Day 57: Gastes to Arcachon

April 3, 2024

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In Portugal we surprised ourselves by totally forgetting places we had been, or that we had even been in the area. But that was bit of an anomaly, because here on the Atlantic coast we remember well passing by in 2017, and we have been checking our blog from then, finding it interesting what Grampies 2017 saw and had to say,

One of the places we somehow remember well was our B&B in Gastes. At the time our host Pierre impressed us with the quality of his baked goods, and with the revelation that it all came pre-frozen from Intermarche. We took his photo then, with the goods. We showed Pierre the photo, and we all agree that he had not changed in the seven years. This time we took another photo, and put me in too. That way, in seven years when we possibly return, we can compare again. At seven years apart, I figure I can expect one (maybe two?) photo sessions to come.

A Chiffchaff, a bird we have seen before.

It was really a pleasure to set out and immediately be on a great cycle path. This terrific EV 1 way has already extended all the way from Bayonne, and we expect it to be with us for several more days now.

Even a great route can be subject to flooding. Here was our first run-in, with more to come, but none was the end of the world.

We landed up at nearby Intermarche, as we had done in 2017. In that blog we noted that we had not really stocked up there, and that that was an error. So this time we bought a moderate pile of good stuff.

This lady arriving at Intermarche by bike is demonstrating our ideal for how to go shopping.

In France, even a grocery store has great pain aux raisins.

Our favourite is the selection of premade salads from Sodebo. They cost about 3.50 each.

This example has two eggs, ham, cheese, pasta -- it's great.

We set off from Intermarche, back on great trail, and soon were further developing our knowledge of the pine forest here. First, we noticed again the nests of those nasty procession caterpillars. There are no examples of them on the outside as yet. We also learned that the Cuckoo is one of the few birds that will eat them. It would be great for the 'pillars to be out and to see Cuckoos at the nests. But that will no doubt be in some months. The Cuckoos have only just arrived here from wherever they winter at.

Yesterday Bill Shaneyfeld pointed out that the pine flowers will soon be spreading pollen around. We had not realized that we were in fact looking at flowers - at a distance it seemed to be pine cones. But today we had a closer look, and indeed the pine things are not cones and are very interesting.

Testing out Bill's observations, I gave the pine a shake.

Yes, clouds of pollen. When I told Dodie about it, she hoped I had not gotten pollen on or in my lens. Oops.

The next pine thing was one that had fallen across the path. It was too heavy to shift, so we went over the top. This one fallen tree was only a hint at the destruction we would soon find. a really strong storm must have come through here recently.

To the north of us when we were at Gastes were two large lakes, one the second largest in France. Between the two lie the towns of Biscarosse Bourg and Biscarosse Plage. This pairing of a town name with its beach side equivalent is common along this coast. Biscarosse is famous for a history with seaplanes. You can read about it on the info panel below, and then there is seaplane statue at the roundabout.

The rail trail origin of our path was clear as we cycled past the Biscarosse station.

Our route now took us between the lakes, where there is a canal, and an intermediate small lake. The canal idea came from the famous engineer Vauban, part of a plan to link waterways to Bayonne.

The ride along the canal was really super pleasant. The day had warmed up a lot, so we were comfortable, and we had the beautiful path coupled with the water to look at.

The canal water provided some birds to look at, such as this Grteat Cormorant.

The yellow on his head could be part of breeding colours.

As we passed along the southern shore of the more northerly of the two lakes (Lac de Cazaux) we saw very many downed pines, many pulled up by the roots. There really had to be a big storm here. There was also flooding, and we had to abandon the cycle way and to use the road.

Well, the swans like it.

Swinging around the lake and out by the coastal dunes, we looked up and saw a cyclist descending a dune. What was he doing up there?

We stopped for lunch, and dug out some of our treasures from the Intermarche. Part of this was strawberries, which turned out to be not bad. The label showed they came from near Agen, about 200 km inland from here.

