0:00:03 > 0:00:06CROWD: Vivent les Saintes Maries!
0:00:06 > 0:00:07Vive Sainte Sara!
0:00:09 > 0:00:12THEY SING A HYMN
0:00:19 > 0:00:22It's said that the first Gypsy who ever came to Europe
0:00:22 > 0:00:24landed here in France.
0:00:24 > 0:00:25Her name was Sarah.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27She was a servant of the two holy Marys
0:00:27 > 0:00:31who were escaping from Palestine after the death of Jesus,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33and it was Sarah who first came ashore
0:00:33 > 0:00:35and stole food and clothes for them.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37That's why several thousand Gypsies,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Juanita, this English Gypsy, among them,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43come every year from all over Europe on a pilgrimage
0:00:43 > 0:00:44to Saintes-Maries,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47where, usually, you don't see many people,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51only the white horses and the wild bulls and the cowboys.
0:00:56 > 0:00:57THEY SHOUT IN FRENCH
0:01:17 > 0:01:18COWBOYS SHOUT IN FRENCH
0:01:29 > 0:01:32It was Juanita who told me the story of Sarah
0:01:32 > 0:01:34as we came out here to watch the French cowboys
0:01:34 > 0:01:36rounding up their bulls for a contest.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38She also told me why the Camargue,
0:01:38 > 0:01:42which this strange marshy land is called,
0:01:42 > 0:01:44is such a right place for the Gypsies to come to.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47It's mainly because the black bulls and white horses
0:01:47 > 0:01:49make you think of the Gypsies,
0:01:49 > 0:01:51who were often horse dealers in the old days.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53In fact, Juanita still is one.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56But the Camargue is also a good meeting place for them
0:01:56 > 0:01:58because of the atmosphere,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01which seems to fit, at least, my idea of what the Gypsies are like -
0:02:01 > 0:02:04sinister, lonely, hard to understand.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08They seem to belong to another continent -
0:02:08 > 0:02:09perhaps Africa, as people thought
0:02:09 > 0:02:12when they started travelling in Europe 500 years ago,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14or perhaps India.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18If you ask any question about the Gypsies,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20the answer is always "perhaps".
0:02:22 > 0:02:24I remember that as a child
0:02:24 > 0:02:26I was brought up to be frightened of them -
0:02:26 > 0:02:28"The Gypsies will come and take you,"
0:02:28 > 0:02:29people said, if I was naughty -
0:02:29 > 0:02:32and I was told that they didn't only take children,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35but they stole things, they told lies, they were witches,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39they were cannibals - and they were filthy, too.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41So whenever I saw them in fairs in Sweden
0:02:41 > 0:02:44looking so dark and terrifying
0:02:44 > 0:02:47I used to run as fast as I possibly could.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49But I was always sorry I did,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52because, whatever my mother said about them,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54they were romantic, as well,
0:02:54 > 0:02:58and I still don't know if it's true what people said about them.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02The other day, Juanita and I went to one of the bull games
0:03:02 > 0:03:04they have down here.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07A player has to take a ribbon from between the bull's horns.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11The Gypsies don't take part in this contest, but they do watch it.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14And to start things off in Saintes-Maries today,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17the French have another game.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46FANFARE
0:03:50 > 0:03:52THEY PLAY A MARCH
0:05:08 > 0:05:10BELLS CHIME
0:05:11 > 0:05:14The camp stretches all along the seafront,
0:05:14 > 0:05:18and Juanita and I were lucky to find a place for our caravan.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21We didn't have a proper Gypsy one, but then, nor did the others.
0:05:21 > 0:05:275,000 Gypsies, but only one painted caravan and one horse in the place.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31No money in horses now, so they deal in old cars,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34which they often live in while waiting for a buyer.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Our next-door neighbours were fairground people,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39travelling France with a few stalls.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42These old women had several sons, and lots of grandchildren.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44How did they manage?
0:05:44 > 0:05:46"Ah," they said, "we love children -
0:05:46 > 0:05:48"and anyway, they grow up into men
0:05:48 > 0:05:50"who look after us and keep away the bad luck."
0:05:54 > 0:05:57They hadn't much space, they were all on top of each other.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00They always had the problem of deciding where to go next,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03and never knowing where they would find money to feed all the family -
0:06:03 > 0:06:06but they think that nothing very serious can happen to them
0:06:06 > 0:06:09as long as the family sticks closely together.
0:06:11 > 0:06:12Even with all their work,
0:06:12 > 0:06:14their struggle to survive comfortably
0:06:14 > 0:06:17in a world that isn't too friendly towards Gypsies,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20they feel they're lucky, and they say so.
