Key
Facts :
| Nearest
town : |
Soulac-sur-Mer |
| Type
of location : |
Edge
of seaside town |
| No.
of bedrooms : |
3
: 2x doubles & 1x twin |
| Sleeping
capacity : |
6
including infants: no more than 2 children under 5 in any
group please |
| No.
of bathrooms : |
2
bathrooms & WCs including 1x en-suite |
| Style
of property : |
American-style
'clapboard' summer house |
| Quality
guide : |
GOOD
QUALITY - what
does this mean? |
| Prices : |
|
| » Check availability & prices for this property GO |
Notes on prices:
» Prices include:
• Fresh linen and bathroom towels
every Saturday
• Midstay clean of 3 hours for
stays of 2+ weeks
• Exit
clean
• Water, gas, electricity
» A small tourist tax is collected by the local agent in Soulac
» A security deposit of £350 payable
by credit card and held by Alternative Aquitaine on the
owner’s behalf. The card record will be destroyed
within 7 days of departure (assuming no breakages or damages).
» Read important
information about security deposits & insurance |
| Linen
arrangements : |
Beds
made for arrival & bathroom towels are provided. A fresh
set is provided every Saturday |
| Cleaning
arrangements : |
A
midstay clean (for stays of 2+ weeks) and an exit clean are
included in the rental price
» Read important information about cleaning
|
| Arrivals
& departure : |
Arrive
Saturday 4-6pm and depart Saturday by 10am. There is some
flexibility in the off season
»
Read important information about
arrivals & departures |
| Nearest
beach : |
Path
to the sandy beach about 25 metres from the house. No more
than a 5 minute walk in total. There's a beach pool at this
part of the beach too. |
| Nearest
boulangerie : |
Soulac
centre 800m |
| Nearest
airport : |
Bordeaux
1 hr 15 mins |
| Nearest
ferry port : |
St
Malo 6 hours |
| Swimming
pool : |
No |
| Suitability
for children : |
Very
good: enclosed (but small) garden, close to beach |
| Suitability
for infants : |
Bed
guard, stair gate, cot (& linen) and high chair available.
Gardens are small but enclosed |
| Facilities
& equipment : |
Wireless
broadband; hi-fi with CD & iPOD dock; DVD player; 20"
LCD TV (French channels only); bodyboards; telephone (incoming
& emergency calls only); BBQ; washing machine; dishwasher;
microwave |
| Things
to see & do : |
Surf,
sail, windsurf, cycle, horse-ride. Visit
Royan & La Rochelle, Médoc vineyards, local markets,
Cordouan lighthouse, Pointe de Grave and
the 12thC Benedictine Abbey of Soulac |
| House
rules : |
No
smoking or pets please. The smoking rule is paramount due
to fire risk (the house is of timber construction) |
|
Location
: Map
Ref B1
Soulac-sur-Mer
is right at the tip of the Gironde, close to the Pointe de Grave
- where the mighty Gironde river exits into the Atlantic (the
Gironde is Europe's largest river estuary).
An informal seaside town popular with families, Soulac offers
an easy beach-based holiday with a few local excursions. The town
has a good range of shops including all the staples of French
life.
L a Pavillon Été
is located just behind the sand dunes at the northern edge of
the town. The beach and shops are in walking distance.
Bordeaux airport is the closest and is approximately
100 kms south east. If you are driving, try taking the ferry from
Royan to the Pointe de Grave; it shortens the route dramatically
as you avoid circumnavigating Bordeaux, although in peak season
the queues for the ferry do build up. Try this link for further
information about crossings: Royan
- Le Verdon Ferry
|
Accommodation
:
La
Pavillon Été
is a
new-build summer house which would not be out of place on Martha's
Vineyard on America's Eastern Seaboard. The house is timber-constructed
and blends in perfectly with the pine forest and sand-dune landscape.
The property is owned by an English couple who, having spent many
years touring coastal Aquitaine, finally chose Soulac-sur-Mer
as their place to rest. The idea of buying some land to self-build
a wooden beach house is a rather inspiring one too! Linda and
Richard use the house occasionally throughout the year but guests
have first choice of when to stay.