We now moved on the passing inland of the system of huge sand dunes that line the coast here. This will culminate near the town of Pyla, with a 6 km long dune that is the tallest in Europe.

Common Raven - we have seen the lots at home, such as at the Dump.

The path continues, with the road and the dunes to the left.

Lots of camping operations are at the foot of the dune.

This shows how far and high that zoomed guy was.

Beside the Pyla dune we saw our first evidence of the major fires that struck this area in 2022.

Although dramatic, the burned area was nowhere near as extensive as we had imagined from news reports. Perhaps the main burn areas are elsewhere.

We were now approaching the super major tourist area which is the Bay of Arcachon. This has at least ten towns around it, its own website, and in summer, throngs of people. Our plan was to stay at Arcachon town today, and then to spin around the bay tomorrow.

Our hotel was right in the middle of Arcachon town. We headed straight up the coast and then around to the east and into the town. We passed through shady streets, with quite nice houses.

At one point we hung a left and nipped over to the sea for a look. We found a long stretch of perfect beach. Later we would see this beach extending all around Arcachon town.

Going up a one way street, we found ourselves rather swarmed by two young boys on bikes, who wove around and passed us on either side. This resulted in some shouts from a lady who was with the boys, but slightly behind, When she came abreast of us, in English but with a French accent, she apologized for the boys. They were from London, on vacation here with grandma, and they did not yet understand how the streets work, she said. In this photo we see that she then took the lead.

Closer to Arcachon, the beach carries on wide and beautiful.

Houses are beginning to take on a Belle Époque aire.

Our hotel, with the now expected narrow entrance.

My phone had rung during the day, and it was the lady from the hotel, wanting to know when we expected to arrive. I explained that we were coming by bike and could not be totally accurate, but we agreed on 3-4 p.m. Now that we arrived, at 3:30, the door was locked. I had to phone, and the lady said she would come to open up. ?? Asked how long until she would arrive, she said she was coming by bike. Turnabout is fair play?

The lady came quite quickly in her bike. We had a brief tussle, as she insisted that our bike batteries could not be charged in the room. But the place she wanted to put them would be locked overnight, and we like to disconnect them once they are charged. We told the lady her safety concerns were misguided, if she wanted to have the batteries connected all night. We ended with a negotiated spot, not in the room, where we could go and unplug the batteries in a couple of hours.

We then set out for a quick tour around town, It is a 100% tourist operation, with a lot of nice retail, and a good supply of ice cream and bakeries.

We went down by the beach first, and Dodie suggested I photograph one of the nice hotels. Because of Joni Mitchel, I prefer Pink Hotels as mentioned in Big Yellow Taxi:

They paved paradise

And put up a parking lot

With a pink hotel *, a boutique

And a swinging hot spot

The beach also had this Ferris wheel and a carousel.

From here one can take a ferry across to Cap Ferret - clearly with your bike.

Lots of bikes went onto this little boat.

Back through the town - it really is an attractive little tourist spot.

We stopped in at Monoprix, where they have one of those great orange juicing machines.

We are definitely not in Spain any longer - the juice oranges come from Egypt!

We then jumped across the street to La Mie Caline, where we picked up what will be some healthful stuff for breakfast. But my eye was caught by the chausson pommes, and abricots!

Here too they had a selection of tartelettes. Interestingly, the Gateau Basque (on the right) is treated as a tartelette, which really it is, rather than being a cake.

Tomorrow - around the Bay!

p.s. We got an email today from Beñat, at the Basoa Bike Shop in Hondarribia, near Irun. Beñat was the one that saved the day (week) for us, by finding the needed part to get us back on the road. We had written to thank him. My big brother, Harold, had also written. (As big brother, Harold sometimes writes to thank anyone that has helped us out.) We were gratified to get an acknowledgement back, from Beñat, and I think Harold did as well. So often, people that we exchange coordinates with on the road are never heard from again. Thanks Beñat!

Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 2,643 km (1,641 miles)

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