The Joutes Nautiques of Sète – an excerpt from Languedoc-Roussillon

A direct descendant of the sea battles or naumachia that took place in the flooded amphitheatres across the Roman empire, nautical jousts are fought in several regions of France, including the lakes of the Franche Comté. None, however, can match the enthusiasm that Languedoc has had since 1270, when legend has it that bored Crusaders revived the sport at Aigues-Mortes while waiting to sail to Tunisia with St Louis. Today nine towns practice the sport according to the méthode Languedocienne: Sète, with six jousting fraternities, a school (children can start learning the ropes at age 7) and its climatic tournament de la Saint Louis on 25 August, is the centre of the sport. Each fraternité or club has eight to ten oarsmen, a helmsman, a drummer and an oboe player, and a high platform (la tintaine) built on the stern of the blue or red boats, where the jouster (each team has several) stands with a small shield and a 2.5m lance. All are dressed in white. Rousing jousting songs are played on the banks of the canals as the boats race towards each other, while each jouster tries to knock the other into the drink. You can usually find some action on summer weekends in Sète – and it’s not to be missed.