Palavas looks, on the map, like lots of other places along the coast. Land mass, then what looks like lakes with bits of land connecting them and some outlets to the sea and then the Mediterranean sea. What i describe as lakes are called etangs. But my dictionary translates etangs as ponds. Largest ponds I've ever seen. The town itself is centred around a canal coming in from the sea lined with fishing boats and cafes for tourists, but when I was there I listened hard for something other than French and could not hear anything. Then it sprawls out, with a bus stop that is a fair way.
I walked along the coast from Palavas for about 5 km along a strip of land about 100m wide on average. Some of it had a thin strip of apartments on the beach side and all it had low scrub or nothing on the etang side. There was an interesting sign on the beach. No dogs. No nuisance noises, Correct attire, No kicking ball games. All loosely translated. And then 'narguile interdit'. I knew interdit means forbidden but narguile is a hookah, according to my dictionary and to the little diagram on the sign. I donot know where the hookah smokers are, but I have not seen any likely candidates, except possibly on 1 of the trams I went on. Certainly not in Palavas. The instruction that said ' correct attire' I thought very misleading. Several 100m past the sign I saw a couple who completely disregarded it, They had on no attire at all.
I after a very pleasant walk I got to Maguelone on an island in the middle of the etung. On Maguelone there is an old Romanesque cathedral.There was an old Roman port, then a church. It was the head of the diocese in the 11th century for a while. Now there are a few other buildings . An organisation runs the place, including some vineyards, cafe, organic gardens and gives employment to people who would find it difficult in the mainstream workforce.
According to my map and walking notes from a friend's book, you can get from this island to another thin strip of land that runs back to Palavas but a bit inland from the one I first walked on. Somebody had locked the gate. No one else was around, I was not prepared to retrace my steps, I am used to chambering over rocks and squeezing through tiny spaces between bushes ( thanks ot my orienteering), so I went a slightly unconventional way around the gate. I walked back the 5 or so km to Palavas and looked for somewhere to have lunch. Bit tricky because most of the places only had outdoor seating in the sun. i was wearing a hat when walking, but still, I had had enough sun. I found a place which was relatively quiet and had a small table in the shade. But it was a bit Faulty Towersish. There was a small menu outside which was OK. But they had no printed menu. He showed it to me on his phone. Then I asked to see the drinks list. There were some mixed drinks, then it did say 'vins E4 ' ( nice wine is relatively cheap here) . No particular wine was specified, so i asked in passable French ( I have been practising, I have my priorities right) for a glass of dry white wine. He went away and came back with a glass of a few mouthfuls of a white for me to taste. I have no idea what it was but it was too sweet, so I asked for a red, any red, I didnot care. He went away and came back to say he was very sorry but they could not find any red. Hmm. I settled on water. The fish was very nice as was the coconut and raspberry tart. I went inside and saw that it was still in an unfinished state. There was no way to lock the loo door. So that was the problem, they had only just , too soon, opened.
I wandered around after lunch, sat on some rocks on a breakwater watching kids playing on the sand and 5 people rigging 3 catamarans.
Then I had to walk back to catch the bus back to montpellier, then the tram back to my apartment . I was feeling a bit off in the tram and wondered if i had eaten something a bit off, then I looked at my watch ( it is smart) and realised I had walked 18km . I know that feeling I get when I need food and water and soon. ( 1 croissant and 1 coffee is not enough to walk 18km on) I was carrying water, but I am not keen on spaceships, so forgot about it. . ( If you think i am going mad, my ramblings sometimes only make sense when read sequentially) So i stopped at the supermarket on the way back to my apartment. And ate and drank for the rest of the day.
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