Discovering Vaccarès by bike

6 km from Arles is Gimeaux, a small Camargue village where fighting bulls are parked in corrales before the bullfights. Generally attached to the arena, these corrals are located in Nimes and Arles, located outside the city. Bulls can be seen by visitors and aficionados (bullfighting enthusiasts) before the show. They are then brought by truck to the toril, a room adjoining the arena where the bulls are locked before the start of the race or corrida.

From the roadside of the Mas d'Agnon, it is possible to observe the the Grand Mar swamps. They are located north of the Vaccarès pond, which is nicknamed "The Grand Mar" since it is surrounded by the Rhone and the Mediterranean. These freshwater and rice swamps are home to many nesting birds such as herons, stilts, but also water warblers and terns. This is the area of ??Camargue most important for nesting Purple Heron.

The Vaccarès pond, brackish water, is located in the center of the Camargue National Nature Reserve and the Rhone delta. Because of its depth, 1.50 m and its area, about 6 600 ha, it is the deepest pond in Camargue but also the largest. Depending on the time of year and the weather, the light changes and the colours vary. Surrounded by the Petit Rhône, the Grand Rhone and the Mediterranean Sea, it is nicknamed "the Grand Mar".

The Camargue is both an extensive breeding ground (bulls and horses) but also a field crop area (rice and wheat). Cereal and oilseed crop growing areas occupy the uplands. The strong natural constraints that weigh on these productions require important investments in terms of irrigation and drainage. On the other hand, extensive rangeland systems are spread over natural environments (pastures, reed beds, marshes).

Rice farming has been present in the Camargue since the post-war period. Complex, this culture follows several stages: lifting, tillering, bolting, return and flowering. The land is flooded to promote the germination of rice grains and prevent the proliferation of fungi. Rice farming therefore requires freshwater irrigation and extensive drainage to develop the saltiest land. Huge amounts of water between the two arms of the Rhône (400 million m3 per year) are needed.