We made the most of a rare sunny winter's day and decided to take a drive to Royan. It's only 160 kilometres away, so an easy drive for australians.
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| It was a glorious sunny day until we reached Royan - then the clouds rolled in |
Royan is a resort town about 100 kilometres
northwest of Bordeaux. It’s where the Gironde Estuary meets the sea and the
area has been occupied since prehistoric times. The romans planted vineyards,
farmed oysters and mined the salt . The Visigoths came around 418 and then
the Vikings around 844.
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| Notre Dame de Royan (1958) behind the modern apartment building |
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| Where the estuary meets the Atlantic |
The town was virtually destroyed by allied
bombing in 1945 as there were two german forts here protecting the access to the
port of Bordeaux.
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| Belle Epoque villa beside a modern version |
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| love this wrought iron decoration |
The main beach is two kilometres long and there
are still some Belle Epoque villas scattered amongst the more modern houses and
low level apartment buildings.
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This group , clad in wetsuits , chose the water instead of the promenade for their walk.
The temperature was around 10 degrees with a cool breeze! |
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| Strung out a little, but still walking |
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| We didn't wait to see if they went the whole length of the beach - and back |
On the day that we visited, the promenade was busy with joggers,
bike riders and people walking their dogs, even in the cooler weather.
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| Winter at the beach |
Must share the interesting roundabouts we saw on the way.
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| Escargot anyone ? |
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| Oysters ? |
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| You know you're by the beach now |
Thinking especially of everyone back home in
Australia - take care.
Thanks Graham, that is so interesting. The history is also amazing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting drive and nice pics. You gotta love those Romans, drinking wine and eating oysters!
ReplyDeleteThey certainly knew how to find the best places
DeleteNice to see you are still exploring and discovering new places. Can hardly wait to hear about them over a glass of rosé this summer. That is, if we make it. Right now we have our tickets purchased for the middle of May, and are in the application process for our visas - the question is, will France let us in? and will Canada let us out? A blog post about what is happening in Port Ste. Foy during the CoVid19 scenario would be interesting - at the very least to us.
ReplyDelete- the Canadians on the Rue