Deep in the saddle in Camargue

Moreover, the white horses are central to the traditional way of life in these parts.

For hundreds of years the local cowboys, or gardians, used them to herd that other emblematic animal of the Camargue, the long-horned black bull, on huge ranches carved out of the swamps by new drainage techniques.

Fighting bulls are still bred here, though there is no killing in the local version of bullfighting, the aim being rather to snatch a rosette or tassels attached to the bull's horns.

And while there are only a handful of old-style gardians left, recent years have seen more women, or gardiannes, mastering the old skills.

From my habitual position at the rear of the column (I'm not much of a "thruster"), I could hear fragments of conversation in French drifting back on the breeze.

It was growing hotter and the white horses switched their long tails to and fro to ward off flies and the hard-stinging Camargue mosquito. I was grateful our ride-master, Nicolas, had advised me to apply both strong insect repellent and sunscreen.

My plans to go on an evening ride, this time through the waves along the white sand beach that stretches down to the lighthouse at L'Espiguette, were thwarted because one of those fierce thunderstorms that suddenly build up in the Mediterranean meant the outing had to be abandoned.

So instead I took advantage of the cooler weather to visit the vast and forbidding fortress at Aigue-Mortes.

On a sunny day it is crowded with coach tours and you risk heatstroke; now its long curtain walls and massive towers were all but deserted.

While there are plenty of hotels at newly-built seaside resorts like Port-Camargue, my instinct was to seek out places inland with a good restaurant and a few simple rooms. And over the next two days my search was richly rewarded.

At L'Hostellerie du Pont-de-Gau, I consumed a delicious local variant of a mouclade or mussel stew before wandering down the road to lively Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, whose fortress-like church is the focus of a great pilgrimage of gipsies from all over Europe.

The main festival in May attracts as many tourists as gipsies, while the smaller celebration in late October is more genuine. The sounds of flamenco guitars and dancing can be heard, however, all through the summer months.

I learned about my second "find" while visiting Château d'Avignon, a gracious 18th-century country house set in parkland that was later bought by a wealthy Marseille wine merchant, who installed all the mod-cons of his era, including a boilerhouse and pump-room.

The curator suggested Le Flamant Rose in the nearby village of Albaron. Possibly I raised my eyebrows at the thought of eating at a place called the Pink Flamingo, because she then assured me it was "très correcte".

And so it proved to be, albeit in a slightly old-fashioned but thoroughly honest manner.

On entering you are greeted by a veritable taxidermist's dream of a display cabinet filled with stuffed waterfowl. But the food is strongly regional, delicious and comes in copious servings.

What I thought was a light starter — a friture de jols, small fry caught in the lagoons, similar to whitebait but much more delicate — turned out to be the size and shape of a minor pyramid, while the daube de taureau (the Camargue bull has its own Appellation d'Origine Controlée) was enormously satisfying, and the pudding of caramelised pear "tatin" left me reeling.

The bill, on the other hand was refreshingly light, especially compared to what's often charged in more fashionable parts of the coast.

But then, as I was discovering, the version of the South of France the Camargue presents is rather different from the rest.

THE HOTELS

Barbizon Hotel Pleiades 21 rue Grande, lunch 40, www.hotel-les-pleiades.com. Hotellerie du Bas-Breau, 22 rue Grande, from 190, www.bas-breau.com
Fontainebleau Hotel Aigle Noir, 27 Place Napoleon Bonaparte, from 112, www.hotelaiglenoir.fr Hotel Victoria, rue de France, from 88, www.hotelvictoria.com

THE MUSEUMS

Barbizon
Museum Auberge Ganne, entry 3, closed Tuesday, www.tourism77.co.uk

Fontainebleau
Château de Fontainebleau, tickets 10, www.musee-chateau-fontainebleau.fr
Château Vaux le Vicomte, www.vaux-le-vicomte.com