Cycling from Crau to the Vigueirat marshes.

10 points of interest

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  Savoir-faire

  The saddlery

  Mr. Mison, master saddler and best worker of France with the presentation of a saddle gardiane in 1961, worked in guardian cabin known as "upholstery Jean Mison", located along the D35. There were cabaniers and a saddlery workshop in Mas-Thibert. Ferrand Meffre, his cousin and best worker in France, has returned to his workshop.. The saddlery has gained an international reputation, they did Gardianes saddles for Ronald Reagan but also for Johnny Hallyday

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  Patrimony and history

  The Mas-Thibert village

  Mas-Thibert joined the Camargue Regional Nature Park in 2011. In the 1960s, a community of Harkis settled in the village, now constituting one of the largest harkis communities in France. The village is the only cycling stop of the ViaRhôna between Arles and Port-Saint-Louis. The presence of Vigueirat’s ‘Marshes, protected natural site that belongs to the Conservatoire du Littoral, near the village allows visitors to discover the local natural heritage.

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  Elevage et pastoralisme

  The fighting bulls

  Two breeds of bulls exist in Camargue. For the most part we find the bull from Camargue (Raço di bioù) used for the traditional Camargue race. The second breed is of Spanish origin or fighting breed and was introduced in 1869. It provides bullfighting animals. Mas-Thibert has a large concentration of breeding bulls fighting, we find the ganaderias of Roland Durand, d’Alain and Frédérique Tardieu, of the Tardieu4s brothers and Gallon4s brothers.

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  Flora

  La Crau

  Former delta of the Durance, the Crau is the last steppe of Western Europe. Fragile natural space, it is partly devoted to vegetable and fruit crops and sheep farming. The Crau flora is diversified : scrubland (rosemary, thyme, lavender), wetlands and cushionoul, a stony steppe with arid character. These Crau cushions benefit from a strong protection status: a Nature Reserve of more than 7400 ha.

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  Produits du terroir

  The Crau's hay

  First choice, the Crau’s hay is the first non-human food, which obtained a Denomination of Controlled Origin (AOC), in 1997. This notoriety, and this quality, stemming from ancestral know-how allow the Crau’s hay to be sold in many French regions and abroad. The hay is watered by the Durance which is loaded with silt and mineral matter, so the soil is rich. Of the 52,000 ha of Crau, 12,000 ha are grassland through irrigation.

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  Flora

  The Camargue Regional Nature Park

  You are entering the Camargue Regional Nature Park! Located in the migration pattern of North European birds who pass through the Rhone valley towards Africa, this area offers to countless species a territory where they can move freely in huge protected areas. Horses, bulls, flamingos, waders ... It is also one of the few parks with a significant coastline sharing borders with a Natural Marine Park.

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  Elevage et pastoralisme

  La Crau, land of sheep

  The Crau is a grazed land, there are about 100,000 sheep that roam the lowland between mid-October and April, most are Arles Merinos. This local sheep breed comes from a cross between the rustic Crau breed and merino. Arles Merino is bred for lambs and its wool is elastic, light and warm. The landscape is composed of many sheepfolds, some of which date from the Gallo-Roman era. Livestock farming has been important for millennia.

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  Produits du terroir

  Rice fields

  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.

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  Water and rivers

  The Vigueirat canal

  This canal was built between 1642 and 1647 in order to clean up the "Vigueirie" (an agricultural plain between the Montagnette and the Alpilles) by draining the waste water to the sea. The Vigueirat Canal, which begins in the town of Tarascon, is 46 km long. It is partly classified in the Marais du Vigueirat. National Nature Reserve. Its outlet is located in the Canal from Arles to Bouc. It is automated since 1996 and managed by the large maritime harbour of Marseille.

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  Water and rivers

  The Vigueirat marshes

  The Vigueirat marshes is one of the largest territories (958 ha) acquired by the Conservatoire du littoral in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. This area is a mosaic of wetlands characteristic of the Camargue and offers a great diversity in terms of flora (more than 400 plant species) and fauna (more than 270 bird species). The marshes are composed of natural environments typical of the ecosystems of the Rhône delta: sansouires, ponds, sculpies and reed beds