Sailed into port right on time, one of the first off the ship, hopped into the shuttle (can’t walk in the port, the bus takes you to the port gates) and headed into town. Originally, we had planned to go to Montpellier on the train, but the weather was supposed to be rainy all day, and then we got this little info sheet from RCL (which btw they provide really good information about the port – and not just shore excursion sales – kudos!) about Sete.  They say not many cruise ships come here and it is the picture-perfect French Mediterranean town, so we bagged Montpellier and stayed here.

Good call! Sete is just lovely with lots to see and do.  We started out with a cappuccino in this little, well, dive bar sort of place, where the owner was so sweet and nice, but we were definitely the only English-speaking non-locals there!  We sat outside enjoying the surprisingly good cappuccino, right across from this great mural on the side of a building that had a sofa at the bottom – well, a cement structure painted to look like a sofa, with cushions painted on the wall.  Great 3D effect.

Once caffeinated and with our bearings, we decided to climb up to the Chapelle Notte Dame de la Salette.  This is a little chapel at the top of Mont Saint Claire where fishermen come to pray before going out to sea. What the heck, its exercise, and allegedly has the best 180-degree view of Sete.  Oh yeah, well, that is true, but you’ve definitely gotta work for it to get that view!  It was a climb, let me tell you! Virtually straight up the entire time! With murals and fabulous southern Med architecture the entire way up.  Oh, and stairs, did I mention the stairs?  Quad killers, but so fascinating.  There are houses up here – with doors built right INTO THE WALL of the stairway.  Oh, total hill dwellers. Mind boggling.  But fascinating!

And, as previously mentioned, it was awesome once we got there. The promised panoramic view of the sea and lagoon were just stunning – we were so high up. And the chapel?  We can see why fishermen make the journey up there. From the outside it looks like nothing but an old, basic chapel, built out of stone.  But inside? There are murals are amazing. Rich in color and expressive.  Some are lifelike and realistic.  The 3D effect here is incredible. One of the murals looks like it might actually be in the alps with the snow and peaks all around. Beautiful.

Out onto the circular overlook, we pass the cross erected in 1932 which can be seen from miles around.  It looks like it is lit at night as well, which makes us wish we were in port longer to see it. The views are spectacular as advertised. We could see over the lagoon with the mussel and oyster beds, then off into the salt flats and over the city to the pier where our ship was docked. Stunning.

And then, the descent.  Sometimes going down is worse than going up!  Now it’s a calf killer, but we make it fine, reversing course, finding more great street art as we go, then meandering through the little old town center to the MIAM – the International Museum of Modest Arts – which will forever live in our memories as the bat shit crazy museum. This place is weird, and I mean weird. There were installations that we had no idea what they meant – and it didn’t matter that we didn’t speak French, no translation could ever explain these things.  There where these bizarre costumes hanging from the ceiling.  Weird videos, photos that nightmares are made of, a weird doll head on a bed sort of sleeping display – we can’t even begin to try to tell you about all of them. At least one display made sense, it was actually sort of nice, all these painted mussel shells. That at least made some sort of sense. Sort of. Maybe.

On the top floor, though, there were actually these wild diorama type huge (10 feet tall by 20 feet wide) plexiglass boxes with just weirdly interesting slice of life things interspersed with oddities. One all about airplanes and flight, one with a Star Wars Jedi space ship and horse figurines, another with all cereal and food boxes, one with candy boxes, another with big beetle bugs climbing a tree.  Just look at the pictures – you’ll get the idea….or not!  Probably the best part about the whole thing was this weird outdoor courtyard with stairs that led to nowhere but will really neat artwork made from discarded metal and cars. 

Okie dokie.  Well, art, everyone has an opinion.  Back out in the wonderful sunshine, we head down the main road to the Tourist office, where a lovely lady gives us a map and points out all sorts of different things for us to see. She says the cemetery is definitely somewhere to go, because it has beautiful views out to the sea. She also tells us there is a wonderful picturesque little fisherman’s village at the end off the town (near the train station) that we should see as well.  We asked about hiking through the salt flats, we had read there are tours, but apparently they aren’t near here, because she tells us we need more than one day to do that. There’s enough on our list for now – so we have a plan without the salt flats.

