NATURAL Wonder
France|September 2020
With its bountiful sands, surf and seafood, the Bassin d’Arcachon provides the perfect off-season escape, as Alison Weeks discovers
Alison Weeks
NATURAL Wonder

It’s dark when our plane touches down at Bordeaux Airport, so it’s hard to judge the weather outside. Yet as we walk from the terminal to our hire car, I can’t help but note a mildness in the air. At home, the crisp early autumn days have given way to cooler nights and although we have come with our coats in tow, I feel hopeful that we may not need them here.

The Gironde département is known for its temperate oceanic climate, which provides the ideal conditions for the region’s renowned terroir. But we aren’t here to tour Bordeaux or its vineyards. Instead we pile the kids into the hire car and head 30 miles to the west to the Bassin d’Arcachon, or Arcachon Bay, on France’s Côte d’Argent, halfway between Biarritz and La Rochelle.

Stretching from the Cap Ferret headland in the north to the Dune du Pilat in the south, this inland sea boasts some of the region’s most beautiful beaches. And although part of me wishes we were visiting in the middle of summer, local friends assure me that hors-saison is the best time to truly appreciate the natural wonders of the bay.

At the height of the tourist season, this route linking Bordeaux to the coast sees a steady stream of daytrippers from the city and holidaymakers from further afield. But as my husband steers the car through sleepy villages and down empty roads, I feel pleased that we may have the place to ourselves.

World is our oyster

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2020 من France.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2020 من France.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من FRANCE مشاهدة الكل
Paindemic In Paris
France

Paindemic In Paris

For American actor and writer Alexander Burnett, a shortage of bread at his local boulangerie was one of the biggest challenges of lockdown in his adopted home city

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2020
VEULES-LES-ROSES
France

VEULES-LES-ROSES

Between the white cliffs of the Côte d’Albâtre and the bucolic landscapes of the Pays de Caux, discover a village that combines coast and country,

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2020
Taking the BISCUIT
France

Taking the BISCUIT

France is known for its exquisite pâtisserie and extravagant gâteaux but the not-so-humble biscuit deserves recognition too

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2020
PICTURE PERFECT PISTE
France

PICTURE PERFECT PISTE

After a decade away from the slopes Janet Brice finds her ski legs in val d'arly, a hidden gem in the shadow of Mount Blanc

time-read
8 mins  |
December 2020
Let there BE LIGHT
France

Let there BE LIGHT

Lyon’s annual Fête des Lumières brightens up the darkest of December nights in spectacular fashion, finds David Atkinson on a winter visit to the Rhône capital

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2020
Shop ‘til YOU DROP
France

Shop ‘til YOU DROP

In the first of our new Insight guides, Helen Parkinson delights in the French shopping experience

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2020
Floating YOUR BOAT
France

Floating YOUR BOAT

Spending a day on the River Seine in Paris, Heidi Fuller-love samples some of the city’s top entertainment that can be enjoyed afloat

time-read
6 mins  |
December 2020
Creamy Dijon Chicken With Bacon And Spinach
France

Creamy Dijon Chicken With Bacon And Spinach

Enjoy this hearty dish from Bisous & Brioche, a cookbook shot on location in Burgundy

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2020
A Moveable Feast
France

A Moveable Feast

Philip Sweeney embarks on a voyage gourmand along the Vallée de la Gastronomie travelling from Dijon to Marseille

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2020
BOND RETOUR 7
France

BOND RETOUR 7

To celebrate the return of everyone’s favourite globe-trotting British intelligence officer in No Time to Die, Helen Parkinson rounds up five of James Bond’s top cross-Channel escapades

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2020