The French don't want you to know about their best beaches. Photo / Getty Images
The French don't want you to know about their best beaches. Photo / Getty Images
Whether you prefer stretching out in the sun with a chilled glass of wine or charging across the sand on a go-kart with a sail, there’s a beach in France for everyone, writes Anna Richards.
France isn’t like the Seychelles. Its beaches don’t dominate the window displays of high street travel agents, or take over every Windows screensaver. There aren’t (many) swaying palms; you won’t be diving with manta rays. However, they’re spectacularly varied. Subtropical archipelagos, goat tracks down limestone cliffs and sunset surfs before tucking into a hefty marmite (casserole) of moules frites – it’s all here.
Beaches in France often give the impression of being extremely polished. The best-known are often synonymous with celebrities. Brigitte Bardot dancing topless at Pampelonne Beach in Saint-Tropez. The star-studded boardwalk of Deauville, where Coco Chanel owned a boutique. Cannes, where the red carpet is graced by anyone who is anyone in the film industry each May.
Always a beach bum at heart, I spent much of the past two years writing a watersports guide to France, which lumbered me with the onerous task of visiting many of France’s most fabulous beaches. These aren’t the beaches you’ll have seen on TV. These are the beaches the French would rather you didn’t know about.
It’s strange that arguably the most tropical-looking place in France is in the north. At their peak, at the end of the 19th century, just 85 people lived on the Glénan Islands. Now they’re uninhabited and the people who visit are either tourists or aspiring sailors taking classes at the world-famous Glénans sailing school. There are nine islands in the archipelago and all the white sand beaches are wonderful, but my favourite is Plage de Glénan-Bananec, the narrow strip of sand on Île Saint-Nicolas that links it with the next island, Bananec.
How to get there: From Paris, take the train or drive to Concarneau (five hours). From here, Vedettes de l’Odet has twice-daily services to the Glénan Islands (mid-April to mid-September).
Where to stay: Thalasso Resort, Concarneau, has a vast spa complex and is well-placed for the ferry to the Glénans. From €164/night (NZ$287)
The Glénan Islands are arguably the most tropical-looking motu in France. Photo / Getty Images
Cap-d’Ail, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur
France’s southeast doesn’t have so many sandy beaches but the limestone cliffs and calanques (rocky inlets) add an altogether different character. Beach town Cap d’Ail has under 5000 residents and an abundance of Scots pines framed by towering cliffs. It’s possible to get here on foot from Nice along the coast path. The beach is small but, if it gets crowded, bask on one of the rocks, where you can jump straight into crystal cool water and sizzle on the stone like a frying egg afterwards. Laid-back little beach restaurants sell fresh seafood and arancini.
How to get there: The closest airport is Nice, a 20-minute train ride from Cap-d’Ail.
Where to stay: Kaleidoscopic in colour, Mama Shelter, Nice, is the perfect place for an after-beach cocktail. From €233/night. (NZ$408)
It’s possible to get to Cap d’Ail on foot from Nice, walking along the coast path. Photo / Getty Images
Piantarella, Corsica
Choosing the best beach in Corsica is an impossible task, not least because of the sheer quantity (there are around 200 named beaches on this Mediterranean island, but I suspect the true number is much higher). Piantarella Beach, a sheltered little cove, even when the sea whips into a frenzy, has sand so fine it looks as though it has been sieved. The splintered rocky islands that you see just offshore are the outcrops of the Lavezzi Islands, a protected archipelago between Corsica and Sardinia. The one closest to the beach is a nesting ground for several bird species so, rather than alighting, hire a paddleboard from Bonif’Kayak on the beach and paddle out around it to observe them from the water.
How to get there: Domestic flights from Paris Orly go to Figari - South Corsica Airport. Hire a car from the airport to drive the 30km to Piantarella.
Where to stay: Hôtel Colomba, in the heart of Bonifacio, has a great restaurant with sea views. From €150/night (NZ$262).
Piantarella Beach has sand so fine it looks as though it has been sieved. Photo / Getty Images
Plage Remember, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Southwest France is the surfer’s haunt and towns yo-yo between the glitz and glamour of places like Biarritz and sleepy little places where the restaurant floors are often carpeted with sand. Mimizian Plage, by Plage Remember, is one of the latter. Dunes flank the beach, a protective barrier between the rolling waves of the Atlantic. The sand is caramel in colour, even more so as the sun sets directly over the sea. It’s not a spot for swimming and there’s little in the way of infrastructure, but to surf in the sunset and enjoy moules frites as the saltwater crystallises on your skin, there’s nowhere better.
How to get there: Plage Remember is a 90-minute drive from Bordeaux (international airport and high-speed train connections to Paris).
Where to stay: Friendly little Villa Sunshine runs surf lessons and has boards for hire. As the crow flies it’s directly north of Plage Remember, but driving takes just shy of an hour. From €55/night (NZ$96).
Surfers in Biarritz. Photo / Karim Ben Van on Unsplash
Fort-Mahon-Plage, Hauts-de-France
If I’m honest, the beaches in Hauts-de-France are not the best in the country, although they’re some of the biggest. Facing onto the English Channel, enormous, slightly muddy-coloured tidal sands stretch for miles at low tide, creating the perfect playground for one of northern France’s most peculiar and most entertaining sports: char à voile, or land sailing. Three-wheeled buggies equipped with sails whip across the flats like a particularly messy version of go-karting as you splash through salt pools and rivulets of water making their way to the sea. They can reach speeds of up to 60km/h and the wide open spaces mean the wind comes through at a whack to propel you. The town is rather uninspiring but the countryside just further south in the Bay of Somme makes for a much more pleasant stay.
How to get there: Fort-Mahon-Plage is just under two hours’ drive from Lille (international airport, Eurostar services to London and high-speed trains to Paris).
Where to stay: Skip the rather bleak-looking Fort Mahon town and stay at eco-camp Le Piloti instead, 10km away. From €128/night (NZ$224) (minimum two-night stay).
Fort-Mahon-Plage in Hauts-de-France. Photo / Getty Images
For more things to see and do in France, visit france.fr/en