The
property is designed to take advantage if its environment and
adopts the beach house protocol of placing the living area on
the first floor and making it open-plan to benefit from space
and light.
GROUND FLOOR
Two of the bedrooms - 1 double bedroom and
1 twin bedroom - are on the ground floor. Both with French
door access to the garden.
Bathroom with fitted shower and separate toilet.
FIRST FLOOR
The living space is open-plan in nature, as is traditional
with clapperboard summer houses.
The kitchen area is obviously modern and well-equipped.
Facilities include oven, hob, microwave, dishwasher, electric
coffee mill and blender, kettle, fridge freezer and washing machine.
The living room is spacious and well-lit and
has stripped wooden flooring. Two large French doors open to a
hugh decked balcony where there is garden furniture
for sitting outside. The balcony is spacious and partially shaded
and has a staircase leading to the gardens. Outdoor furniture
for the balcony is provided - white wooden table seating 6, plus
6x directors chairs and 2x folding canvas chairs.
The living room includes sofa, easy chairs and dining
area with limed pine table seating 6.
The master bedroom has king-size bed and en-suite
shower room with double sink and separate wc.
OUTSIDE
There is an integrated garage, ideal for secure
storage of bikes, surfboards, etc.
The back garden is 20mx22m with hedge & shrubs
although most of it is kept naturally wooded. The remaining garden
is relatively small but there is plenty of shaded space as well
as sunny areas for sitting out. The trees beyond the fence are
in part of the dune system and are very dense.
There is a track to the dunes only 20m past the
house.
Linda & Richard ask you to note that La
Pavillon Été
is a non-smoking house. The floors are wooden
and care should be taken if you are wearing bare feet.
La
Pavillon Été is available
for rental all year round. It
is centrally heated, insulated and double-glazed, therefore winter
lets are possible. Autumn
and Winter are the best surfing seasons.
|
Local
Guide :
Today
a popular and informal seaside resort, sheltered by pine-covered
sand dunes, Soulac is actually rich in history. The good thing
is that even though the town is busy in summer, it is the natural
landscape that dominates this northern-most point of Aquitaine's
Silver Coast.
The town has been swallowed by sand and sea on more than one
occasion; until the 16thC, it had a large natural harbour which
was overrun by marshes. At least it made a change from sand
and sea.
Going back several centuries, Soulac became the site of an ambitious
Romanesque abbey. The Basilique Notre-Dame-de-la-Fin-des-Terres
orginates from the 12thC. Some of its Romanesque architecture
remains and this accounts for its status as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site. It's actually quite a surreal image seeing something of
such profound antuiquity in the heart of seaside town. That
said, there's also a good sprinkling of turn of the century
bourgeoise chalets, similar to those found in Arcachon. Each
has it's own colours, name and character.
During the second world war, the Gironde estuary was, geographically,
of great strategic importance in the Nazi occupation of France.
The waterway was a major route in and out of France and the
Pointe de Grave itself was the scene of one of the fiercest
battles fought in the war. The Pointe de Grave was not recaptured
until weeks before the April 1945 armistice. The coastline is
still home to a trail of pillboxes; a poignant reminder of how
different this coast must have looked 60 years or so ago.
Soulac is a fun place to spend a summer holiday. The beaches
of white sand are clean and provide excellent surf
and windsurf for novices and body-boarders
(in Autumn and Winter it's a little more dramatic). More modern
derivatives of surfing are also now popular here - sand-yachting,
skim-boarding and kite-surfing, for example. The town's four
main beaches are all supervised in the high season. There's
also a selection of beaches (including some for naturists) further
south at Montalivet and l'Amélie. It is these southern
beachs where naturists tend to hang out (as it were), so you
should choose your spot carefully depending on whether you want
to go sans vêtements or not.
The Petit Train runs at regular intervals up
the coastline to the Pointe de Grave. It stops on demand at
forest and beach spots along the way and is an ideal way to
journey to the beach for the day with the kids.
