French Desert

Woke up to another misty day and decided to head for the beach to see if the weather would be better there. It was a 2 hour drive but certainly worth it as the sun appeared and it was a lovely 24C. Arcachon is in a large Bay and the whole area is fronted by a beautiful sandy beach. This area has very different scenery from anything we have seen in France. The main difference is the trees, as they are mostly pine. There are amazing forests of Ponderosa pine surrounding Arcachon and they have a lovely Pine covered walkway all along the beach area.
After having lunch at one of the many beach café’s (mussels, frits and a carafe of house Rose) and dipping our tootsies into the Atlantic, we decided it was time for some exercise. Rita had visited this area when she was 15 with a church group and remembered the famous sand dunes. Eileen from our UK office, who used to work for the French Tourist Office, also suggested we should try and include this unique natural attraction. The Dunes of Pilat are about a 10 minute drive from Arcachon, just outside of the Bay and they are massive. The dunes come right down to the ocean and stretch as far as the eye can see. The sand is incredibly fine making walking quite difficult. It took about 20 minutes for Rita and I to walk to the top of the Dunes. On the other side is a massive Pine forest, it’s an amazing sight and certainly not something you would expect to see in France. It felt like you were somewhere on the Coast of Africa.

A great day for Rita as no history involved!!!

Rita dipping her toes into the Atlantic


Rita climbing the Dunes du Pilat

Geoff and Rita at the top