Bullfighting à la Camargue

That we had not expected. Almost immediately next to us was the bullring. A poster announced a bullfight on 31 May.
Of course we were there. The entrance costs 5 euros. The cashier was easily too be overlooked, a small opening in the outside wall. It was beautiful summer weather. Full of anticipation we entered the arena and looked for a shady place. We were surprised that so many seats remained vacant. The word "jeune" (young) probably explains the character of the struggle that we got to see. Each bullfight -also ours- begins with the Carmen overture,sounding tinnily from the loud speakers.
A group of young men marched into the arena and positions and bows to the "Presidence", where the president has his place.He runs the game, right next to us. Then they disappear and the "toril", the gateway to the stables, opens, and the first bull rushes. First, he is a bit confused, pawing the ground. Only when the boys come into the arena, he is increasingly alive. We have initially the impression that he is afraid of them. He tries to dodge again and again and finally he jumps with bold swing and roar over the wooden balustrade and runs at a loss in the narrow intermediate course between balustrade and viewers rank back and forth. The young men (in the 20ties) have struggled to bring him back into the arena. He does this several times that. Maybe he wants to return to his stable.

Each bull is 15 minutes in the arena. Around the horns he (the bull) has a four-part "cocarde". The bullfighter are called here "raseteurs". They have to remove the cockade. For this they use a comb-like device - the "raset" - with which they have to wrest the cockade. The wild bulls resist against these trials and hunt wildly the raseteurs. The only salvation for the young men is a bold jump across the blood-red wooden railing going around the arena. Have they made the leap, they can hold onto a wooden pole.

Absolutely bloodless is this kind of bullfighting. It is a sporty game between animals and humans. Also, the bull has the chance to win. Does he keep the cockade after 15 minutes, it can leave victoriously the arena. Otherwise this raseteur wins who has conquered the most cockades parts. A total of 8 bulls we have seen.

After the fight, the bulls were loaded into trucks and brought back to their farms and their pastures.

[Click for enlarge the photos]