Course Camarguaises are Insane Fun!
Want to make your holiday truly memorable? Go see a Course Camarguaise in Uzes!
We well remember the day when Jacqui and Emile invited us to attend a Course Camarguaise with them. A bullfight, we thought? With all its attendant effeteness and revolting cruelty? Something that would end with a beautiful bull dropping to its knees, bleeding out its last?
Never!
Jacqui and Emile were quick to notice our hesitation, and equally fast to reassure us. A Course Camarguaise, they explained, was a Provençal form of bullfighting. There were no matadors. No spears. The bulls wouldn’t be hurt in the slightest.
“In fact, they’re the stars of the show,” Emile had stressed.
And then they began to explain.
And then they began to explain. A Course Camarguaise in Uzes consists of ten rounds, each round featuring a different bull (younger, more inexperienced ones at the beginning; increasingly larger, faster, and more homicidal ones afterward).
The bulls have a red cockade and two white ficelles placed between their horns, , and field twine is then tightly wound around the base of each of their…very sharp…horns. The bullfighters’ job is to remove the cockade, ficelles, and twine before the round ends. If they manage to do that, they win. If they fail, the bull wins.
And the bull’s intention…not to put too fine a point on it…is to kill the bullfighters.
Course Camarguaises seem to strictly be local affairs, and don’t attract much in the way of tourists. (We felt extremely self-conscious when we brought out our camera to take a photo.) They’re relaxed affairs. People arrive late. They smoke a ton of cigarettes, wear brightly-patterned guardien long-sleeve shirts (the men); or boldly-hued sundresses (the women).
A bull enters the ring and is first given a few minutes to get used to the arena. A fanfare then sounds, and the bullfight begins.
The bullfighters have ten minutes to take the bull’s adornments and unwind (and take) the field string tightly wound around the bull’s horns.
To accomplish this, the bullfighters work in teams. The “turners” approach the bull from one direction, shouting at it to draw its attention. The idea is to goad the bull into making a charge. It is at this point that the razeteurs enter the fray.
Equipped with a four-toothed cutting tool that is often taped to their wrists, they rush at the bull from a different direction than the one the turner has led the bull. The bull, hearing and seeing them approach, slams to a stop, turns on a dime, and chases the razeteur at full speed.
And that’s the entire idea: make the bull change course and work to get back up to speed—which gives the razeteur the split second he has to reach between the bull’s horns and snatch at the cockade, or later in the bullfight, cut at the string attached to its horns.
A life or death scene then ensues. The razeteur’s only option, if his attempt to grab either ficelle or cockade fails, is to sprint for the safety of the four-foot-tall enclosure.
And then something amazing happens.
At full speed, the razeteur steps onto the tiny (!) ledge at the bottom of the stockade (painted white in the photo above)…lands on the top of the stockade with his other foot…and then flies through the air and catches the iron railing where the spectators sit.
It’s an amazing display of physical dexterity. And it happens time and time again.
Imagine finding yourself so far from the stockade…and so close to a nightmare.
From the Book:
Chapter 22: A Bullfight Without Dying
Trumpets sounded and the bullfighters climbed over the stockade and entered the ring. The little bull then did its best. It charged, twisted and turned, and took many an enthusiastic run at the bullfighters. But it didn’t last long. The bull was quickly stripped of its cockade and ficelle, and looked shell-shocked when the gate was raised, indicating it was time for it to leave the arena.
Several times, it had come close to goring a razeteur, which had wring a cry of fear from Linda, and my seat mate noticed.
“Is this your first Course Camargauise?” he asked.
I told him it was.
“Tell your wife not to worry,” he said. “The first two bulls are always rookies. They don’t do much and they won’t last long. The one after that will be a bit more experienced, but he won’t last long either. The fourth is bigger and faster, and has a fair number of bullfights under his belt; so he knows the bullfighter’s tricks. And the fifth is bigger and faster yet, and has even more experience.
“By the sixth round, you have a real bull to deal with: fast, tough and mean. Number seven is worse than all the earlier ones put together, and about that time you often get a jumper.”
I interrupted him. “I’m sorry? A jumper?”
“A jumper, yes,” the man confirmed. “When a razeteur jumps over the enclosure, a jumper is strong enough to follow him over the stockade. The razeteur thinks he’s safe, but he’s not.”
The man smiled wickedly at the thought. “That’s when things get interesting,” he said.
I looked at the height of the red-painted enclosure and doubted what I’d just heard. Everyone knew that bulls didn’t jump. They lunged, charged, made a lot of noise and raised a cloud of dust, but they never really left their feet. American rodeo bulls maybe, but they barely got high up in the air, being too heavy.
My seat mate saw the doubt on my face and gave me a smile.
“Number eight will be huge, and he can be a jumper too,” he continued. “And number nine,” my neighbor shook his head in disbelief. “Number nine will be unbelievable. Big, heavy, fast, rippling with muscles. He’ll have made many appearances, and regularly won. And he’s always in a bad mood.
“And then, number ten,” the man began, and then struggled for the right words. “Number ten is…just impossible. You can’t imagine what he’s going to be like.”
He thought for a moment. “A devil with horns,” he offered.
Then he shook his head. “No, worse. Much worse.”
TIPS:
Uzes Tourist OfficeAsk at the Tourist Office where you can see a Course Camarguaise in Uzes. They’ll look the schedule for you. Smaller ones are fun and less expensive. Bigger ones, like the ones in Beaucaire and Arles feature a fashion show (beautiful and traditional Provençal outfits).
• Show up early to get a good seat in the shade. This is important. You don’t want to fry.
• You’ll be looking for a sign that says “Arenes.” Just follow the people.
• Inexpensive. Cash only.
LINKS:
Tourism office in Uzes (you can change the language to English at the bottom right)