One of my favorite places to visit on the coast are the ostréiculture cabins that offer platters of their oysters (and shrimp, pate) with local wines on benches while sitting in the summer sun, admiring the sparkling seaside. If you can't make it there though, where can you try some fresh local oysters in Bordeaux?
Located just west of Bordeaux, between the Landes pine forest and the Atlantic ocean, the mighty dune du Pilat is a great place to view both land and sea! It is almost 3km long, just a little over 106 meters high and more than 600 meters wide. Each year the measurement has to be recalculated, as the dune is still in movement and it continues to advance inland, through the forest from one to five meters per year.
While oyster cultivation has been occurring in our area of SW France for millennia and is a massive industry on the West Coast of France in general (France accounts for 60% of all oysters eaten in Europe, if they get the chance to leave the country). The Bassin (bay) is a large producer but mostly known for being the largest producer of baby oysters, or spat, which are then sent all over France.
Where do you go to get away from it all? One of the great escapes for someone living in Bordeaux, or Gironde as a whole, is a trip to the Atlantic Coast. One of my favorite places is Cap Ferret, a peninsula that offers both Atlantic coast beaches and Bassin d'Arcachon shores which are perfect for small children. Granted, during high season it can be a like Saint Tropez in summer...filled with people, cars and boats.
There are unlimited amounts of things to do with children in Aquitaine, from Atlantic coast beaches to Bordeaux parks and museums. It's a very family friendly area, with lots of great camping grounds in all price ranges (the French version of a holiday home/camping/vacation park). Most larger French towns have a beautiful old carousel which kids adore, good parks and public pools.
I was hooked almost straight away. Even though we didn’t travel far and wide with that first trip, I loved the idea of the freedom and flexibility a CV would give us. I couldn’t stop thinking about how useful it would be to own one, especially here in the Nouvelle Aquitaine with so many wonderful places to visit literally on our doorstep. Not only could we go on long summer holidays, we could also decide on a whim to take a weekend break or overnight stop to the coast, or the mountains if the weather is good.
There are so many great natural locations in Sud-Gironde, like the Lake at Hostens or the Atlantic Beaches, but what if you want something away from crowds?
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