Meal in Sète

Had a voucher for a free welcome drink at selected restaurants and found below menu at one of them, so... French gastronomic experience!

The menu which I chose from!

Entrée: Moules à la marinière/mussels served in their shells and cooked in a wine and onion sauce. – origin Fr., lit. ‘mussels in the marine style’. (Thanks, Wordreference.com)


Plat principal: cuisse de canard farcie au cèpes/ duck leg stuffed with mushrooms

Dessert: Moëlleux au chocolat et coco/can't find a translation... gonna go for chocolate/coconut brownie

Get Sète for Jousting

Just a quick note, as I don't believe one can mention this town without making reference to jousting.

The Setois version of jousting is done in boats, and the aim is to knock your opponent into the water. During the festival of Saint Louis, every inhabitant of the place can be found down by the canal!

To give you an idea of how important it is to Sète:

statue on the main canal



mural on the wall of someone's house



gravestone in the Cimitière Marin, reading "if you don't like Setois jousts, don't come near this grave. If you love them, have no fear: come closer, sit down and, if you want, doze."

A View from the Mole Saint Louis, Sète

Yet another nice view in Sète. This is taken from the Mole Saint Louis (a promontory on the Meditteranean seaward side of the centre of town), looking back at the town centre.

According to this site, the 'mole' was built in 1666. Since then, its 650m have protected the entry of the old port from the Mediterranean sea, and sheltered boats.

Cimitière Marin in Sète

If you have to rest in peace somewhere, I reckon here wouldn't be bad! Aside from the fantastic view, well-known poet Paul Valery is buried here. It was him who prompted the cemetery's name change from Saint Charles to Cimitière Marin, because he wrote a poem about it, which was entitled Cimitière Marin.

Pretty interesting place, as there are different sections for the different groups which formed Sète. The only one I can remember off the top of my head is the lower one, where there were lots of the Italians who came to live and fish in Sète.