A Spell in Wild France

At the end of their journey through the French canals described in "Watersteps Through France", the authors spent a year on their barge "Hosanna" in the South of France. This is an account of the joys and tribulations of boat-dwelling in the Camargue. Moored a kilometre from the medieval walls of Aigues-Mortes, the Coopers experienced the atmosphere of a tightly-knit community centred firmly on the pleasures of a race set apart from the rest of France - generations of hard-working, hard-riding cowboys, salt-miners and shepherds. They describe local customs and festivals, food and drink, the vagaries of the phone system and the ever-present gardians with their famous horses and bulls.