Soulac sur Mer -A Little Escape to Paradise

For my first official blog post on this site - I decided I wanted to share a new place I discovered about a month ago. Here in the Bordeaux region, we are about an hour from the Ocean and many people love to spend their weekends out by the seaside. We have many choices of beach towns, beaches and even our beautiful bassin (Bay of Arcachon), as it's affectionately named by us locals. People have the choice of the calm waters of the bay or the surf and waves of the ocean. But you can imagine that most places can be rather crowded on weekends or in the peak of the summer. A more remote choice, just a bit further north on the NorthWestern tip of the Medoc pennisula is the sweet town of Soulac sur Mer with it's long sandy beaches.

Soulac sur Mer is located about 2 hours North West of Bordeaux, but it is so worth the drive to find this paradise hidden up North. We decided to head up there one afternoon to walk the beaches and to picnic along the seaside and enjoy the sunset. It was a calm, relaxing magical afternoon.

Located about 90km from Bordeaux, this charming village resembles the beachside resort of Arcachon (further South on the Bay) - similar architecture and charm. Many of the villas and houses have that 19th century style using brick, peaked roofs and balconies opening to the seaside. Colored gingerbread trim is also very common.

Given it's location on the ocean, seafood is a very important part of the local cuisine and many restaurants serve local fish, oysters and large shrimp (called Gambas). It's fresh and delicious!! In the summer, there are plenty of cute little restaurants open in the center and on the seaside promenade. But even in the off-season you will still find restaurants open and serving delicous local fare.

Soulac is currently in the middle of renovating their seaside promenade making it family and pedestrian friendly. It will be stunning when it is all completed within the next year!

I have to say, Soulac has some of the most beautiful beaches that stretch for miles on the Atlantic coast, attracting many tourists to the area. We spent much of our time wandering through the soft fine sand and enjoying the views.

It provided to be a beautiful afternoon/evening for early June. It was before true summer season so it definitely wasn't crowded but from what I understand, as this area is just that much further north of Bordeaux - even though it's population swells in the summer - it's not like Le Bassin or Cap Ferret where it can seem very crowded.

The beautiful ocean water and tide gave it an air of peace, a sense of calm, to be away from it all -a refuge from the city, an escape - and one can say to a paradise of sorts.

We stayed and watched the sunset on the ocean, sending out beautiful colors and auras to finish the day. It probably wasn't the most magnificent sunset but lovely, in any case, and certain this afternoon and evening gave me a desire to return. I will be returning to Soulac sur Mer, that's a fact. Perhaps even renting something for a weekend away...

Maybe you'll be inspired too...Hope you enjoyed seeing another part of this region.

#soulacsurmer #gironde #southwestfrance #france #atlanticocean #medoc