Wednesday 9 September 2015

Bassin d'Arcachon (3)

Our first major trip was to the tip of the right-hand arm that that surrounds the bay of Arcachon.



The first part of the drive was through one small town after another - interesting to see but a slow drive, and we returned by a longer but much easier route.
Then we reached the pensinsula, and while it was still one small village after another, the gaps between them were much longer, and there were great views across the bay.
Our first stop was at the Reservoirs de Piraillan, old 19th c fish ponds which are now a natural reserve. We didn't go in, but we enjoyed seeing all the egrets. I've never seen so many in one place before; the photo of them in the pine trees is a little fuzzy because I had to use digital zoom. C, with the spotting scope, was able to tell me that there were also herons in the trees.
Our next stop was in Cap Ferret, where we parked and walked to the lighthouse. Since it was on an enclosed site, it was hard to get a good photo. From there, we went on to the tip of the pensinsula.
And after that we went and spent the afternoon on one of the Atlantic-facing beaches.





low tide; the boat in the foregrounds is one of the typical work-boats, used in the oyster farms


Cap Ferret lighthouse



All the sticks are part of the oyster beds - this is one of the bay-facing beaches

looking from the tip of the peninsula across the bay

1 comment:

Lorraine said...

Birds and lighthouses - one can never see enough of them as far as I'm concerned. Gorgeous lighthouse too! Wouldn't you love to get closer to those birds in the trees. They are so much like the ones we see and I can never get close enough for a clear picture of them either.