# Sète, the Singular Island — The South of France
> A fishing port laced with canals on a strip between the sea and a lagoon, with water-jousting, a poet’s cemetery and the oysters of Thau. Sète, in the Languedoc.

*Source : https://the-south-of-france.com/en/languedoc/sete-port/*

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By **The Editors** — _Sète, Hérault_

Spring 20268 min read Share LinkMail

Sète sits on a narrow band of land between the open Mediterranean and the wide **Étang de Thau**, laced through with **canals** where the fishing boats come and go. It calls itself the singular island, and it more or less is — a working port with its own accent, its own kitchen and a hill in the middle to climb for the view.

## I. The canals and the jousts

The **Canal Royal** runs through the heart of town, lined with seafood restaurants and the trawlers tying up between trips. On summer feast days the canal hosts the **joutes nautiques** — water-jousting, two men on rival boats trying to knock each other into the water with lances, a Sète tradition three centuries old and taken entirely seriously.

“A port between two waters, with its own accent and a hill to see them both.”

From the notebook

![Two boats and jousters on a canal between crowds](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1593899025469-8ea731985ccb?fm=jpg&q=74&w=1400&auto=format&fit=crop)

The joutes nautiques — water-jousting on the Canal Royal, since the 1660s.

## II. The hill and the poets

Above the town the **Mont Saint-Clair** gives the great view over the sea, the lagoon and the rooftops. On its slope the **Cimetière marin**, the sea cemetery, looks out over the water — the poet **Paul Valéry**, who named it in his most famous poem, lies here, and so, in another corner of town, does the singer **Georges Brassens**. Sète keeps its own.

![Oyster tables in a calm coastal lagoon](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1526822162485-79f02ba82a9d?fm=jpg&q=76&w=2400&auto=format&fit=crop)

The Étang de Thau — oyster and mussel beds a few metres off the shore.

## III. The lagoon and the table

Behind the town the **Étang de Thau** grows the famous oysters and mussels, raised on ropes from wooden tables and opened a few metres from where they grew, at **Bouzigues** and **Marseillan** on the far shore. In town, try the **tielle**, the spiced octopus pie that is pure Sète — and very little eaten anywhere else.

The Practical Carnet · Carnet pratique

### Plan the _visit_

Getting there

Sète is on the coastal line, about 25 min from Montpellier by train.

When to go

Spring and autumn; August for the water-jousting of the Saint-Louis feast.

Where to stay

A small hotel by the Canal Royal, for the boats and the morning fish.

Read next

[The Canal du Midi by bike](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/languedoc/canal-du-midi-velo/)

E

About the Author · L’auteur

#### Élise Marchand

Travel Editor — based in Marseille

Élise has been driving the back roads of the Midi for the journal since its first issue. She pays for her own rooms and her own lunches — and only writes about the places she would return to.

[More by Élise Marchand — voir ses articles](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/journal/)

Continue reading · À lire ensuite

### More from the _South_

[

![A canal in the Languedoc](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1577026624672-ec2ba6b8946f?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

Languedoc

#### The Canal du Midi by bike

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/languedoc/)[

![A table in the Midi](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1604851146774-d43a41372d71?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

The Table

#### Six tables worth the detour this spring

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/the-table/)[

![A hotel in the Languedoc](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1562687598-40393b4d426b?fm=jpg&q=74&w=900&auto=format&fit=crop)

Stays

#### Where to stay in the Languedoc

](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/stays/)