The Great Dune of Pyla

 Today is another day of rest and sightseeing. The organizers of EGC are arranging a trip to a vineyard and another one to la dune du Pyla. We already went to the vineyard and Saint Emilion so this time we chose the great dune.

The dune is now 107 meters high but not so long ago it was 117 meters high. There was a storm in 2009 that damaged the dune quite a lot.

The dune is made entirely of really fine beach sand and it is a tough job to climb the dune by foot. The sand is flowing away almost like heavy water and every step you take only takes you half a step ahead. But of course we had to climb all the way to the top, then down to the sea to wet our feet and then climb all the way to the top again.

If you have good legs you must try to run/jump down the steepest parts of the dune. It is almost like flying or jumping on clouds. A really nice feeling!

And another thing... when you climb up again, use your toes like claws to get a good grip. If you let the sand flow between your toes it will take you much more work to climb up.

The path from the parking to the dune is crowded with small shops packed with souvenirs. The most interesting stuff are decorations made of the sand from the dune, but I didn't buy any.

Nice shadows from the trees on the path to the dune.

There we first see the dune!

The stairs were easier to use than to climb the dune. It is quite a steep angle. Some people walked on the side where the angle is less.

A view from the top of the stairs.

The dune is 3 km long and 500 meters wide.

There is a lot of sand here... About 60,000,000 m³.

Most of the people gathered along the top.

It is a popular place for paragliding.

The beach. The dark things in the water are rocks.

You can not see the top of the dune from the water.

After the dune we went to a small cute city named Arcachon. Mostly so the Japanese players could taste the local oysters. Girlwing ate as well but I went for a walk along the beach.

A view of the beach.

On the base of a pier they have this carousel.

The beach from one of the piers.

Another view of the beach.

The local casino.

They have cute houses all around the small city.