August 7 - Arcachon

Cloudy in the morning, likely around 28 degrees for a high.

About a 90 minute drive gets us to a bay off of the Atlantic Ocean called Arcachon Bay. Here we take a boat ride to learn about oyster farming and taste some right out of the ocean.

These oysters are tastier than any I have ever eaten. I’m not an expert, but I’ve eaten a few and these are not remotely close to the same. The texture is similar, but they are much sweeter. I’ve never seen a group of

squid

lemon tart

people descend on food quite in the same way as those on this tour with us did. Chris and I ate one each in the time it took others to plow through at least 5! Later when they heard we didn’t get a second, they told us we should have been more aggressive…right…we were supposed to throw elbows at all the old people around us! Although I’ve always liked o

ysters I’ve never really gotten what all the fuss was about them…now I know. I think we’ll have to start ordering oysters a bit more often at home…although not being fresh out of the sea I suspect they won’t be as tasty.

 

We saw how small the oysters still are after a year which was pretty interesting. Apparently the ones people eat are about 3 years old.

Next are sail around the bay before heading for lunch. This bay is lined with pretty huge ‘villas’ that are perched above the water. Each has stairs that zig-zag back and forth down to the bay.

Lunch is in town of Arcachon. This town is bustling with tourists. Passenger ferries come in constantly.Lunch is grilled squid, cod and a lemon meringue tart – accompanied of course by wine. The squid was some of best I’ve eaten…tender, sweet and grilled so that some parts are crispy.

Today is our last day on the boat. The last week has flown by. I’m not sad to be off to England tomorrow for a vacation at a slower pace. Our flight tomorrow isn’t until 4:30, so we can t

ake the morning at a relaxed pace. We have to be out of our room on the boat by 9:00, but we can stay on board as long as we want. We have a taxi ordered for 1:30, so we plan on having breakfast at 9:00, stroll around town, lunch on board and off to the airport.

Oh and about the sardines…I liked them, but that’s about it – just like any flaky, white fish.

Another thing...it seems as though there was a mal-function at the junction with a post from July when we were in Paris. Evidently I wrote but didn't actually post.