LA PETITE SOULAN

Cap Ferret and Arcachon are there to discover the summer art of living dear to the people of Bordeaux around this inland sea they call the Bassin.

We explore the oyster-farming districts on the road lined with fishing villages. We sink into the alleys. A tight fringe of wooden huts in various shades, bungalows with typical frieze and roof finials under faded tiles. We rush into the flowered alleys of the village of L'Herbe to reach the water of the Bassin. We look at the oyster farmer's boats passing by. The oyster farming draws the landscape, blocked in the distance by the pignots, these wooden posts planted in the mud to delimit the contours of the parks. The oyster, the pride of the locals, fleshy and tasty with the traditional pâté spread that are complemented by shrimps and wherks. This can be done at the Cabane d'Hortense, in a Bartherotte hut with golden hues. Around us, bunches of cups piled up to catch the spat and whitewashed tiles.

In the evening, you can dine with the view of the magnificent white dune of Pyla or picnic on an island facing the conch of the Mimbeau known by the locals, bringing a bag of L’Epicerie, the best products of the region. Or one can be lucky enough to be invited in one of these villas hidden under a thick vegetation, high-ranking not because of their income, but because of their eldership in Cap-Ferret and their knowledge of all things of the sea. You eat there a fish arriving straight from La Criée, from the Dunes blanches, chouquettes filled with cream, or cannelés taken out of their copper moulds from Frédélian, THE pastry shop of Cap-Ferret.

There is not much left of the house-cabins, dreamy robinsonnades in the middle of the pines... These houses have been transformed. Like the one we know, it’s a cube covered with reified pine opening onto a deep garden covered with a terrace in jack pine from which emerges a swimming pool. What makes it beautiful is the tropical vegetation, this decor of bamboos and white laurels.

You can also come by boat from the pier of Eyrac in Arcachon. In half an hour, one crosses the Bassin with, in the distance, the tchanquées houses of the l’île aux Oiseaux. Before, we stroll between the splendid arcachonnaises of the Ville d’Hiver. This city was born from the love of some financiers rather insane and rich enough to build on sand in the 19th century. The district on the heights houses Swiss chalets, chinoiseries and other neo-gothic castles with belvederes, turrets, and bow-windows. From the top of the Belvedere, you can see the Bassin in its immense flatness.

This view is also seen in La Co(o)rniche where you can find Philippe Starck's paw in this Basque-Landes house. One dines there with the double view on the dune of Pyla and the Bassin on a table laid on the sand. It’s a unique and breathtaking view, particularly at sunset.