I bought a new hat. Okay, that's hardly going to make the headlines, but it's a major in my life, as I have probably bought no more than maybe four bits of headgear in all my mumbledy-years. I can now hold my head up high in Beaucaire society, or at least keep my thinning locks hidden.

Headgear is commonplace here in le sud de France, and varied. The favoured hat for young French men is, sadly, the ubiquitous beanie, usually black and wooly. Not exactly haute fashion, but practical when the chilly Mistral wind blows. But anyway, many of the young French hommes eschew headgear in favour of showing off their flowing locks, or, more commonly around these parts, their shaven heads. Brrr.

Older French men favour the flat cap, usually of tweed or similar. There are many to be seen on heads 'of a certain age', but conspicuous by its absence is the traditional beret. We have seen maybe two in all our time here, though they are for sale in the market. And no, I didn't buy one.

Due to the large Algerian and Moroccan population, one of the most common pieces of headgear is the traditional North African skull cap or taqiya, often white, sometimes coloured, and occasionally woven with geometric patterns. We see these lots, especially as the North Africans like to sit on the seats along the sunny side of the marina, where they engage in earnest discussions, the subject of which remains a mystery to us, but is quite possibly the invasion of Les Anglais and their bateaux.

And then there are the wizards. Also to be seen along the marina, these men wear full gowns of burgundy or brown, with built-in tall pointed hoods. We think their garb is traditional also, but we're not sure who these people actually are. However, the seem to mingle with the Moroccans, so we presume they are of their kind, but perhaps a higher order. We refer to them as "Gandalfs", maybe not politically correct, but well. How we laugh.

The women? Interestingly, it seems French women avoid headgear almost completely, preferring to show off their coiffures, and seem content to challenge the Mistral head-on, as it were. On the other hand, religious practice dictates that the North African women mainly wear traditional head scarves, which add a rainbow of colour to the streets at times, though many also wear black.

As for me, well, my new chapeau is black also. Liz and I were browsing the market at Tarascon across the river yesterday... a fairly extensive but predictable market much like all the others, with a dominance of clothing stalls, household wares, bolts of cloth, tat, rotisserie chickens, cheeses, tat, fruit and vege stalls, tat and - bien sur - more tat. And one hat stall.

It was a cold day, and I hadn't worn my All Blacks beanie, so I made the mistake of stopping at the chapeau stall, just to browse. Next thing the vendor is homing in on me with cries of "Monsieur! Monsieur!' And picking up awful examples of flat caps and things with ear muffs and thrusting them at me, presumably out or concern for my naked head. After explaining we were "de Nouvelle Zelande" he then mimes a rugby pass, laughs, and picks up a tweed cap and says "Tres British!".

I said, "Non, ce n'est pas pour moi. Je prefere celui la," and pointed to a wide-brimmed black Fedora type hat. His eyes lit up as he explained it was a Camargue hat, but when I put it on and looked in the mirror it was Harrison Ford who looked back at me. So I bought it. I won't blend in with the locals, but at least if we get separated at the markets Liz should easily be able to find me.

And nobody will mistake me for a Moroccan; just a prat in a hat :-)