Things you might know about Cap Ferret

The Dune du Pilat moves every year

The highest dune in Europe, the Dune du Pilat is constantly moving inwards. The speed of movement varies from year to year. Sometimes it moves rapidly (10m/year) and sometimes very slowly (1m/year). Over the last 60 years, it has moved almost 300 metres! As a result of this movement, the dune has covered around twenty private properties, and every year the sand covers 8,000m² of the surrounding pine forest. A road was even covered in 1987.

But what explains this phenomenon?

On the sea side, there is the phenomenon of erosion, i.e. the planning of the coast by water, and the phenomenon of accretion, or more simply the accumulation of grains of sand one on top of the other, which defines the coastline.

On the forest side, it is the prevailing maritime winds that transport millions of grains of sand every day. These winds also explain the shape of the dune: gentle slopes on the ocean side and a steep face on the pine side.

According to the observatory, the central part of the dune is advancing towards the sea by an average of 1.5 metres a year.

A UFOport in Arès
 

No, you're not dreaming! The town of Arès has a UFOport to facilitate the arrival of extraterrestrials... the first of its kind in the world!

The UFOport was built in the 1970s by electronics engineer Robert Cotten and a group of Arès residents. A UFO enthusiast, he was disappointed that there was no designated place to welcome extraterrestrial craft. So a petition was launched for the creation of a UFOport in the commune, and the mayor and town council were won over by the idea.       

You can ski in Arcachon!
 

A few years ago, it was possible to learn to ski and train in the Arcachon basin. And as you can imagine, people didn't ski on snow but on pine needles! In the second half of the 20th century, the seaside town was home to an unlikely ski slope. In fact, a dune not far from the current equestrian centre offered the opportunity to ski down 250 metres of slope on pine needles that provided excellent sliding conditions. People practiced slalom, downhill and jumping, and the Arcachon ski club was born from this, with up to 720 licensed children learning to ski without ever having seen snow.   

The Arcachon aquarium-museum: one of the oldest in the world
 

The town of Arcachon is home to the world's oldest aquarium, created in 1865 and visited by many famous people. In 2020, the University of Bordeaux, which owns the aquarium, ordered it to close and cease operating for safety reasons linked to its dilapidated state. In fact, it has been preserved in its original state, as it was over 150 years ago, and is made up of rooms in the shape of caves as they were fashioned in the 19th century.

The aquarium boasts a wide variety of animals: shellfish, mammals, oysters, archaeological finds, anemones, sea breams, starfish, sea bass, triggerfish, moray eels, skates, octopus, etc.

Upstairs, in the museum, one room was dedicated to oyster farming and navigation, another to local archaeology and a biology room presented all the fauna of the basin. For the time being, all the fish in the museum have been entrusted to the La Rochelle aquarium. The university says it does not want the museum to die. But to date, we cannot confirm that it will be renovated.