After seeing the horses off to greener pastures, the rest of us made the short trip to the seaside town of Arcachon where we were to spend the next two nights.
Saturday morning saw the whole group including Patrick and our French friend, Yves, stretching our legs in preparation for the climb up Europe's largest sand dune, the Dune du Pilat.
The Dune du Pilat sits at the entrance to Arcachon Bay, is 500 m wide, almost three kilometres long and 107 m high. It is moving inland at up to 5 metres a year as the particles of sand – up to 60 million cubic metres – are blown by the wind.
Luckily there are stairs to climb to the top so we joined the queue on a perfect and not yet too busy morning.
By late morning the dune was becoming very busy and Patrick had to get Yves to Bordeaux train station so we headed back to Arcachon. We were staying at a different hotel tonight so after negotiating one way streets in this very busy tourist town we each spent the afternoon doing a spot of shopping and sight seeing.
Dinner was at a crowded seafood restaurant overlooking the beach serving everything from oysters to bulots (sea snails), langoustines ( a type of small lobster), prawns, crabs, mussels and more.
We finished the night with ice cream and coffee after a stroll around town, the Aussie's last night together as a group that had shared a wonderful week together and made memories that will last a lifetime.
Tomorrow, the group disperses. Charlie and Lyn to their family wedding in the UK, Sharon and Annette to spend time with Sharon's UK family and Fiona to explore the resort town of Biarritz.
Russell, Zoe, Yvie, Rosey and I will attempt to cram all of our luggage into Pablo and head north to Ile de Ré.
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