We arrive in Beaucaire, a small regional town on the Rhone that sits in the middle of a triangle formed by Nimes, Avignon and Arles during the Abrivado de Saint Roman.

It's the most important day of July's week-long festival that harks back to the glory days, when Beaucaire was one of the most powerful trading towns in Europe - feted by the count of Toulouse and King of France. Its riverside location saw it established as a major wine-shipping artery during Roman times, before becoming a strategic fortress in the 11th century.

Beaucaire came into its own in the Middle Ages, hosting huge fairs that peaked three or four hundred years ago and died out in the 19th century, when rail took over from river on the most important merchant routes.

The Abrivado de Saint Roman offers bull running with a difference, using prized Camargue horses, mounted by locals, to surround and herd the bulls. They set off after a blessing at the Abbeye Saint Roman, an underground 5th century abbey, and head to the town's bull arena. Enthusiastic spectators line the route, walk alongside or run ahead to avoid escaping bulls, and traditional bands drum and whistle them along.

Lunch in the Place de la Republique is shared with a large statue of a green dragon. Our guide, Karine, recounts the myth of the Drac, an invisible dragon-like monster who plundered over 3,000 villagers from the area. One who survived was a local lavender seller, taken by the creature to raise his son. Seven years of good service later she was released, only to have her eyes ripped out by the Drac after alerting villagers to its presence. Unusually this dragon was not heroically slain, it remains on the loose to terrify local children at a June festival.

The town has three harbours, including a canal area and marina that marks the start of the Canal Du Rhône à Sete, built to connect the Rhone to the Canal du Midi to the southwest. Its floodplain location has left it at the mercy of the elements, the last big flood in 1993 nearly breached the town's three-metre high walls. The bullring and old theatre are the only notable buildings outside the flood defences.

Inside the walls, the old town wallows majestically in its former glories - narrow, tall old town streets are punctuated by restored buildings and hotels that merge perfectly with the faded glory of run-down facades and ornate former merchant houses. There are churches that blend in to the streets and a hotel de ville (town hall) funded by Louis XIV.

The Beaucaire Terre d'Argence region includes some surrounding towns and villages. After touring the ceramic and glassware craft shops on Place de la Republique we visit neighbouring Vallebregues for a demonstration by the Lacroix family who have been making Provençal furniture for over 150 years.

Also part of the Terre d'Argence communité, Bellegarde has one of the best wine co-operatives in the area, Les Vignerons de la S.C.A. La Clairette (BP 4 - Ancienne route d'Arles, 30127 Bellegarde. Telpehone 04 66 01 10 39; Clairette.bellegarde@libertysurf.fr). There's a large selection available for tasting, an enthusiastic and helpful manager and bottles Costieres de Nimes and local specialiy white Clairette de Bellegarde for a bargain £2-£5.

Between Bellegarde and Beaucaire an altogether different kind of tipple is on offer at Mas des Tourelles. Part-museum, part-winery, it has recreated a Roman winery, replicating the equipment, ingredients and techniques down to every last known detail. Roman amphoras and remains of a stove found on the farm attest to its use for wine-making two millennia before.

In the museum 25-litre amphoras that were used to transport the wine to Rome are on display. A giant wine press has been built to slowly lower a giant tree trunk, weighing a couple of tonnes, on to the wooden vat of grapes. During the harvest each September a band of merry modern Roman slaves re-enact the picking and squashing for visitors. The 'wine' is not as we know it, containing a host of spices along with sea water for preservation as well as honey and other additives that are enough to have connoisseurs choking, crying and spluttering into their spittoons. They do produce some good modern wines including a Costieres de Nimes to take the fowl taste away.

After a gourmet dinner in the excellent Auberge de l'Amandin, it's back into town where the party is in full swing. In the Place de la Republique, the Drac has ceded control of the 17th century square to the masses partying to the sounds of local band Ricoune. Plenty of bouncy Gallic flair is displayed by the band with obligatory accordian, middle-aged lead singer and a strange fellow dressed in a white suit with panama hat and silly cigar. We bump into Karine who gives us a rough translation of a typical song - a bull is feeling randy so goes into a bar to pick up a cow or two and drink pastis, the local aniseed aperatif. Rural, farming themes are much in evidence, so it's no surprise to discover their classic 1994 album is called La Vache ("The cow"). The welcoming locals are in full voice and high spirit.

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