Meist gesehen/Most seen

Marbuzet Castle Depending from Château Cos d'Estournel, Château Marbuzet is relatively unknown compared to famous neighbours. Located in the hamlet of Marbuzet on the heights of Saint Estèphe, the castle offers a semicircular Corinthian colonnade. In the 18th century, the hamlet of Marbuzet belonged to Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur (1697-1755), also known as "Prince of the Vines". Today wine is produced on 7 hectares around the Château.

Hourtin Plage the sky is getting darker, we are looking for a roof over our heads ;-)

Le Luc a hamlet of the municipality of Cissac-Médoc, in the background a typical building for this area, waterresevoir tower. Located between the Atlantic coast and the Gironde estuary, Medoc is considered a peninsula whose terrain is interspersed with sand and gravel, making the Medoc very suitable for viticulture.

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste One of the oldest estates of the Médoc The history of Grand-Puy-Lacoste is fascinating in many ways. It is a family history from the 16th century, the name Grand-Puy, already mentioned in medieval documents , comes from the old term "puy" "hill, small height". Typically for this region, the soil consists of deep gravel and sand on a limestone base. Since the 16th century, the estate has remained in a single family until it was joined by marriage in 1978 with another family. Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste produces 12,000 crates of wine, 12 bottles of 0.75 litre each, in an average year. The fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks, after which the wine is put into barriques, 50% of which are renewed every year, and the maturation phase lasts about 18 months.

View from the dune at Lacanau Océan

the way up the dune to the beach

A phenomenon which is reflected in the sand and on the collectors of the oyster farms is the red, rusty colour. In the land of Gascony soil consists of an iron oxide interspersed with sandstone. The water seeping into the groundwater is heavily saturated with dissolved iron, causing visible traces of red and rust on the banks and collectors.

At the entrance to Pereire Park Pereire Park is an authentic and natural place and offers many opportunities for relaxation for pedestrians, joggers, rollerbladers and cyclists. A large green forest area with a beach of fine sand bordered by a pine forest. You can cross the park on cycle paths.

The view from the hill in Pila, over the narrowest part of the basin Arcachon to Cap Ferret

Dune du Pilat is a must when you're around here, The Pilat dune is located at the entrance to the Arcachon basin.

Once you get to the top, you'll be rewarded with a great view. The dune consists of 135 hectares of pure sand, and the surrounding woods cover about 4000 hectares. As this area is of great ecological interest, it was declared a nature reserve in 1978.

Here you can see very beautifully how the wind shapes and moves the sand of the dune differently again and again.

The Dune du Pilat is one of the coastal dunes of Aquitaine, it is the only dune in this system that is still in motion. The effects of these movements can be clearly seen here, trees, shrubs, grasses, whole forests are slowly swallowed up.

A last look back to the dune, which gave us with this mini desert an extra experience and a small impression to the desert.

With colleagues from Advance (manufacturer of paragliders and accessories) my eldest son is always in May one week flying on the dune. It is a lot of fun to fly for hours at different speeds close to the ground, to take off and land again and again, to practice touch and go. You meet pilots from different countries, also the equipment has different age categories. The main thing is that flying is fun.

Paragliding over the Dune du Pyla, an excellent spot for soaring. The term "soaring" describes the possibility of gaining altitude with a paraglider on a slope upwind. In comparison to thermal flying you don't need (direct) sunlight - if a valley wind blows vertically against a steep coast on an impact slope or sea wind, an upwind is formed. The strength and size of the upwind depend on the wind strength and shape of the terrain. In the background the Banc d'Arguin is a national nature reserve, it is a sandbank visible at low tide with an area of 2.200 ha . The area has been protected since 1972 as a nesting, wintering and migratory resting place for numerous bird species, in particular the Sandwich Tern.

On very hot days you can also observe an interesting phenomenon at the dune: Now we really see water in the desert or play a trick on our eyes here. It is a mirage which creates this optical effect by deflecting the light at differently warm air layers, it is a physical phenomenon and no visual or optical illusion.

Evening stroll, a few steps back from the beach boulevard, immediately brings peace and quiet.