interesting sights

The three-day weekend begged for a short trip somewhere. We decided to go down to the beach on the Mediterranean near the border with Spain. The trip was very relaxing and interesting, but a highlight of the trip was a short detour that we took on the way home. Our friend suggested that we take a different route home and drive through the salt flats near the Canal du Midi. I said, “yeah, sure” thinking that the anything would be better than taking the same autoroute that goes from Lyon down to the south of France. I wasn’t sure I knew what we would be seeing.

I never really gave much thought to sea salt either. I never thought to ask ... “what sea?” Well, near a little town called Aignes Morte (dead water) is where they capture water from the sea and let the water evaporate until only the salt is left. You see miles and miles of this stuff ... and the colors are just as fascinating as the colors of the Mediterranean itself, only they are shades of red. The white salt collects along the edges and glistens in the sun. And to add to the scenery, there are flamingos all around, just hanging out in the salt flats.

We stopped the car and walked down to the waters edge (or no-waters edge) to touch the salt. I found an old cup in the car and Paul filled it with some of the salt so we could bring it home and taste it.

Only after we got home did I learn more about the salt-making process and the salt from that area.