Relaxing beaches in the south of France
 

I'm planning a trip to the south of France next June and am looking for a home base where we can relax and do day trips as the mood strikes us. I'm planning on a one-week apartment rental in a beach resort. My cousin has a house in Gard so I'm thinking of staying in the Languedoc-Rousillion area, possibly in La Grande Motte or Aigues-Mortes i.e. west of Marseilles. I'd consider as far west as Cap-d'Agde. In my mind I'm thinking of wide, sandy beaches, with lots of water sports in the area, possibly bike rentals. Yet I hear that French beaches are shingle, not sand. True? Also, that you pay-as-you-go. What do French families do for a beach vacation? Please help me adjust my expectations so I don't go over there expecting the Jersey shore minus the soft pretzels.

What I'm looking for from this forum are your recommendations on family-oriented beaches in the south of France. Please tell me which are too close to naturist beaches for my US sensibilities. Are the waters any good for snorkeling? Are there any reasons not to go in June? (July is too hot for me in non-AC France). What don't I know that you do?

Thanks for all your help!

Colleen

A big French-family favorite is the area around Fréjus, which has an excellent beach sand beach. My own favorite is the beach at Le Lavandou, also a family favorite.

Well, what can I say ? Most of the coast resorts from La Grande Motte to Cap d'Agde are exactly like the Jersey shore, if you ask me. Wall to wall people once the weather warms up. Aigues Mortes isn't on a beach, so I'm not sure why you mention it - but I'd stay there in a heartbeat - it's one of my favorite weekend places in the off season.

I'd go east and would also recommend Le Lavandou. And the best beaches in Europe are on the island of Porquerolle. I can't say that I've ever seen anyone snorkeling off the western beaches, but Porquerolle is probably a good place for it.

PB

cmccloskey
The beaches further south after Cap d'Adge are nice sandy beaches. Here's a site which shows some of the area near Argeles.

http://perso.orange.fr/michael.macdonald/


It's a nice beach area but you can jump over the border into Spain. You'll find both "galets" and sandy beaches across the border.

You asked what the French families do for a beach vacation. They're sitting on the warm sand in Argeles.

It's a nice part of France.

Blackduff

I don't know the area west of Marseilles well, but I second Underhill's suggestion of Le Lavandou. We just came back from Aiguebelle plage (just east of Le Lavandou proper), and it had the nicest beach I've been to in France. (It's now my screensaver, and you'd swear it was the Caribbean, down to the white crystal sand and clear blue water). Very family-friendly too, and a relative bargain compared to St. Tropez and company. (Of course, it's not nearly as chic, but sounds like that's not on the top of the wishlist). Aiguebelle was filled with French families, and features a number of nice little restaurants right on the beach. And June's a great time to go.

Hi

The French beaches in the Western Med are pretty well all sand from the Rhone to the Pyrenees.

Most beaches back on to dunes. The hills only make it to the coast at Sete and Agde which have cliffs. These rocky shores provide better snorkelling than sand beaches.

Virtually all beaches are optionally topless, many are optionally nude and a few nude only.

Sete could be an interesting base. It has good restaurants, ocean rocky shore, large ocean sand dune beaches, and some good lagoon side beaches. It is near the A9 autoroute and quite central for trips in the region.

Languedoc beach details : http://www.creme-de-languedoc.com/La...oc-beaches.php

Comprehensive guide to Languedoc : http://www.the-languedoc-page.com

Sete photos :
http://freemages.free.fr/browse/show.php?id=235
http://www.masdemarignan.com/images/plage.jpg
http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/ph...-photo-126.htm
http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/ph...-photo-159.htm
http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/ph...-photo-160.htm
http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/ph...-photo-236.htm
http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/ph...-photo-238.htm

Peter

Really nice photos, Blackduff and Peter. Thanks for posting them.

I enjoy La Plage de L'espiquette near Grau du Roi. It is a very large sandy beach on a point with lots of natural dunes in La Camargue. It is my very favorite beach because it tends to be less crowded. Its a bit of a walk over the dunes to the beach but only a few minutes. Its a very very large sandy beach. Near by are activities such as horseback riding, walking, kite surf etc

http://www.south-france.com/decouverte/espiguette.htm

http://www.legrauduroi-portcamargue-...es/espiguette/

Theres also Le Grand Travers and Le Petit Travers between Carnot and La Grande Motte. These beaches are not crowded in june with the exception of the weekends. They are closer to Montpellier and do attact the city dewellers on the weekend. I was there about 3 weeks ago and we could easily find large sections of beach for ourselves.

As another poster mentioned, topless is not uncommon. I would say about 50 percent of the women are topless. You would have to go to the beaches in the north of France to avoid that.

Beyond beach activites, you can take advantage of the small port towns such as carnot for a boardwalk stroll and a nice meal. Have a great trip!

bookmarking, thanks.

Thanks for all the replies!
This is exactly what I need - information about places that weren't on my radar screen (Argeles, Le Lavandou) which I have to check out now, and local customs (i.e. if topless is frequently seen, then I have to prepare my companions for it - not avoid the beaches because of it). And you mentioned a place with a boardwalk - how Jersey Shore! Thanks for the tips about the rocky places that might have snorkeling.

While I intend to follow the links, I have a reason to focus on the beaches on either side of Montpellier. My Irish cousins have a summer house outside Nimes so the Gard/Herault beaches are more convenient for visiting.

I've seen mention of 'villages en vacances' - are these a 'locals only' deal, sponsored by companies, rented for the season? Or can tourists rent apartments or cottages by the week? I'm looking for a self-catering unit rather than a hotel. Does anyone have any recommendations for sites for apartment rentals? I guess that's another whole thread entirely, but you all seem to be so knowledgable about this region that it just makes sense to ask.

Thanks again!

I'm checking out the links - awesome! Those shots of Argeles are stunning - more powerful than a guidebook because they are so real. I feel like I stepped into your life for a while.
And the link that summarizes *all* the Languedoc beaches - just what I'm looking for to persuade my traveling companions to try this part of France, rather than places further east that are better known.

<<going back to the links>>

cmccloskey
Those photos in Argeles are in the area where I live. In fact, I'm eating some of the snails too.

The two dogs are mine and one of them is actually "Blackduff". There were three photos of snow on my bouganvillas-this is a very seldom in this area, so I took photos.

Many of the photos show that they were from the whole year. Santa is up the building on one restaurant. Usually the winter is decent weather.

This is one of the few areas in the world where the mountains drop right onto the sea. Some of the photos are in Banyuls, Collioure, and Port Vendres which are in the end of the Pyrenees.

It's a magic region.

Blackduff

Thank you for this thread!
Perfect for our needs! First or second Week of October...

Here are 3 very good sites that I have used with success for apartment and villa rentals in the South of France:
www.abritel.fr www.papvacances.fr and www.homelidays.com . I have found that many homeowners do not put up there rentals until the beginning of the year for the summer months but start researching now anyway. It is fun and you will learn alot from these sites. When you find something grab it quick as it is like the Jersey shore; the summer rentals move fast...Good luck.

Perfect...thank you very much Lemidi!

I found one! Yaahoo!