Wow – what a lot of sand!

 

I must admit to cheating a little with this blog post, as most of it first saw the “light of day” in a magazine I edit for the Association of Countryside Volunteers, of which I am currently the chairman, under the title of View Across La Manche, a regular feature I write about various countryside issues on the French side of La Manche.  I guess for obvious reasons the French don’t call the narrow stretch of water between them and England the English Channel, instead referring to it, for again obvious reasons, as La Manche or The Sleeve.

 

Back around Easter time, we visited Bordeaux and courtesy of my daughter Victoria climbed the highest sand dune in Europe, not once but twice and this after the last time I walked just a little way on a sandy beach left me, for some time, in a lot of pain, something having complained in my left knee!!

 

But, the Great Dune de Pilat or Pyla, was worth every step, even though when we started off the easy way; a plastic staircase up the side was closed for maintenance, so it was soft sand all the way up, down the far side to dip a toe in the adjacent Atlantic Ocean and back up over the top.  Incidentally, the correct name is apparently Pilat, which comes from the Gascon word for heap or mound, and which ever meaning you opt for it’s something of an underestimate.

 

 

Now, the dune in question totally exceeded my expectations and was quite simply mind blowing.  You approach it through pine woodland, from a well kept albeit rather complicated parking area, passing through the ubiquitous gift shops and restaurants offering such things as dune burgers, reminiscent of childhood picnics on the beach, when however careful you were sand always got in the sandwiches and inside your swimming trunks!!  The tat over and you get your first glimpse through the trees of the splendour you are about to encounter, a steep bank of sand rising at the back some 50 metres above you, falling away the other side slightly less steeply in excess of 105 metres down to the blue Atlantic Ocean, with a number of interesting sand bars and spits spreading across the entrance to Arcachon Bay, near the small town of La Teste de Buch, in the Gironde department of South west France 40 miles from Bordeaux.  

 

 

This massive 100m plus dune is 2.7 km long and 500 m wide and these breathtaking dimensions can be admired throughout the year. Even in winter it is worth the visit, when if you are really lucky you might experience the dune covered with snow.

 

The dune is always in motion, created by wind and tidal movement, which combine to make the dune move further inland by several metres each year. The moving sand therefore has gradually swallowed the surrounding pine forest and several campsites as the overwhelming mass of 60,000,000 cubic metres of sand continues to move.

The dune is currently being considered as one of Grand Sites of France.

 

Currently there are about 14 sites (sites can come and go dependant on the strict criteria) that have been confirmed with this label, such as the Baie de Somme, the Marais Poitevin marshes near to us, Pont to Gard and the Puy de Dôme.

 

Something like a further 31 sites are currently under consideration, ranging from the Dune de Pilat to the Abbaye de Beauport, Cité de Carcassonne, Baie du Mont-Sait-Michel, Gorges du Verdon, Mont Ventoux and many many more.

 

Chaque site membre adhérent du Réseau des Grands Sites de France travaille à améliorer les conditions de protection, de réhabilitation et de gestion active du paysage, à mieux accueillir ses visiteurs, à générer un développement local durable et bénéficiant aux habitants, afin de pouvoir prétendre, dans un délai précis, à l'obtention du label Grand Site dEach of the Great Sites of France are working to improve conditions for the protection, rehabilitation and active management of the landscape, to better accommodate visitors, generate sustainable local development and benefit the people.

 

Having obtained the label, qualification is for a specified period, after which the site is reassessed.

 

Ce label appartient à l'État, qui l'a déposé à l'Institut national de la propriété industrielle en 2003. Il est géré par le Ministère en charge de l'ÉcologieThis label belongs to the state, and is awarded by the National Institute of Industrial Property in 2003. It is managed by the Ministry in charge of Ecology. Il est inscrit au code de l'environnement Art.

 

"Le label Grand site de France peut être attribué par le ministre chargé des sites à un site classé de grande notoriété et de forte fréquentation. L'attribution du label est subordonnée à la mise en oeuvre d'un projet de préservation, de gestion et de mise en valeur du site, répondant aux principes du développement durable. "The label Grand Site de France may be assigned by the Minister to a site listed as high profile and high visitor numbers. Award of the label is subject to the implementation of a project for the preservation, management and enhancement of the site, complying with the principles of sustainable development.

Ce label est attribué, à sa demande, à une collectivité territoriale, un établissement public, un syndicat mixte ou un organisme de gestion regroupant notamment les collectivités territoriales conc

 

This label is granted, upon request, to a local authority, a public institution, a mixed union or management body consisting in particular local authorities concerned. La décision d'attribution fixe la durée du label." The award decision sets the length of the label."  Sorry if some of this is lost in the translation.

