My Miscellany: Bassin d'Arcachon (5)

This is definitely the day we should have gone to the Dune de Pyla - it was cooler and somewhat overcast. But that made it quite pleasant for our boat trip round the bay - carefully chosen to depart as close as possible to high tide. The photos are far from the best, partly due to the haziness and partly due to the motion of the boat. We first went towards the île aux oiseaux (island of the birds) in the centre of the bay. Originally it was used as pasture for cattle and horses - but after severe storms in the eighteenth and late nineteenth centuries submerged the island and killed much of the livestock, it became used primarily for hunting and fishing. It had quite a lot of small buildings on it, used for leisure. The two most famous and picturesque are the "cabanes tchanquées" on their stilts. Both were built in the nineteen-fifties and one is still in the possession of the family of the original builder, the other is now owned by the state.
We then headed towards Cap Ferret peninsula and slowly sailed along it towards the tip. It was very interesting to see, from the sea, the other side of what we had seen from the road a couple of days previously - I think the restaurant with the "oyster tastings" sign was perhaps the same place as we had seen all the egrets. Unfortunately the amplification of the pilot's guided tour left a lot to be desired; his French was easy to understand but hard to hear.