Cap Ferrat
Author: Baiba Sleže0 COMMENTS
My friendly advice for you would be - do not go to Arcachon resort city! Unless you are a typical tourist, wishing to enjoy comforts of a big hotel, with mass tourism - not individual-oriented service. Yet, the best spots to enjoy oysters are located along the very opposite side of the Arcachon bay, on a narrow strip of land, squeezed between the bay itself and the Atlantic Ocean. Here, one after another, are situated fishermen's villages, with wooden houses built on piles. And all you can get there is oysters, crusty French bread and white wine.
Cap Ferrat
If you really want to eat oysters - I mean, feast on fresh oysters like never before, not even counting them any more - you have to go to Cap Ferret, located at the very mouth of the Arcachon bay. The journey itself is an adventure! The distance from Bordeaux to the closest inland corner of the Arcachon bay is about 40 kilometers by car. To reach Cap Ferret you have to cover about 45 kilometers more, driving through a number of small villages with signs, pointing at oyster areas, dotting the road side. It seems almost impossible not to drive in - yet, it is worth the efforts!
The first thing we notice, entering Cap Ferret, is an old narrow-gauge tram, which seconds later almost knocks off a car coming behind us. Finally we give in and stop at the very first fisherman's house! Sure sign that we are not mistaken is a concrete reservoir in the middle of a small backyard between the house and water's edge - plastic boxes with oysters are submerged there! Passing through a workshop, where a man is deftly shucking oysters, one after another, we find ourselves on a wooden terrace, facing the bay. No faultless service is to be expected here - it's a fisherman's house, not a restaurant! We ask for a first dozen of oysters and the choice proves right! Swiftly enough a hostess brings a big plate with opened oysters on ice, lemon and bred. White wine goes without saying, too. It tastes excellently, still we decide to visit the next house and get another dozen there. A landlady is a bit friendlier here and a jolly group of Germans are already laughing at one of the tables. Yet, now it seems that the first oysters where slightly better...Well, actually the very best idea is an oyster picnic! We find a couple of seafood stores on our way and one of them can provide everything needed - two dozens of oysters (the biggest ones are 5 euro per dozen), lemons, an oyster knife, a bottle of cold Bordeaux Rose de Pouyanne, 2006 and, of course, white wine that shop assistant kindly helps to select. At a small marketplace one can find also wide choice of shrimps of various size, fish, lobsters and crabs.
Now there is nothing for it but to find a lovely spot to savor a delicious meal. And that is easy, too - on the opposite shore there is a famous Dune du Pilat - the largest sand dune in Europe. As funny as it may seem, we feel like experts and award winning oyster shuckers already. Somewhere between the eights and the tenths oyster we cast a casual glance towards the sea and notice that water is receding. Low tide slowly but decidedly leaves numerous motorboats stranded in the sand. Also piles of oysters, put in a neat row, emerge from the shallow water. A local man comes into sight. He walks among the boats with a lantern in his hand, searching for sea worms.
In the morning, when we come to the shore once again, the water has not risen yet. Tractors, seen before at every fisherman's house, now return home loaded with metallic sacks full of oysters. It's a breakfast time, yet, all the oyster places are still closed, the same way as open-air stalls. Except one that we find in a village already on the way back.
A man we meet there looks as old as Earth. Although we do not speak French, we understand each other instantly. We are even allowed to choose from oysters, floating in a pool, the ones we like. The sense of reality captivates and charms the most! Again we have a dozen of oysters each...A bottle of champagne, bought at a wine store, stands to reason, too. Not to mention a lemon and French bread got in a little shop next door. Then a lovely spot with a wooden bench and a wonderful view towards the bay turns up in the dunes. High tide is coming in and water little by little regains its previous positions. A woman, with something like a sweep-net in her hands, walks along the shore, stooping now and then. A handful or two of tiny shrimps are in her net, when she comes back - exactly as much as needed for a soup or a salad. Easy and fast...
Lodging Options
No high-class hotels can be found at Cap Ferret. However, a Hotel des Pins features the same genuine ambience and character as the village and the whole neighborhood itself. A landlady speaks a bit of English and the only thing needed to get a key is a guest's name. Having scribbled down „Baiba", she giggles, shrugs her shoulders and allows choosing one of two rooms available - both very simple and feeling like at your granny's. White painted wooden floor, a wooden bed with carvings and very thin walls. Price - 60 euro per night.
www.hotel-des-pins-bassin.com/hotel.htm
Useful Information
- If you think that oysters can be savored only in fine restaurants being properly attired - try a simple oyster picnics in September in the Arcachon bay. It's an entirely different taste!
- You may, of course, want to order champagne with oysters, however, chose a city restaurant then - the Arcachon bay fisherman houses most surely are not the right place for that.
- Useful website:
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