Lauren
Didn’t know they had deserts in Europe.
La Dune de Pila, as the French call it, is the largest sand dune in Europe. It’s located in the Arachon Bay, 60 km from the city of Bordeaux, and it is a very popular tourist attraction in France. The dune is 3 km long, 500 m wide and it has a maximum height of 117 m above sea level.
The Dune of Pyla is a recent formation, born in the XVII century through accumulation of Aeolian sand on a transverse dune. Each year, the dune covers about 8,000 square meters and at this rate, in 40 years the camping and the road at the bottom of the slope will be completely covered by sand.
Comments
12 comments
May 31, 2008
take some of this dune and send it to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, USA
May 31, 2008
that would make a great beach in canada in the winter time!\
May 31, 2008
Not many people in the pictures
June 1, 2008
I think it looks great where it is now. So just visit France and enjoy it in situ.
June 2, 2008
Please, this is ‘Arcachon’ and not ‘Arachon’…
In the same style you can check about La Mer de Sable in France.
June 5, 2008
Pah! From a great height I speet on it.
Have you seen Chesil Beach? ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesil_Beach )
It’s a Tombolo of similar size, made entirely of what appears to be small, grey, fossilised potatoes.
CD
June 9, 2008
Do you mean you spit ..on it Chris?
And grey fossilized potatos?LOL!
Thank you,you have made my day.;)
June 10, 2008
Its just a sand dune…
June 11, 2008
Great pictures
June 16, 2008
I believe he quotes Monty Python??? You made me laugh out loud!
June 16, 2008
I’ve been to the top of this amazing not-just-a-sand dune quite a few times. When the tide is out the view is completely different from when the tide is in. It’s difficult to get a feel for the danger the fishermen experience with the change of tides until you’re on top of the dune. The area through which the water exits (and enters, of course!) is really quite small, making it treacherous for the unprepared. And if you should miss your opportunity to get back in before the tide goes out… you’re stuck for awhile!
November 18, 2008
I was there last summer, there were a quite bit more people there then on the photo. It’s a popular beach during the summer season.