Christine PembertonOur family is admittedly a bit soft when it comes to animals and wildlife in general. We have seven stray cats and dogs. Half of the family is vegetarian. We are, therefore, amongst the least likely candidates to go watch a bullfight, with its tradition of animal baiting and cruelty and death. Which is precisely what we told our hostess last year in the south of France, when she suggested going to watch a bullfight.Thanks, but no thanks, we said. No bullfights. But this is French bullfighting, we were told. Absolutely no killing of the animals. No sharp knives being stuck in the poor creature’s flanks. No cloaks. No matadors. No ceremonial "coup de grace" at the end. This is completely different, we were assured. Most of the time, it’s actually the bull who wins, and the humans who come off worst.So, slightly against our better judgement, we went. And it is all absolutely true.The style of bull-fighting seen in the southern areas of Provence and Languedoc is cruelty-free, but high on adrenalin, local colour and spectacle.The translation "bullfight" is actually a misnomer for the Provencal style, since there is no fighting involved. It is known in French as course libre or course camarguaise, and the idea behind this bloodless spectacle is for young men to try and snatch a rosette from the head of a young bull.The "course" we went to, in the pretty little town of Beaucaire, took place on a sunny Saturday afternoon in the arena. The place was busy with locals, eating, drinking and betting furiously on the outcome of the "course". The betting was fast, and despite the best intentions of our friendly neighbour, we couldn’t follow a thing. Betting appeared to consist of guessing which young man would grab a rosette and when, and bets increased in two euro increments.Against the loud-speaker sound-track of the book-maker calling out the constantly changing odds on players, a bull is released into the ring, one at a time.For a period of about 15-20 minutes, groups of young men, called "raseteurs", try to snatch little rosettes which are tied between the bulls’ horns. They don’t take the rosette with their bare hands, but rather with a claw-shaped metal instrument called a raset, hence their name.Dressed in white and working loosely as a team, they jump and run, shout and warn each other, frequently diving over the boards and into the crowd, if the bull gets too close. If one of them manages to get hold of a rosette, there is much cheering and fanfare. At the end of 15 minutes, the bull is led off and another enters the arena.The crowd ebbs and flows, eats some more ice-cream, has another beer, bets another few euros, and roars with laughter as a young man jumps and clings hold of the boards, to escape the irritated bull.As each bull leaves, there is a loud cheer of appreciation from the crowd. All in an afternoon’s work of French bullfighting.