La Dune de Playa

5 November 2007

Leaving Belgium (31 October) we used autoroutes and nationals to get to and around Amiens. From there we followed an autoroute and over 100 km of local roads (départementals) to avoid Rouen since last year it had taken an hour and a half to go through Rouen because it has no circle route around it. From there we followed nationals to Alençon where we joined another autoroute leading us past the racing mecca, Le Mans, then Nantes and on to Ile de Noirmoutier (see March 2007). Following this two day trip covering about 1100 km we decompressed in the pastoral surroundings and small towns of the island (2-5 November).

Revitalized by the bracing Atlantic breezes and the joie de vivre of small towns, we set out for Arcachon via départementals until we picked up the autoroute around Niort. Last spring we meandered through the wine growing region on the southwest side of La Gironde. (March 2007) This time we were going down the other side of La Gironde towards Bordeaux (wine drinkers will know this name). The weather was not cooperating so we continued past Bordeaux and back to the Atlantic to see a major and well known sand dune that was declared a French national heritage site in 1978.

Marie-Claire catches her breath on about the 50^th step of some 600 steps leading to the top of the dune. Approximately 3 km long, 500 meters wide and about 110 meters high it is very steep on the inland side and you don’t just run up it. The dune contains about 60 million cubic meters of sand grains about 0.3 mm in size. That’s a lot of grains of sand. At the top we are well above the 30-40 meter tall trees in our campsite.

If you are really brave, or foolhardy, like this mountain bike trainer from the French Alps, you can ride your bike down the dune. Here he was just posing for his wife and son, before a test run on the lower 1/3^rd of the dune.

After this he dragged his bike to the top and rode it down, giving me this photo op as he neared the bottom.

The views from the top are dramatic over the forest. This mountain of sand actually covers extremely old pine-wooded dunes. Today it provides a playground for kids and parents, like this German mom and her son.

Not far away two French brothers tumble in the sand while their father sits patiently waiting near the bottom. We can only imagine how many kids are rolling down this steeeep incline in the summer when the campground is full.

These sands have constantly been shifted by the powerful ocean currents, the swells and the wind. In 1708 the shoreline foot of the dune was about 2 km northeast of its present location. Currently it growing in height about 2 meters a year so you might not want to wait too long to climb it.

At present the dune continues to push into the pine forest at its inland foot, smothering and drying up the roots of the trees in the path of its inexorable march.

This is actually a beautiful campsite with spaces for motorhomes, trailers, tents, and many cottages. A lot of the better campsites are actually resorts with playgrounds, swimming pools, tennis courts, pétoncle, restaurants, bars etc. It is a good business with several revenue streams and typically, even in the south they close for up to 4-6 months because they have already made their money. This particular campsite “Camping de la Forêt” is in the pine forest with a number of planted oaks under which we nestled for a night in our little motorhome

while others stayed in cabins and cottages.

The geographical history of the area is actually quite fascinating. The coast was historically defined by the sand, winds and ocean currents. A vast plain of 14,000 square kilometres is today largely pine forest and lakes (étangs). The lakes were formed as sands blocked the flow of rivers and streams flowing to the ocean. Otherwise it was one large beach with no trees. In this area, the Côte d’Argent, only la Leyre flows to the ocean through La Bassin d’Arcachon. Up until the late 1800’s this region was an inhospitable immense beach progressing inland at a speed of 7 to 25 meters per year. If the dunes could be controlled and if the spread of the sand could be curtailed the region could be more successfully inhabited, towns would arise and ultimately the seaside towns and resorts, the campsites resorts and the very long, flat bike and hiking trails of today would be possible. The dream of controlling the sand began in the middle ages but was only realised by the Engineer of Bridges and Roads, Monsieur Brémontier beginning with projects in 1788.

About 70 meters from the high tide line he sunk beams in the sand. As the sand piled up against the boards he raised them allowing the sand to pile higher until he had eventually created a “coastal dike” about 12 meters high. Planting “gourbet”, grasses with extensive root systems, stabilized the surface of these dikes. Behind these barriers he sowed broom and maritime pines under a protective covering of cut branches which stabilized the sand sufficiently to permit the trees to root and grow. Within 4 years the faster growing broom attained a height of 4 feet while the slower growing pines eventually overtook the broom and grasses smothering and killing them. As these rotted, they provided nourishment to the pines, enhancing their growth. By 1867 this work was completed, resulting in 3000 hectares of stabilized coastal dunes covered in gourbet and 80,000 hectares on inner dunes planted in pines.

The inner plains of les Landes (Moor) covering some 950,000 hectares from Arcachon in the north to Dax in the south were at the same period (beginning of the 19^th century) inhospitable, poorly drained, sandy and of minimal agricultural usefulness. After Napoléon a definitive solution was found by an engineer named Chambrelent. He established a drainage plan, cleared the land of brush and started the creation of forests. He undertook massive plantings of maritime pines, and two types of oak trees. As a result the Département (more or less the equivalent of a U.S.A. state) de Landes becomes the richest of France. When critics questioned the dependence on a monoculture, the people of Landes replied “pine, it’s a fortune”.

In the mid- 19^th century railways were constructed from Bordeaux into the region, bringing the Bordelais to the beaches for bathing. With expansion of the railways, and development of infrastructure such as towns and hotels, the tourism era was slowly launched until in the mid-20^th century the mass tourism of campsites, resorts, cars, trailers and camping cars gave it additional momentum.

From here we moved about 8 km to Arcachon at the mouth of Le Bassin d’Arcachon, just around from Andernos-les-Bains which we visited last spring (see March 2007).