France
Sète
Canal-laced fishing port where jousting boats clash and Brassens's ghost haunts every quay.
The fishing boats come in at dawn and the restaurants benefit by noon — Sète in France is a canal-laced port town where the catch is still the calendar and the water jousting on the Canal Royal is treated with the seriousness other towns reserve for football. Georges Brassens was born in these streets and is buried on the hill above, his guitar-shaped gravestone facing the sea he sang about.
Sète sits on a narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean and the Étang de Thau, a saltwater lagoon whose oyster beds produce approximately 13% of France's oyster output. The town's Canal Royal hosts joutes nautiques — water jousting — a tradition dating to 1666 in which teams on opposing boats attempt to lance each other into the canal, an event treated as the town's principal sporting occasion. Georges Brassens, one of France's most celebrated singer-songwriters, was born in Sète in 1921 and is buried in the Cimetière Le Py with a view of the sea. Mont Saint-Clair, the hill above the town, provides 360-degree views across the étangs, the Mediterranean, and the port. The Italian influence on Sète's cuisine reflects the Neapolitan fishing families who settled here in the 18th century — the tielle sétoise, an octopus-and-tomato pie, is their most visible legacy.
Solo
Brassens's birthplace, his songs playing in the bars, his grave on the hill — Sète is a pilgrimage for anyone who knows the music. The port below adds the working-harbour authenticity the songs describe.
Friends
The water jousting is spectacle enough to build a day around — combine it with the fish market, the canal-side restaurants, and a climb to Mont Saint-Clair for the view. Sète has the energy of a town that takes its fun seriously.
- Water jousting on the Canal Royal is a serious sport here — teams in white try to knock each other into the water with lances.
- The fishing port still lands fresh catch daily — the criée market happens before dawn and the restaurants benefit by noon.
- Brassens was born here and is buried on a hill above the sea — the town treats him as a patron saint.
- Mont Saint-Clair gives 360-degree views of the étangs, the Mediterranean, and the oyster beds of the Thau lagoon.
Tielle sétoise — an octopus and tomato pie in a spiced pastry crust, Sète's signature street food.
Bourride — a white fish stew thickened with aïoli, lighter and brighter than bouillabaisse.
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