Every design for Istres

Climb the rocky promontory of the Oppidum du Castellan at dusk and the whole of Istres opens up: the Étang de l'Olivier at your feet, the old town huddled beside it, and beyond, the shining sheet of the Étang de Berre, the largest lagoon in Europe. To the north and west stretches the plaine de la Crau, the only steppe in western Europe.

The Castellan is more than a viewpoint. People lived on this rock long before the town below took shape, and it still feels like the place where Istres begins. From there the town spreads out between water and plain, with the Camargue and the Alpilles close enough for a weekend. Every year runners race around the Étang de l'Olivier, and the town's 102 sports clubs keep the parks busy, from the Parc de Trigance to the Art Zoo - Parc Sainte-Catherine. Overhead, jets from the Istres-Le Tubé Air Base trace lines across the sky; NASA once counted it among the emergency landing sites for the Space Shuttle. In winter and spring the mistral sweeps in, cold and clear.

That rock above the lagoon is the reason to wear Istres: a lookout that has watched over the water for longer than anyone can remember.