Balcons de L’Ocean at Biscarrosse
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44°26’55.3128″N, 1°15’14.3460″W

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Dune du Pilat
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44°35’34.7820″N, 1°12’54.2052″W

Today we went to see the Dune du Pilat, the largest sand dune in Europe. The entire coastline in this area has dunes but in this particular area the dunes are absolutely massive!

Photo above  – Catherine at the base of the main dune. If you look closely at the top of the photo the black specks you see are people on top of the dune. The photo doesn’t really do it justice.

The dune is 103 meters high, 600 meters wide & 3 kilometers long. The entire area is a national protected park.

A staircase has been installed by the park authority to help people ascend the dune. The sand is very difficult to walk in because it is so fine & soft. It’s hard just walking through it on the level ground. It’s almost impossible for a lot of people (like me) to climb the dune without using the steps.

Photo above – there are 168 steps in this staircase.  I was puffing pretty good by the time I reached the top but the effort was well rewarded!

Photo above  – a sailboat off in the distance on the Bay of Biscay

Photo above – looking back inland from the top of the dune you can see only forest for miles. The forest is mostly low trees & scrub brush.

Photo above – I was intimidated by the prospect of walking down the staircase (vertigo) so we walked down the side of the dune instead. The slope of the dune (going straight down) was pretty steep but the path along the side of it was relatively wide & a reasonable descent.  We just kept our focus on the pathway & didn’t look down.

Photo above – the forest at the base of the dune.

In July 2022 there was a major forest fire in this area due to drought & heat. It took firefighters 11 days to get the fire under control. Approximately 7,000 hectares of forest were burned & it effectively ended the tourist season for this entire area.

Photo above – there is still lots of evidence of the forest fire for several kilometers along the highway on our drive from the dunes back to Biscarrosse. The tall trees are mostly burned but there is lots of new growth at ground level.

On our way home we stopped at a grocery store to pick up some supplies for our dinner & breakfast tomorrow morning. I got some stuff for a special meal tonight.

We had a brief rest & then went down to the beach to check out the surf. Catherine contemplated going in for a swim but decided against it because the undertow was pretty strong. It was almost dinnertime, so that was my cue to spring into action!

Photo above  – armed with can of fine French beer (1664) chef Wally makes quesadillas for dinner!

During our boat cruise with David & Valerie I had offered many times to make quesadillas for dinner but no one was showing any interest. I finally wore Catherine down to the point where she gave in so it was my time to shine!

Photo above  – a tortilla, some sliced chicken, shallots, mushrooms,  shredded mozzarella cheese & a glass of fine French wine (€5.00 a bottle!) & voilà  – an almost Michelin star dinner!

Photo above  – the sun was setting just as we were finishing up our dinner. We were already dressed in our evening clothes (pajamas) so we opted to enjoy the sunset from our balcony.

The forecast for tonight & tomorrow is for rain. So far we have been lucky & the rain has held off. Hopefully our luck will continue. We shall see!

Cheers!