About an hour away from the center of Bordeaux by car is the Bay of Arcachon. It is known for its summer recreation activities, but it is also famous for seafood, especially oysters. Though November is considered out of season, I thought it would be a good opportunity for a short diversion to a place I had never been. It certainly would be a less crowded time of year to visit and being close to the Atlantic Ocean it would likely be a little warmer. It has a microclimate that allows for citrus trees to grow and therefore would likely brighten my wife’s spirits. She does not like the cold and she loves the ocean and seafood. So, when planning this part of our visit, I rented a car (it happened to be a little Fiat 500, with a six-speed manual transmission) and booked a highly rated and affordable B&B called Villa Mady in the seaside village of Andernos-les-Bains. I didn’t plan much other than that. The weather was predicted to be rainy, but we were lucky and saw a good bit of sunshine while we were there. Obviously, I wanted to find good photo opportunities of my favorite subject – nature – for this photo journal and allow family and other people who cannot travel to try to see it all.
The drive from Bordeaux was uneventful, which is a good thing when you are driving in a foreign country and you don’t really know where you are going. Google Maps and smartphone technology has taken most of the worry out of navigation, especially when you have a co-pilot who can watch the map, as it doesn’t always match the voice to the reality of the road.
We arrived at Villa Mady a little early, but our host was ready for us. She was patient and good at communicating, despite the fact that we speak very little French and English is not something she was confident with; but she was prepared with brochures and suggestions and she was able to make reservations for us at a local seafood restaurant, Chez Huguette, for dinner. Following her suggestion, we drove to Cap Ferret and spent the afternoon. From the tip of the peninsula you can see across the mouth of the estuary to the largest sand dune in France (I think it is the tallest in all of Europe), called Grande Dune du Pilat. With my telephoto lens, you could actually make out the people standing on the dunes.
The only mishap of the day that had me worried was when I tried to back out of a sandy parking lot and the little Fiat I was driving got stuck. It reminded me of when I was cruising with my best friend Mark, from high school, in his car and we thought we could cross some sand that had drifted across the road in a heavy, rear-wheel drive American car from the late 60’s. We made it halfway to the paved road in Nags Head which was our goal before the car was resting on the frame with the wheels spinning freely in the sand. It was a struggle to back our way out, constantly having to clear sand from under the car until we made it back to the road on which we had started. It took over an hour that day in the blistering sun, but we didn’t have to get towed. Fortunately, in Cap Ferret, it was not so hot. Also, the little Fiat was front wheel drive and that gave it better traction. I only had to dig sand for about 10 minutes this time before I was back on the asphalt pavement. My wife was relieved that we didn’t have to call for help and we were going to be on time for the seafood dinner she was promised.
Dinner in the evening was not fancy at Chez Huguette, but fresh and good. The following day, the breakfast at Villa Mady was excellent! It was obvious that our host had put a lot of love into preparing it. I highly recommend staying there and wish we had booked more time.
For photos from the Arcachon area click here. It just might brighten your spirit too.