Etape 5 Biscarrosse Plage to Arcachon

Endless rolling cycle track through endless pine forest backed by endless sand dunes in endless heat with an accompanying cacophony of screeching cicadas just about sums up the day’s cycling. Another few hundred miles of this could send a chap mad.

However, the day was highlighted by two memorable events. The first was climbing up Europe’s highest sand dune, Le Dune du Pilat, which is just south of Arcachon and weighs in at 380ft tall and approx 2 miles long. There is a fantastic view from the summit looking across Arcachon Bay towards the long spit of land which terminates in Cap Ferret. The main drawback to scaling this massive sand dune is that, in this weather, the sand is about 3000 degrees C and for delicate-footed souls such as me this is too much to bear. So in classic British style I attempted the climb in my cycling shoes and white socks. This was doomed to failure as all that happened was that my shoes filled with hot sand until every internal nook and cranny was packed full making my shoes feel as tight as a camel’s a**e in a sandstorm!! Coming down the dune was worse as you inevitable end up flicking sand all over the place including up your shorts and into your tee shirt. Having got back down I took off my socks and shoes and emptied them making my own mini dune in the car park. However it was all worth it for the view.

The second notable event of the day was plucking up the courage to slurp some oysters. Arcachon Bay is oyster central in France so there was a local imperative to giving them a go. They get presented raw with just a slice of lemon. How to politely describe the texture and taste sensation…… how about – a sea-flavoured gelatinous mass in its own brackish pool. Doesn’t sound too appealing but actually they did taste really good. Can’t say the aphrodisiac thing worked tho’!!!!

This part of the world is renowned for its fine wines from the Bordeaux and Entre Deux Mers regions and houses some of the finest wine producing dynasties such as Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Margaux. However they don’t forget about their dogs and they get well looked after.