0:06:20 > 0:06:21I asked this old woman
0:06:21 > 0:06:25why she liked such an uncertain sort of life.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27"Liberty," she said.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35She didn't know where she was going, or where she had come from.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Oh, yes, her father had sold horses in Spain, Italy, North Africa,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42but before that there was no past.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44She knew nothing of India or Egypt -
0:06:44 > 0:06:48but if pride and independence were anything to go by,
0:06:48 > 0:06:50you could see that she belonged to the same race
0:06:50 > 0:06:52as those Lords Of Little Egypt,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55as the Gypsies called themselves when they first came to Europe.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Those Gypsies had pretended they were noble pilgrims from the east,
0:06:59 > 0:07:00and they were welcomed everywhere.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Now the story is different.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05They have to work for a living.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12The families stared into each other's camps,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14but they didn't mix much at first,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16until the eve of the procession
0:07:16 > 0:07:18when they began to turn towards the church
0:07:18 > 0:07:21where the statue of Sarah stands in the crypt.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22BELLS CHIME
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Some Gypsies put their trust very deeply in God,
0:07:32 > 0:07:34and more primitive and hot-blooded ones like the Spanish
0:07:34 > 0:07:36have just a superstitious feeling
0:07:36 > 0:07:38that Sarah can do something for them -
0:07:38 > 0:07:40bring them a son, for instance -
0:07:40 > 0:07:42and they also come to light a candle
0:07:42 > 0:07:45and pin some object, like a photograph, to her gown.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49Others don't bother at all.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51They're here to do business,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53and stay clear of the small altars that are set up,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56in little nooks between the caravans.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Still more and more Gypsies -
0:08:01 > 0:08:04even at the last moment, they're flocking into Saintes-Maries.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Meanwhile, Juanita and I went to visit some people we'd met -
0:08:07 > 0:08:11a family which lived around France, but were actually Russian Gypsies.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13The father had once been to Liverpool,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15and remembered two words of English -
0:08:15 > 0:08:16"Good morning."
0:08:21 > 0:08:23The streets were getting crowded,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26and people eating outside were chattering even faster than usual.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29Gypsies always have plenty to say to each other -
0:08:29 > 0:08:32and we had plenty to ask our Russian friends,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35though we still didn't know how far we'd get,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38as Juanita only knows English Romani.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41ALL CHATTER IN VARIOUS LANGUAGES
0:09:17 > 0:09:20We had seen before that the different families
0:09:20 > 0:09:22didn't always get on well together.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Now we were finding that they didn't always understand
0:09:25 > 0:09:26each other's dialect of Romani -
0:09:26 > 0:09:28and I couldn't help thinking
0:09:28 > 0:09:32that if they didn't really understand or trust one another,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36how could those of us who weren't Gypsies ever hope to?
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Those Russians, they were very keen on talking,
0:09:51 > 0:09:55and it wouldn't have gone half as well if it hadn't been for Juanita.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57If they are not among their own people,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59the Gypsies can be very reserved.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02Last year in the far north of Sweden,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05I met some Gypsies and I mentioned Saintes-Maries to them.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07They had no chance of going there -
0:10:07 > 0:10:09it was too far away, and they have no money -
0:10:09 > 0:10:13but, for a moment, they got so excited about it
0:10:13 > 0:10:17that they had no resistance to me any more, and they became friends.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20And every year, in Europe,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23the Gypsies come to this far corner of France
0:10:23 > 0:10:26if they possibly can.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Why, for instance, does Juanita want to come?
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Because it's the one place where the Gypsies really seem to belong,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35and it's good to be able to go and meet them there -
0:10:35 > 0:10:38and, personally, I feel more at home in the Camargue
0:10:38 > 0:10:40than in many parts of England. Mm.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44But there aren't any other English Gypsies here?
0:10:44 > 0:10:47No, that's because most of them either don't know about it,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50or if they did, they couldn't get a passport,
0:10:50 > 0:10:51because they've got no birth records.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54You've got to have a record before you can get a passport.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57And many of them couldn't afford the journey, anyway.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00But I wish they could come,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03because there's already a great feeling of gaiety here,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06even if things don't really start until tomorrow.
0:11:37 > 0:11:38COCK CROWS
0:12:07 > 0:12:09And all through the morning, the day of the procession,
0:12:09 > 0:12:13I was finding out what they were like - or trying to.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15Perhaps it was the holiday feeling,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18perhaps the Gypsies were all getting used to each other by now,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22but this morning, the families seemed to be on much better terms.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36And it was the children who made friends first.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39They learn to look after themselves very early in life.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42I asked if school was compulsory for them.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44"Oh, yes," they said.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46And did they enjoy school?
0:12:46 > 0:12:48They'd never been, they replied.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08And their parents were exchanging news about old acquaintances,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10travelling in other countries
0:13:10 > 0:13:12who hadn't been able to get to Saintes-Maries this year.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14It was worth sending a message to them,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17even if it might not be delivered for several months.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50SHE CRIES
0:14:01 > 0:14:03DOGS BARK
0:14:11 > 0:14:13They all seemed to be very easy-going,
0:14:13 > 0:14:17but, in fact, you never quite know - they're unpredictable,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20one minute lying quietly round the campfire,
0:14:20 > 0:14:21the next, full of life,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24suddenly treating you with great friendliness,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26then leaving you out in the cold.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41And even among themselves, when they are excited,
0:14:41 > 0:14:43you don't know whether they're going to have a fight
0:14:43 > 0:14:45or throw their arms around each other
0:14:45 > 0:14:47or just laugh.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02But what is certain, they keep very clean and they work very hard,
0:15:02 > 0:15:04even on a holiday like this.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14The camp was still full of them,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17though some had by now drifted off to the procession,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20which was to take the image of Sarah from the church,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23down to the sea where she originally landed.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25MAN WHISTLES
0:15:25 > 0:15:27CHATTERING IN ROMANI
0:15:29 > 0:15:31CROWD: Vivent les Saintes Maries!
