caps, a cockade and a rope are placed on the bull's horns. A group of four or five players enter the arena and their task is to pull this cockade with ropes from the horns of the bull. In practice, this is not an easy task. Unsuccessful and indecisive bulls are sent to the sausage, and those who have shown a fighting character after several fights become smarter and more aggressive, which saves their lives. Some fight human for 10 years, after which the retired bulls are sent back to the farms they came from, where they share their memories with the rest of the retired bulls.

Camargue, France - video

Saint-Maries-de-la-Mer on the map