Some of the most interesting places on France’s Atlantic coast are quite remote.
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Quiberon © LKL |
We spent two nights on the presqu’île of Quiberon, in southern Bretagne. The beaches are lovely, and the town of Quiberon is kind of cute, but the others on the peninsula are nothing special.
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La Flotte, Ile de Ré © LKL |
In contrast, Île de Ré, in Poitou-Charentes, is home to numerous cute towns (including two Most Beautiful Villages). We spent three nights in Sainte-Marie-de-Ré, and enjoyed talking to our hosts about the boom in housing and tourism that has occurred there since the car ferry was replaced by a toll bridge in 1988. Fortunately, there aren’t as nearly as many houses as there could be, as a lot of the land is covered in grapevines; as for the wine, however, c’est pas terrible.
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Arcachon © LKL |
In Aquitaine, the small town of Soulac-sur-mer is filled with lovely, unique villas, as are a few streets in the much larger Arcachon. They both also have beautiful beaches and I can easily imagine living in either town for a year or two. A short drive from Arcachon is the Dune du Pilat – at 107 meters, it’s the largest sand dune in Europe. The climb up can be a bit difficult, but the view from the top is extraordinary.
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