French Atlantic Coast

French the Atlantique coast is bordered by the Mer of Iroise, the bay of Audierne, then the the Bay of Biscay and extends from the Conquet until Hendaye. It consists of communes of the departments of the Finistere, of the Morbihan, Loire-Atlantique, the Vendée, Charente-Maritime, the Gironde, the Landes, and the Yrénées-Atlantiques belonging to the areas Brittany, Pays of the Loire, Poitou-Charentes and Aquitaine.

A maritime tradition

Traditionally these areas are related on fishing and the maritime trade with in particular the ports of Brest, of Douarnenez, the Guilvinec, Loctudy, Concarneau, Lorient, Turballe, Nantes and Saint-Nazaire, the Sables of Olonne, La Rochelle, Bordeaux and Saint-Jean-with-Luz.

Native sailors of these areas went to fish cod at the 19th century with the accesses of Newfoundland and some settled over there, with Saint-Pierre-and-Miquelon or in Acadie.

A tourist vocation

Splendid landscapes bordering the Ocean, of the typical cultures (Breton, Vendean, Basque…) and especially of superb beaches bordered of sometimes exceptional dunes (Dune of Pilat) and offering a good quality of bathe make of it a priviligiée destination of French but also of a multitude from abroad (German, Dutch, English, American, Belgian…) who brings an important competition to the Mediterranean coasts which they are French, Spanish, Italian, Tunisian, Greek or Croatian.

The summer, of many seaside resorts like La Baule or Royan see multiplying their population considerably and thus increase the work of the barmans, restorers, plagists, managers of hotels or camp-site. The evening, the holiday makers walk on the cornices or go in the nightclubs, thus instigating in a very important way the area.

An important population

The proximity of the allowing Ocean of many commercial exchanges thus made it possible many towns of develop and to increase; let us quote for example Brest, Concarneau, Lorient, Vannes, Saint-Nazaire, Nantes, Sands of Olonne, La Rochelle, Bordeaux or Bayonne.

The town of Penmarc' H in Finistere would have also to become an important commercial town but the setting with bag of the city at the end of the Middle Ages weakened it considerably.

Gallery of images of the French Atlantic littoral

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