Camargue Wildlife and Sunflowers

Our excursion was to be to the Camargue which is an estuary area like around New Orleans. There are semi-wild white horses, so I thought that was what the excursion would be about. It was not. But I didn't find that out right away.

Workers on the dock

First we had to get off the ship. The ship was so low down that we had to go up to the sun deck to get off.

Sun deck even with the dock

So I went up to the Sun Deck. The scooter followed me. Now the gangway of course had step at the beginning and cleats all the way along it. The helpers (which included the Captain) were positioned in front and behind me. And the one in front took hold of the handle of the scooter including the forward lever and when he grabbed it the scooter jumped almost off the gangway - only being stopped by the helper's body. At the same time I was holding onto the rope that was on the side of the gangway and the Captain said "Watch out" but I didn't watch out quick enough and I scraped and bruised my hand on the rough rope.

I did manage to get off the ship. But I was very sleepy from going to bed late and getting up early and I had forgotten my hat. Climbed onto the bus. I had originally picked the red group which was the fast walkers because the scooter is not slow and I am not walking at all. But Dragan convinced me that I needed to be with the slow walkers. Bad choice since A was with me.

We passed an extensive Wednesday market,

Arles markets

and then fields of rice and sunflowers

Sunflowers from the bus

and melon which was under a clear plastic covering (and I didn't get a photo of them) before we got to the bird sanctuary.

Camargue farm from the bus

Entrance to the park

Map of the park

The guide was explaining the ecology - there was a disabled stork there that couldn't fly and the guide gave them a swift that she had found half dead for them to revive. (lots of luck with that)

Yellow flowers

There were egrets and great blue herons,

Great blue heron

Herons

Flamingos

and nutria.

Nutria are a South American rodent which are an invasive species in the US, first imported for food. I don't understand why the European park would harbor them. I didn't actually see any but my granddaughter did.

Nutria

But when I got out on the path, it was sand and it was too deep for the scooter - it just dug itself in instead of going forward. So I went back and sat in the shade and A did the trail by herself. She came running back and took my camera because she said there was an owl who was really cool, and she took some photos of him (or her)

Owl through the fence

Owl

Owl in a cave

Owl

We got back on the bus,

White horses from the bus

and went to a little walled town of Aigues-Mortes

City gate

which one of the Louis had a church built there. I would have stayed on the bus, but they told me that I could not. So I went in and went the length of the shopping street with the guide.

Shopping street

We had 40 minutes of free time, but my back was hurting and it was hot, so I went into the church and lay down on a bench for about 20 minutes,

Chapel

Ceiling of the chapel

and then I went back down the shopping street and waited for the bus.

City wall

Park

On the way back we stopped at a field of sunflowers and A took my camera and got off the bus to take photos of them.

Sunflower backs my photo from the bus

Backs of sunflowers

Sunflowers in the field

Sunflower

Single sunflower

By the time we got back, they had moved the boat so we could get on the regular way. We went to lunch and I had mussels (although some of them I couldn't open them to get them out), and bouillabaisse which had shrimp, fish and a piece of bread in it, and then most of us had lemon tart
for dessert.

A went on the Van Gogh walking tour this afternoon. We have our last dinner tonight and then we pack and leave tomorrow morning.

For dinner I had a

Mixed leaf mozzarella salad

Beef tenderloin

Chocolate souffle

,
We did get packed although my suitcase was quite heavy. I put my pocketbook into it, and just had the computer bag to carry. But that was heavy too

A;s account