May 15, 2026 – Aigues Mortes to Carnon – 22 kms – Charmant studio vue mer et port

May 16, 2026 – Carnon to Gigean – 30 kms – Chambre d’hôte avec accès piscine 

Ruth: Over the past three days we have taken a swing down to the coast before heading back inland to connect with the Via de Piemonte des Pyrénées just before our lodging tonight.

Our hope was to do a little bird spotting in the Camargue. Our first sightings of flamingos thrilled us, even though they were pretty far away.  Since then, between Aigues-Mortes and Gigean, we have seen hundreds of them at much closer range. They are strange birds. Unlike herons, they don’t pull their necks in when they fly. They look like long twigs with huge wings flying through the air. 

There are lots of other birds in these coastal wetlands. I saw a squacco heron, a flock of European bee-eaters, common shelducks,  glossy ibises, and many others.

Gord and I met in a town to have a snack at a bakery when a cockatiel flew right at me and landed on me. He climbed up onto my helmet and didn’t want to leave. What do you do??? I walked across the street with him on my head. Finally, I shooed him off, and he proceeded to fly and land on another woman. She was much less happy with this. She batted him away, and he perched on a parked car instead. We were right next to a vet clinic, so we told them about him. They said this was not the first time he had been seen doing this, but we’re not very interested. Someone must be looking for their poor lost pet.

The “towns” along the coast were not really our type of places. Walking past the concrete jungle of condos, restaurants, and marinas, Gord and I felt like the strange birds. Not being  yachties or beach folk, we turned inland to return to the cute little French villages and beautiful countryside.