"These students were natural, uninhibited, full of the joy of life, yet were mannerly and exhibited respect for authority. I can say that I wish all traveling Americans could be as charming and as good ambassadors as your group!"-From a former dean of freshmen at Dartmouth College in a letter to our headmaster after visiting the Hotel de L'Atelier in Villeneuve
. To read about and see photos of the ancient Pont du Gard in a history book is one thing, but to study it one morning and the same afternoon go racing across the top or through the aqueduct and marvel at the skill of the Romans 2000 years ago is quite another. Well, that's precisely what we did in 1970.
The Camargue, a marshy delta on the Mediterranean at the mouth of the Rhône River, is a huge regional park and bird paradise with wild horses and bulls and sandy beaches. I had read and heard about this area, but never had occasion to visit. It seemed like the perfect time because there was an annual event in Saintes Maries de la Mer where gypsy people meet for the ritual of carrying a statue of Ste. Marie into the ocean to be blessed.