History Salted Away

In the decades before Julia and I settled in France, in Provence and ultimately (at least to date) in Brignoles in the Var, we toured the country extensively. Over these years, there were countless magical occasions; among them an evening in Beaune when we admired from outside a café the multicoloured tile patterns of a Burgundian roof - made more surreal because we could never subsequently find where it happened. Of all these, an outstanding memory is of dining on the main square of Aigues-Mortes in the Camargue.

We became conscious of a modest upheaval as a man caused other diners to move aside as he wheeled a handcart carrying an upright piano to the fountain in the middle if the square. Once established, he began to play and, as the evening wore on, he was joined by other instrumentalists: a saxophonist, a clarinettist and a bass player. As their ad hoc gig developed, we were able to enjoy a concert of cool improvised jazz that would have earned ovations at Ronnie Scott's in London.

It was one of those nights that Provence sometimes bestows on locals and visitors alike, when the sky turns indigo and all the stars in the firmament parade, looking at their best. The superb free show, an excellent meal and good wine combined to make Aigues-Mortes a special place for us ever after.

However, the town is special in other ways and remains so for each new visitor who makes the effort to reach the westernmost part of the Camargue. For one thing, it is France's walled city nearest to the Mediterranean. It was founded by Louis IX, St Louis as he is latterly known, in 1241 ostensibly as a port from which the launch one of the many 13th century crusades. Louis, though, had a hidden agenda: he reckoned that a Mediterranean outlet for the then fragile and ununified state of France would provide him with a chance to challenge the powers of the surrounding lands controlled, to the west, by the kings of Aragon and, to the east, by the counts of Provence. Seven years after building started, the port of Aigues-Mortes saw an armada of 1500 ships set forth to do battle in the Holy Lands. Even so, it was not until the reign of Philip III that the city's walls and battlements were completed.

As for St Louis, Aigues-Mortes provided him with his last sight of his kingdom. In 1270, he set sail on yet another crusade only to die of plague in Tunis. Louis's dream of a Mediterranean port also proved short-lived. Progressive silting up of the channel left the port as stranded inland as happened to Rye in Sussex. After little more than a century, in 1350, it became apparent that no amount of dredging could restore the port to its former glories. Three centuries later, attempts in the 1830s to dig a new ship canal were made redundant by the development of railways and the opening of a new, more viable, port at Sète to the west.

Today, Aigues-Mortes does not hark back to its maritime past. Its present and future are secured by the Salins du Midi, between the town and the sea, which produce half of France's massive salt output, and an increasingly important wine-growing industry. Yet some things remain unchanged. If you approach from the D979 it appears very much as it must have in the 13th century. The walls rising sheer from the plain bring history suddenly into focus.

Within the walls, Aigues-Mortes is laid out on a grid system reminiscent of the bastide towns on the south-west. This can be misleading, as the town is not really as four-square as it appears. Should you embark on the popular walk around the ramparts - and, if you do, it is longer than it looks - you will find that they are, in fact, five-sided.

At ground level, there is a wide area between the walls and the internal streets, a relic of the need for the garrison to mount defences readily and swiftly.

The modern town has avoided the proliferation of chain stores and supermarkets, if only by the lack of internal parking and narrow streets. Hence, we have a variety of small shops, without too much catering to the demands for tourist kitsch, with restaurants and hotels mostly concentrated in and around the central place St-Louis. In daytime, it is bustling with people but retains the leisurely approach common to the south, while at night life congregates in the central bars and eateries.

Not far away, the Château de Teillan offers an interesting excursion. It was built on the site of a Gallo-Roman stronghold, originally as a priory but later sold and extended. It has a 15th century watchtower that command s views across the Camargue and as far as the Cevennes. Other features are a vaulted hall with furnishings from the 17th and 18th centuries and an unusual revolving ladder, while outside there is a dovecote with 1500 nesting boxes.