Following our sweet lady’s directions, we head toward the cemetery – which with views of the sea should mean it’s at sea level, but no.  These people are obviously cliff dwellers!!! It is definitely a climb up to the cemetery, which btw is on two levels, one higher than the other!  But it isn’t as much as a climb as the chapel, and once again, it is definitely worth it.  The graves and tombs are just incredibly amazing.  They are so ornate, and with the pictures of the people interred, just makes it so personal.  There are beautiful porcelain flowers (the first we’ve ever seen) along with these weird yellow wreaths all over too – we never dd find out what that was about.  Nonetheless it was stunning, the sea view amazing with the stark contrast to the tombs and memorials.  And as I mentioned, it was huge and on two different levels, almost like 2 completely different cemeteries!

As we were leaving, we spied the Musee de la Mer, a small little museum all about the sea. It was free (bonus) and nice with displays about the fishing industry (Sea-Bream is running now in September!) with good descriptions of how the fisherman trawl and other displays of seafaring offices and different art and memorabilia.  But the most fascinating thing was the exhibition on Sete Water Jousting Festival. This festival, held for 6 days around August 25^th each year, began in 1666. There are 2 teams, a red team of all bachelors and a blue team of all married men.  They joust each other from the aft of a row boats.  And….it is brutal!  These jousting arms have hooks on the end and look like they could kill you in an instant.  The jousting shields are made of wood, but you should see the way the jousts just make huge nicks and dents and even splinter the wood.  It is totally scary and crazy!  There was a video in the museum that showed the jousting and it scared us just watching it.  Then we saw the shield.  Oh dear me!!!  Brutal.  I’m surprised no one has died from the thing.  So, that was an education, I can assure you.

After that uplifting display, we headed back into town (downhill thankfully) for a lovely lunch at Le bistrot de l’Horloge – the clock bistro.  We had passed it on the way up, and it looked good, then coming back, we were sold on the menu, not to mention the decor.  Ed had Mussels (we are on the sea after all), a huge portion!  I had a goat cheese salad, because, well, I love goat cheese and need salad (of course, unfortunately the goat cheese came on this bun with honey and balsamic and was huge and wonderful – and well, like a monstrous sandwich on top of a salad!). Wine (like the style, 5 euros for a baby carafe) and beer completed the meal, but even better than the food was the eclectic decor on the little terrace.  And even more eclectic?  The bathroom!  African masks, posters galore, guitars, plates, a huge mirror behind the toilet.  Picture worthy, yes indeed!

Stuffed now, we walk off all the food by heading to the “little fisherman’s” village at the other end of town, La Pointe Courte.  A nice walk, but little village?  More like touristy fisherman’s village with bars and cafes along the canal where allegedly fisherman wait in anticipation of the sea-bream that swim here into the lagoon in September.  It was a good walk, and there are some pictures to be taken, some interesting lanes and houses and fisherman paraphernalia.  We stopped for an overpriced drink at a Bar le’Passage, a café on the canal, then headed back to the ship.

Along the way, we found this storefront window (have no idea what the shop was) with a real, actual jousting shield.  Oh my God!  Look at the splinters and the damage!!!  And these guys do this on the back of a boat where they are summarily thrown into the water? If they aren’t killed?  Yikes!!!

We also pass much more amenable street art (love the one where the guy is reaching out from the chair, and there is a local guy sitting next to it on his phone!  Too funny!) and fishing boats in the harbor where you can see all the nets and floats ready to be released when they go to sea. 

Back aboard, we hung out on the balcony for a bit, then went up and did more walking around the deck.  As we were up there, we took some photos of Mont Saint Clair to show how high we climbed.  We walked up there! 

After our walk, we visited the pool bar with Aditya (Bali) and Dwayne (Jamaica), quickly making friends with them, then got ready for dinner.  Tonight is formal night, which we are skipping for the first time ever. Judging from last night we’ve decided we don’t want to be anywhere near that dining room and to be honest the buffet has awesome food- so why not???  And it does not disappoint.  The buffet is far easier, we can choose what we want – as much or as little, and it is far more comfortable.  Plus, there is an excellent waiter up here, Ruben, who takes great care of us – what more could we ask for?

Tried to go to the show, but it just wasn’t our style.  It was the Tenors, who are considered the “rat pack of opera.” Everything until opera appealed to us….but sadly that was the killer. We lasted 3 songs. Back to the balcony it is!  Plus huge bonus – it is pouring rain, but we are totally covered so we can sit out in the nice cool air but still be completely dry. And that is where we spend the rest of the night – hanging out and enjoying the sea breeze and sound of rain on the deck above.