Le Marais de la Camargue et la Ville d'Arles

   The title means “The Camargue Swamp and the city of Arles”

   Our trip to the ornithologically important swamp called Camargue started from the coastal city of Narbonne. We went down the Mediterranian coast and we bumped into Béziers, where there were cul-de-sacs waiting for us.

   We try to stay off of the large auto-routes (designated by the letter A). These are decent expressways, with two lanes in the countryside, with three or four around large cities. The problem with auto-routes is that you cannot get off of them when you want to. They only have exits about every third city. You cannot bird them.

   Lunch was at Casanova’s in Carnon, France. Robert had “le Thon a la Provencale”, a tuna steak with tomatoes and very large capers. Berry had “le Lasagne” and it was good.

   We came down the coast to l’Etang de l’Arnel. And then we went to the swamps of Camargue. These are the some of the birds we saw.

• Greater Flamingo
• Goosander
• Black Backed Gull
• Avocet
• Great Crested Grebe
• Magpie
• Cattle Egret
• Bonaparte’s Gull
• Stone Chat
• Gray Heron
• House Martins
• White Wagtail
• Shelduck
• Moorhen
• Little Egret
• Eurasian Collared Dove
• Garden Warbler
• Mute Swan
• Snow Bunting
• Little Tern
• Eurasian Goldfinch
• Wood Pigeon
• Black Winged Stilt
• Common Cuckoo
• Great Cormorant

   Here we present a collection of Photos taken in the Camargue swamp and some in Arles, France this evening.

   We walked across the bridge and wandered through the art district. For dinner, we went to the restaurant l’Apostrophe in the town square in Arles. Robert had the “Gnocchi a la Parisienne”, gnocchi with ham and mushrooms in a white sauce. Berry had “Steack-Frites” (that is how they spelled it).

Robert and Berry

Photos courtesy of wikipedia and rfowler