 

Ce label est un label sélectif et exigeant.Il est la reconnaissance d'une gestion conforme aux principes du développement durable, conciliant préservation du paysage et de "l'esprit des lieux", qualité de l'accueil du public, participation des habitants et des partenaires à la vie du Grand Site.

 

It is the recognition of management that conforms to the principles of sustainable development, balancing preservation of the landscape and "sense of place" quality of care, public participation of residents and partners in the life of Grand Site.  

Il peut être retiré à tout moment en cas de manquement aux engagements de protection, de mise en valeur, de développement économique local et de respect du

 

It can be removed at any time in the event of breach of commitments for the protection, development, local economic development and respect for the visitor.

Le Réseau des Grands Sites de France rassemble des Grands Sites qui ont déjà obtenu le label et d'autres qui oeuvrent pour l'obtenir un jour.

 

Further information can be obtained from the Grand Site de France website:

www.grandsitedefrance.com

 

or there is a Wikipedia site which can easily be translated from French into English, for the less adventurous of you!!

 

Back with a bit of a travelogue ~

and a preview of what to “look out for!”  

As I mention in the latest blog post from “Roger’s Creative Urge,” my other blog; I seem to have been away for ages, and the reasons in that post – Little Green Men – were, how shall we say, somewhat creative.  In reality, the reason at least in part, has been that now much of the renovation of our French house has been completed, although in recent weeks we seem to have found plenty of “brico” (DIY) to do as my back will confirm, we decided that this year we will make up for lost time and do some long awaited travelling. 

Before we were half way through the year, we had managed two weeks in the caravan in Spain, taking a further week to get there and back. (Look out for ~ Unfinished business and Fly drive and the caravan came too!)  A further week in the caravan in Bordeaux, when we also visited Europe’s highest sand dune (Look out for [ Lof! ] ~ View across La Manche), then two weeks in England during which, Daniel, my son got married to Lisa in a lovely ceremony at The Rococo Gardens in Painswick and to get over this we had a week in Marrakech.

As our guide book for Marrakech says, P. J. Barnum has always claimed that his circus was the “Greatest Show on Earth”, but in fact as we can now confirm categorically, the actual greatest show on earth takes place each night on the square in the middle of Marrakech, Djemma El – Fna, and the surrounding rabbit – warren like multitude of souqs or markets.  (Lof  ~ Ali Baba’s tales!) 

 

We then took the caravan to Brittany in July, for ten days, for a week long post wedding party for some a couple of Victoria’s college friends, and then went on to visit French friends at Pougastel Daoulas, near Brest, for a few days. (Lof at the very least ~ Transported by the mist)  

 

And ... still to come, with who knows what Lof’s may come from these: A surprise invite to a large gîte in the Dordogne, for a “Stroudie” gathering in deepest France, a caravan trip for a few day to Fouras, between La Rochelle and Rochefort (not Roquefort where the cheese comes from!) to catch up again with our friends from Pougastel Daoulas and try to practise our French, if they are not busy practising their English!   Then, a trip to England in October (when we hope to catch up with some of you!) and who knows what the rest of the year will bring? 

We have also had numerous summer visitors who tell us that they are coming to see us, but I can’t help feeling that the wine and the sun might also be something of a pulling point!! (Lof ~ Snore de France and maybe others!)

 

In addition to all this, we have despite me undertaking a fair amount of structured procrastination (Lof ~ The benefits of Procrastinating Positively ~ I’m still “thinking” about whether this should be on the other blog or not!), as I said above, we have fitted in a fair amount of home and garden improvements, perhaps here Lof some before and after photographs.  There’s also our own Clochemerle type controversy, in our case “guerre de parking,” updates on the various skirmishes to follow in due course!

 

Well hopefully, this has wetted the appetite and if nothing else, will spur me on to put fingers to keyboard and bring you the promised Lof’s, and all in all so far not a bad year considering I started the year quite literally singing to the wrong tune!  (Lof ~ I started the year singing to the wrong tune!)

But, I’m forgetting something, or should I say someone, who has just right on cue come and lay down on my foot, no not Linda – as if!!!, but our faithful furry Fergus, or Fergoose as the French call him, as if I would or could forget him.  He’s recently turned one and thinking back has taken a fair amount of our time and energy, which could also explain some of the lack of blog posts.  Suffice to say we wouldn’t now be without him and despite a few quirks, as people keep telling us “You’ve got a goodun there” and although he’ll feature in many of the above Lof’s, look out also for: Van du pain, Still chasing shadows and A tale of two dogs!

So Look out for or Watch this space:

 Bye for now or Á bientot, I’m definitely back amongst you and will probably also find some time to get creative!