Saintes Maries de la Mer
Saintes Maries de la Mer is a town in Camargue.
Understand
According to legend, it was in Saintes-Maries that the rudderless boat occupied by Marie-Jacobe, sister of the Virgin Mary, and Marie-Salome, the mother of John the Baptist, washed up after their flight from the Holy Land. The two saints were accompanied by Sarah, her servant.
Get in
Get around
See
- [dead link] Parc Ornithologique de Pont de Gau, road 570, a few km out of town, ☏ +33 4 90 97 82 62, fax: +33 4 90 97 74 77, contact@parcornitologique.com. Apr-Sep: 9AM-sunset; Oct-Mar: 10am-sunset; closed Dec 25. ticket valid for a whole day.
To date, there are two pilgrimages to Saintes-Maries: On May 24th and in late October each year, pilgrimages held in honor of Jacob and Marie Marie Salomé, and in May, for Sarah, the patron saint of Gitanes (which are mainly Spanish Roma).
Do
Buy
Eat
Most eateries in the downtown serve very trivial set of dishes, naming them a local specialty for marketing reasons. This is because only 5% of StMdlM summertime population are local residents--while catering tourist crowd has always been much easier and more profitable.
If you have a car, for a finer dinner experience for nearly the same budgets, try restaurants inside the hotels found along the D570 road on the way to StMdlM. See Camargue#Eat for some tips on finding a good restaurant outside the town.
Alternatively, try seeking recommendations from locals living there all the year round.