There's also numerous possibilities for safe cycling
and mountain bike trails in the forests, kayaking
and windsurfing on the lakes and sailing
at le Verdon marina. The town also has an equestrian
centre and at the seafront is Cap 33, a permanent activity
centre featuring tennis, volleyball, rollerblading
and diving for over-15s. There's also a swimming
pool and casino in Soulac. For something more adventurous, try
Cordouan Air Club for scenic flights across
this amazing landscape. Also based at the aerodrome is the local
parachuting club!
The Soulac 1900 is held on the first weekend
of June and provides entertainments of all kinds. There's a
steam train from Bordeaux and lots of street entertainers in
costumes.
The surf doesn't reach the beach at le Verdon-sur-Mer,
a calmer alternative to the Atlantic as it is situated on the
lee side of the peninsula. Verdon is a popular sailing spot
- there's a marina here where boats can be hired. The Gironde
river mouth is near its widest at this point - it's the best
part of 6 kms to the norther banks at Royan.
Verdon was one of the last places in France occupied by the
Germans.
If the adults want a break from the beach and sports, Soulac
has a good Musée d'Art er Archéologie
displaying items from Neolithic and Bronze Ages. The Moulin
de Vensac is now working again. Erected in 1858, it's
one of the oldest windmills in the country. Market
days are, of course, always a treat in France.
St Vivien (Wednesday) and Lesparre
are good options for traditional markets. In the summer, Soulac
and Montalivet hold daily markets.
Soulac is also a good base for some excursions:
• Panoramic views from Pointe de Grave
- from the top of the dunes are panoramic views of the Gironde
mouth, the resort of Royan on the opposite bank, le Verdon and,
5 miles out into the Atlantic, the lighthouse Phare de Cordouan.
There's another lighthouse on the Pointe itself, and which has
a small museum.
• Boat-trip to the Phare de Cordouan
- the lighthouse is said to be the world's oldest still standing.
It's stone structure dates back to the 16thC. It was updated
in neo-classical style in the 18thC and once contained a royal
apartment and chapel.
• Wine-tasting in the Médoc
Naturally, a major draw of the Médoc is wine.
The steep-sided valleys, gravel soils and gentle climate all
combine to create ideal growing conditions - something the viticulteurs
have exploited here for hundreds of years. You may be surprised
to learn that the Médoc's wines are exclusively red,
made principally from the Cabernet grape. The most highly-rated
labels are household names - Château Lafite, Château
Margaux, Château Latour and Château
Mouton. Pauillac on the Gironde coast is a place to
head for - this lovely market town and marina has a great market,
some fine restaurants and an appealing, laid-back ambience.
There are several possibilities for wine-tours whether it be
by bike or organised tour. And if drinking wine isn’t
enough, you can also bathe in it.
• City culture in Bordeaux
- the big city is just over an hour away and is a good option
for a day-trip, whether it’s boutique shopping, sight-seeing
or museums. The town has been revitalised by its forward-thinking
mayor who has overseen the new tram system and a big clean up
of the city's many fine monuments and buildings. Walking around
the 18th century old town centre (Quartier St. Pierre), you
can begin to imagine the city’s commercial and maritime
past.
• A day at the lakes
- Aquitaine is well-known for its colossal lakes which lie just
inland from the Atlantic. Lac de Hourtin-Carcans is the largest
of them all. You can reach Hourtin-Port (the
lake's northern base) in 45 minutes for a day of beach activities,
watersports, cycle rides, nature walks and picnic-ing. The lakes
have natural sandy beaches which can be quite a bonus on days
when the Atlantic surf is high.
• Visit Royan and la Rochelle in the Charente-Maritime
Royan
took a bit of a battering during Word War II as the Germans
retreated. However, some of its older buildings remain and the
town is a popular, very French resort. Royan is easily reached
by ferry from the Pointe de Grave. You can even do this trip
by bike. However, if you want to head on up to the lovely fishing
port of La Rochelle, we recommend you put your car on the ferry!
For
more local information, try these links. Of course, we are not
responsible for the content of 3rd party websites.
Soulac Tourist Office
- slightly irritating graphics but some useful info. Order a
brochure if you can. Bordeaux
Tourist Office
Gironde
Tourisme
Wines of
the Médoc
France
Tourist Information
|
|
