By Neil Parkinson

Published in French Property News, May 2005

 

 

One of the joys of experiencing another culture is in finding new recreational activities. The Languedoc - the regional name derived from the terms langue d'oc - the « language of Occitan » - has a rich tradition of leisure and sporting activities for settlers and travellers alike.

 

The sporting calendar across the Languedoc blends traditional events and activities with sports practised the world over. « Joûtes nautiques » (nautical jousting), « Tambourin » (a sort of raquette ball sport played with a tambourine but without the jingle-jangle) and «Tauromachie » (sports involving bulls) firmly link the region to its medieval past - and arguably surpass Pétanque in exoticism.

 

Nautical jousting is a summer pastime practised in various coastal towns along the Mediterranean. Its crowning event takes place in Sète beginning the fête of St. Louis in August and lasting 3 days. This event takes precedence over all others played elsewhere, putting Sète at the forefront of the sport and coining the term ‘Joutes Sêtoises’. While it is difficult to pinpoint the origin of the sport, it is often considered a vestige of the festivities of Roman seafarers.

 

The first bouts of nautical jousting in Sète took place in 1666, the same year that the main canal, the « Canal Royal » - a project instigated by Louis XIV - was inaugurated. The canal project was to be the basis for the Canal du Midi, the naviguable link joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and was later to become the stage for all jousting in Sète. The « Maison des Joutes » in Sète houses a museum open year round to honour the history of the sport.

 

In the 18th century, jousting battles pit bachelors against their older married counterparts. The former wore blue on their clothing, their lances and vessel, and the latter, red. Then as now, jousters have a lance 2.7 metres in length and a wooden shield. Vessels are round bottomed and 8 metres in length. The platform on which the jouster stands measures a little over a square metre, is fixed at a height of 4 metres above the water, and has footholds for jousters to support themselves against. The objective is to push the opponent into the water without touching the platform with hands, knees or elbows. A loser is declared « mouillé » (wet).

 

Each vessel has 10 rowers and a captain, whose role is to order paddling such as to sway the boat and help his jouster regain his balance. An oboe and tambourine player are also usually included onboard, lending suitably medieval accompaniment and atmosphere to the occasion.

 

The town of Sète is both an active fishing port and a tourist destination, with its stretches of sandy beaches a magnet to sunbathers. The town is buttressed by the Mont St. Clair, the summit of which forms an excellent panorama scanning the Thau lagoon, neighbouring vineyards and towns, and the Mediterranean. Sète is bound to attract interest over the next few years due to its proximity to Montpellier.

 

« Lou tambouret »- or , as they call in Occitan « le tambourin » - is both an elegant and athletic sport. It is played on a long outdoor court measuring 80 by 20m split in the middle between the two opposing teams of five players set out in the form of an X each defending a vast 800m². A tambourine is held in the hand of each player. This consists in a ring 28cm in diameter over which would traditionally have been stretched a wrinkled horse skin, a material superseded by plastic. A bat of a smaller diameter with a handle is employed to initiate play. Balls follow strict mass and colour regulations - red for daylight play and white after dark.

 

The game is played very much like tennis, only without a net. Given the length of the court, exchanges can seem very long, with intervals of as many as 5 seconds between most distant players as they hit high arcing balls. Such hits create a loud clap as ball meets tambourine and the ball flies. Stray balls should hence be avoided by spectators!

 

One of the main clubs in the Languedoc is in Gignac and hosts events throughout the summer. Gignac, has the familiar appeal of a small market town, and has wooed many a city-dweller away from Montpellier to its comfortable countryside setting. The town itself is surrounded by vineyards and enjoys the backdrop of the dramatic « causses », the limestone plateaux that come to an abrupt end before the plains.

 

The term « Tauromachie » covers the passion for sports where the bull is the focus. Enter other terms such as « Corrida » a staged event in which a bull is coaxed by the « Matador », the « Féria », the street party that goes with it, « Courses Camargaises » or « Landaises » which consist in dodging or jumping over a running bull.

 

Tauromachie goes back to Roman antiquity, where the bull fight was the preliminary to gladiatorial combat. In the modern age, of course, bull fighting arouses passion and controversy. While figures such as Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso celebrated the sport, corridas have often been opposed by religious and political authorites, and have been subject to outright bans. Pressure from Brussels may soon bring about their demise in countries where they are practised, including Spain, France and some Latin American countries.

 

Literature on the subject is quite daunting, both in terms of volume but also in its scholarliness. Indeed libraries in the region place tauromachie among the arts rather than sports, in part certainly due to the elegant costumes worn by the matador but also no doubt due to the various protocols involved. Although the corrida has little in common with the football match, the idolisation of matadors - and the mythologising of long departed heroes and contests - surely recalls the worship of soccer stars.

 

In France, the corrida was reintroduced in Bayonne in the south west of France and spread without difficulty across southern France. Of the various towns that see bull fighting events, Nîmes is very much the focal point. It hosts various events throughout the year in the resplendent Roman amphitheatre « Les Arènes » in Nîmes, a few doors along from the "Carré d'Art" contemporary art museum by British architect Sir Norman Foster.

 

Although long-gone elsewhere, in Nîmes the culture of ancient Rome is still palpably present. « Les Arènes » along with the Roman temple dedicated to the grand sons of Augustus « La Maison Carrée » and hilltop tower « La Tour Magne » are fascinating relics of Roman antiquity. The city hence has much to offer with a clever combination of the avant-garde and the ancient. Its streets are equally pleasant for shoppers.

 

Those looking to settle in the area will find property prices favourable and the range of options wide. In Sète, a 1 bedroom apartment overlooking the marina and Mont St. Clair, and within minutes of beaches will cost 80,000€. A spacious provençal style villa beside the town of Gignac is for sale for 365,000€. Close to Nîmes, a fully renovated 2 bedroom village house with a roof terrace can be purchased for 107,000€. In the same area a vast and beautifully restored village house with fully independent B&B rooms is available for 492,000€.