Our visit to Sete

This post is mostly comprised of pictures in an attempt to visually explain the city of Sete. Linn, Rachel, Bruno and I went for the day to this neighboring city, the city were Bruno went to high school.  We took the train from Montpellier, very convenient as it only takes 20 minutes. A short walk from the train station and we were in the heart of Sete. The “down-town” runs along a large canal, one of many throughout the city. The homes, businesses and Bruno’s high school climb the incline of the hill overlooking the Mediterranean ocean. The population is largely Italian and because of the canals Sete is often referred to as the “Little Venice of France.”

We bought the necessary items for a picnic and walked along the canal to the ocean. The four of us feasted a local specialty the “Tielle.” It is a small pie filled with a spicy tomato sauce and bits of fish or octopus. Cooked throughout the day they were warm, a little spicy, not too fishy and just a little bit of grease from the sauce; they were delicious! We also tried the “Chausson aux Moules” which is smaller, made of the same pie- like crust and filled with spicy tomato sauce and mussels. Made of mostly the same ingredients we didn’t expect much of a difference but Linn and I weren’t big fans of the baked- in mussel flavor. We also bought the typical picnic food of baguettes and wine. The weather was beautiful and other than a little wind it was a glorious lunch.

After our meal we walked along the boardwalk overlooking the ocean, admiring our new surroundings. We stopped for drinks at a lazy neighborhood bar then continued our walking tour of the city. Along a residential street we talked, laughed and took a lot of great photos.  The road climbs the hill overlooking the ocean and ends at the giant cemetery. We walked through rows and rows of beautifully adorned graves. Fresh flowers at most, ceramic or silk flowers at others. There were a lot of people in the cemetery some were visiting specific graves others touring as we were.

We made our way back to the train station slowly meandering through the streets of homes, past Bruno’s school, over and along the canals. We were back to Montpellier in good time and promised ourselves we would take more day trips like this.