Continuing Our French Adventure: From Atlantic Shores to Underground Wonders
This is the next chapter in our incredible ‘Tour de France’ journey, picking up as we arrived on the stunning Atlantic coast. This leg of the journey offers a perfect blend of natural wonders, gourmet delights, and unique historical sites, all within a manageable drive. It promised a delightful mix of seafood, sand dunes, and subterranean surprises to make the trip truly unforgettable!
Our Seaside Base in Cap Ferret
In the afternoon, we finally reached the picturesque peninsula of Cap Ferret, a sliver of land separating the serene Bay of Arcachon from the mighty Atlantic Ocean. Our home for the next three nights was a lovely bungalow at Camping les Viviers. This was a large, high-class 4-star resort, bustling with energy – so a word to the wise: be sure to book well in advance as a deposit is required! We found the campsite to be excellent and very secure, and our bungalow was both spotlessly clean and wonderfully comfortable.
We chose Cap Ferret for a trio of perfect reasons: to unwind on beautiful beaches, explore the fantastic nearby attractions, and, most importantly, to sample the world-famous oysters cultivated right in the Bay of Arcachon.
A Taste of the Ocean: Oysters & Arcachon
If you love seafood, the Atlantic coast of France is pure heaven. For us, the highlight was undoubtedly the oysters. We indulged at every opportunity and can confidently say the taste was among the finest we’ve ever experienced – incredibly fresh and bursting with the flavour of the sea. Of course, no oyster is complete without the perfect drink, and we found ours in a deliciously crisp local sparkling wine. An absolute triumph.
Conquering Europe’s Largest Sand Dune
As planned, we ventured to the breathtaking Big Dune of Pilat (la Dune du Pyla). The statistics alone are staggering: it’s the biggest sand dune in Europe, soaring to 107 metres high, stretching over 2.7 kilometres in length and 0.5 kilometres wide. It’s hard to believe that back in 1855, it stood at a mere 35 metres!
Situated at the entrance of the Bay of Arcachon, directly opposite Cap Ferret (which required a scenic drive around the bay), the dune is the coast’s most visited landmark, attracting over a million visitors annually. And it is worth every single one of them. The climb is a challenge – we were nearly out of breath! But the reward is a truly stunning panorama. From the summit, the views of the endless ocean on one side and the vast, green pine forests on the other are simply spectacular. A top tip: if you’d rather not walk far, the car park is conveniently located right next to the dune, making access wonderfully easy.
Mushroom Caves and an Underground Town
The Atlantic coast marked the most remote point of our trip. Leaving the ocean air behind, we headed inland for a completely different kind of adventure on our long journey home, with our next stop being the incredible Mushroom Caves. But the whole adventure at this point was far from over!
Our next stop was a truly unique find: The Tufa Quarry and the Underground Town in Bourré (Cave des Roches). This is the only place in the world where mushrooms are produced in their entirety 50 metres underground! The scale is mind-boggling, with the farm sprawling across 120 kilometres of galleries over seven levels.
In this natural, year-round atmosphere of 13°C and 95% humidity, a variety of mushrooms flourish. Astonishingly, this single site produces 40% of the world’s pied bleu mushroom, exporting this gourmet delicacy to top-starred restaurants in New York, Tokyo, London, and Geneva.
Another fascinating feature is the Underground Town. We loved this whimsical, artificial Underground Town carved by a local artist. A visit to both the mushroom caves and the town lasts about an hour. During the summer, there are roughly six guided tours per day, reducing to three in the winter. When we visited, prices ranged from €7.50 for a child to €12 for an adult, but do check their website as prices may have changed.
After this subterranean detour, we continued our journey with stops at several majestic castles in the Loire Valley. A definite highlight was the sublime Royal Château de Chenonceau, a castle elegantly built over the River Cher in 1513. Walking through its spectacular gallery above the water and exploring its immaculately kept gardens was a fairytale experience.
As we headed north, we seized the opportunity to visit Épernay, the true capital of Champagne. Here, we indulged in a guided tour of a Mercier champagne house, where we delved into the fascinating history and meticulous production methods behind the world’s most celebrated sparkling wine. We spent almost an hour in the cool, vast cellars, surrounded by the distinct, yeasty smell of the air. It was the perfect, effervescent interlude, proving the old adage true: you always need an excuse for champagne, whether celebrating a success or simply the joy of the journey itself!
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