La Pointe Courte, Sète’s historic fisherman’s district feels culturally separate from the town, a state of being that is underscored by its geography. The jumble of colourful fishermen’s cottages and narrow alleyways, crammed onto a slither of land jutting into the Étang de Thau, is physically cut off from the town centre and port by railway tracks that arrived in the 19th century and a modern-day road.
It was the railway that gave birth to this tight-knit community. It arrived in Sète in the mid-19th century and with it the fishermen and families who settled on land reclaimed from the Étang de Thau. As well as fishing the lagoon, the “pointus”, as they are known, harvested oysters and mussels from farmed beds in the lagoon. Over time this working neighborhood developed a unique identity and its own traditions
It was that culture that drew Agnès Varda, the famed Brussels-born French film maker, to the area to shoot her eponymous film, La Pointe Courte. She shot almost the entire film amongst the colorful weathered houses, the narrow lanes, and on the docks with their drying fishing nets. Varda prefered filming on location rather than in studios, capturing the atmosphere of a place as a result.
The film follows the lives of its two protagonists, Silvia Monfort and Philippe Noiret as the characters Her and Him, a husband and wife seeking to resurrect their failing marriage. The film is a classic and credited with being a forerunner of the French New Wave, and it created Varda’s early reputation. The real star of the film though is La Pointe Courte and the locals who made up the rest of the cast.
Monfort and Noiret’s story unfolds against a backdrop of the community’s struggle as the fishing industry is hit when the harvesting of oysters and mussels is banned for health reasons. Today, the same industry continues to flourish and provides the restaurants of Sète with excellent shellfish. It’s probably best not to watch the film before sitting down to eat.
The community has maintained traditional fishing practices and as I wandered around the area I could see boats coming back from the lagoon. The area is definitely at risk of being gentrified, some houses are available to rent and there are a handful of restaurants that look like they cater to a non-local crowd. Still, in the early morning it made for an atmospheric stroll, and it’s hard not to admire the quirkiness and grittiness of the area.
Varda’s film features scenes shot at Sète’s water jousting festival, the Joutes Nautiques. A medieval sport that is still taken very seriously despite turning into a tourist scrum that, according to the owner of our hotel, is now just an excuse for heavy drinking and general bad behaviour. What was once a three day festival has been extended to a week by local authorities keen to harvest tourist revenue.
Leaving La Pointe Courte behind, I followed the Royal Canal back into the town centre. The Joutes Nautiques was only a week away and some of the boats used for the jousting were moored alongside the canal. I can only imagine the carnage during the celebrations of the festival, especially in weather that was scorching hot. This was the last day of our trip, and we had only one thing left to do: lunch at the beach with friends.
Sète had proved to be a fascinating town, one that I’d like to return to at a slightly cooler and less crowded time of year. It felt like an appropriate place to say goodbye to the Languedoc, at least for now. From the historic towns and villages, to the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean, and the rugged mountainous landscapes of the interior, this trip had been eye-opening.
