But even among the best, there is a top-shelf. And for the Camargue salt, it is the fabled, fleur de sel. Brilliant white and comprised of small irregular shapes, it is harvested by hand by a saunier, scooping the salt from the water’s surface with a wooden shovel while walking barefoot in the marsh. Each container of fleur de sel is corked-topped with a label containing the signature of the saunier who gathered it.
I have looked in vain for this salt and decided that today was the day to get some. So the girls and I bundled up to guard against the -2C degree weather, strapped ourselves into the Ford Fiesta (after determining the shotgun rotation) and set the TomTom to Aigues-Mortes – the salt capital of the Camargue.
We drove past Arles, which is the gateway to the Camargue and was once a major inland port. Legend has it that the Romans, who developed the port, strapped inflated pig bladders to the hull of their barges so they could float up the shallow marshes carrying heavy loads. Then, passing
After a while and having passed several of the wild white horses of the Camargue, we found ourselves at Aigues-Mortes, one of the few remaining walled in cities in France. Built by Louis IX (the king that gave us the crusades) as the only French port at that time on the Mediterranean, it is a formable sight with ramparts and walls easily a dozen feet thick.
The girls and I parked just outside the huge walls and went searching for salt. After walking for a while in the cold and asking directions at multiple stores, we found our treasure! We bought several containers and made plans to go back in the spring during the harvest as the salt is being gathered and packaged. I’ll by more fleur de sel, and perhaps meet the saunier who gathered it.
Tonight I’ll pull out Julia’s book and lavish our dinner with the best of the best.
Bonne appitite!
We drove past Arles, which is the gateway to the Camargue and was once a major inland port. Legend has it that the Romans, who developed the port, strapped inflated pig bladders to the hull of their barges so they could float up the shallow marshes carrying heavy loads. Then, passing
After a while and having passed several of the wild white horses of the Camargue, we found ourselves at Aigues-Mortes, one of the few remaining walled in cities in France. Built by Louis IX (the king that gave us the crusades) as the only French port at that time on the Mediterranean, it is a formable sight with ramparts and walls easily a dozen feet thick.
The girls and I parked just outside the huge walls and went searching for salt. After walking for a while in the cold and asking directions at multiple stores, we found our treasure! We bought several containers and made plans to go back in the spring during the harvest as the salt is being gathered and packaged. I’ll by more fleur de sel, and perhaps meet the saunier who gathered it.
Tonight I’ll pull out Julia’s book and lavish our dinner with the best of the best.
Bonne appitite!
Lucie & Kathleen in the town square holding our treasure.
The signed fleur de sel.
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