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Vive Sainte Sara!
0:15:35 > 0:15:38ALL SING
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Still, not all of them had joined in -
0:15:47 > 0:15:49they were still working, as usual, in the camp,
0:15:49 > 0:15:51getting themselves ready for the evening
0:15:51 > 0:15:55and not paying too much attention to the noise of the procession.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57ALL SING
0:16:12 > 0:16:14BAND PLAYS A MARCH
0:16:20 > 0:16:22ALL SING
0:17:09 > 0:17:10Like many of them,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13this fortune-teller didn't bother with the procession.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16"Oh, it's just a walk to the sea and back," she said,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18"but just wait and see.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21"Later, when the fair opens and the dancing begins,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24"that's different. That's for everyone."
0:17:36 > 0:17:38ALL CHATTER IN FRENCH
0:17:57 > 0:17:59WOMAN SINGS
0:18:08 > 0:18:10THEY PLAY FLAMENCO MUSIC
0:18:41 > 0:18:43FRENCH SONG PLAYS
0:18:50 > 0:18:53HE CALLS IN FRENCH
0:18:55 > 0:18:58SHE SINGS ALONG IN FRENCH
0:19:48 > 0:19:51THEY PLAY FLAMENCO MUSIC
0:20:03 > 0:20:05HE PLAYS FLAMENCO
0:20:45 > 0:20:47THEY PLAY FLAMENCO MUSIC
0:22:07 > 0:22:09SHE SINGS IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:22:40 > 0:22:42MAN SINGS
0:23:47 > 0:23:48LAUGHTER AND CHATTER
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Then suddenly, the next day, they were packing, all at once.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Many of them had said they would definitely be staying a few days,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12but somehow the word had gone round,
0:24:12 > 0:24:14and now they were all on the move.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22Last night, in the cafes, on the streets, to the music,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25all of the families who had been a bit suspicious of each other
0:24:25 > 0:24:27had become friends, just for a day.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30Now, they were going their separate ways.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34One of them had said to me, "It may be lonely sometimes,
0:24:34 > 0:24:39"not to belong to a place, but we have a family and we are free."
0:24:39 > 0:24:43Freedom. It always came back to that.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Put in the prisons during the war, they lost that freedom completely...
0:24:59 > 0:25:03but they gained a friend, this priest.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06The Gypsies helped him when he was a chaplain in a concentration camp.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14HE SPEAKS IN FRENCH
0:25:18 > 0:25:22In 1948, he was officially asked to help the Gypsies
0:25:22 > 0:25:23by becoming their priest.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25He believes that the church can do much
0:25:25 > 0:25:28to give them better conditions in France -
0:25:28 > 0:25:30camps to live in, as in Holland,
0:25:30 > 0:25:34concrete foundations for their caravans, jobs.
0:25:34 > 0:25:35There were no Dutch Gypsies here.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Perhaps they're already too set in their ways.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41He likes the Gypsies because they are straightforward
0:25:41 > 0:25:43and really honest -
0:25:43 > 0:25:47even if they do pick things up which people leave lying about.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51With a mobile chapel in a caravan, he follows them wherever they go,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Some to village fairs in the mountains,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56others to begging in the cities,
0:25:56 > 0:25:58some trekking from town to town
0:25:58 > 0:26:01selling copperware or mending furniture.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Others to try their luck in new countries -
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Belgium perhaps, or Italy.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08Somewhere new.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19FLAMENCO PLAYS
0:26:21 > 0:26:22MAN: Ole!
0:26:47 > 0:26:49I talked quite a lot to that Gypsy woman
0:26:49 > 0:26:50who in the camp was called
0:26:50 > 0:26:53"the fortune-teller with the golden teeth".
0:26:53 > 0:26:56I found out that she'd been travelling in Europe,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58in Scandinavia, 30 years ago,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00and she still spoke very good Swedish -
0:27:00 > 0:27:04and she told me one thing that I will always remember.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08It made me see that the Gypsies just don't think that our way of life
0:27:08 > 0:27:09is good enough for them.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13She also told me that she was living in Marseilles with her family
0:27:13 > 0:27:15and, obviously being so well off
0:27:15 > 0:27:19with her solid gold rings and bracelets on her arms,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22I asked her if they had a house there.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27She gave me a sort of puzzled look and then she started laughing.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30SHE REPEATS THE PHRASE
0:27:30 > 0:27:33By which she meant that you begin dying
0:27:33 > 0:27:37when you live in one house or stay in one place for too long.
0:27:38 > 0:27:39Perhaps you do.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09CICADAS CHIRRUP