Sete was founded at the end of the seventeenth century, by the building of the massive breakwater which shields the ends of the canals between the sea and the large Etang de Thau. The Seteoise celebrate this by a massive festival at the end of August, of which the most prominent element is water jousting.
A sizeable league spreads across southern France, but Sete considers itself the real home of the game. Players come in several classes (by size and age) but the main event is the heavy weights. The long-running champion is a local boy, a large guy rejoicing in the name of Aurelia Evangelista. The big day of the St Louis celebrations is the last Monday in August, when the heavy-weight championship is held.
Central Sete is jammed for the day, roads closed off and cafes doing a roaring trade. Local people wear red or blue, the colours of the boats in the joust. The central section of the western canal is blocked by floats, and lined with grandstands. Along the western side and at the ends, these are reserved for the bigwigs. All down the eastern side, the local villages of the Pays de Thau take over blocks of seats, decorated in their colours. Blue and yellow for Agde, orange for Frontignac, and so on. These crowds are wild enthusiasts for the event, starting early on the local wines. Everyone else, like us, squeezes in as best they can. We got a place on the bridge at the northern end of the jousting zone, bagging a piece of rail which we then had to guard for over an hour before the competition began.
For that hour, the canal was swarming. Inflatables everywhere, people of all ages in and out of the water. A hundred tiny dramas of capsizes and duckings, stolen hats, races to the other side, less than subtle flirtations. Enormous fun, even just watching.
Unimaginable in England. Not just because the water would be too cold, but somebody would decide it was too dangerous to let people have unregulated fun, because, after all, they can't be trusted to take care of themselves.