Arcachon Bay, France
During the summer of 2019, before our traveling was curtailed by the current COVID crises we spent some pleasant days at Camping La Cigale, in the town of Ares in the Arcachon Basin. The campsite is relatively small for touring vans and is well looked after by the family who owns it. We were in the Arcachon area to experience the seafood.
Camping La Cigale is only a 20-minute walk from Port Ostreicole, which is where the local fishermen land their catch. The walk to Ostericole is a pleasant wander through the backend of the town and across open space. However, walking along the harbour road is akin to taking a stroll along a lane that serves units on an industrial estate. This is a working port and it is very much evident as such. What we were not expecting was the 7 little ‘shack’ type restaurants and takeaways that are run by the families of the fishermen, one, we noticed was Chez Pepe and another L’Oyates Cafe. I recognised the name of L’Oyates Cafe from the names on vans that we had passed parked in the front of a house on our walk over. We decided that we had to try the food here.
As we had walked to Port Ostreicole in the late afternoon and all were closed, we decided to return the following day and had lunch at Chez Pepe. The experience was so good with fresh-off-the-boat that morning seafood, we had to return for another lunchtime experience, this time choosing L’Oyates Cafe.
The food in all of the cafes was in fact similar the only choice that mattered was the type of table and chairs you wanted to sit at and whether there was a table with some shade. When we pasted these cafes on our afternoon walk, the whole place appeared deserted, know they were thriving with locals all enjoying the local produce! Always a good sign.
As you can see from the picture above we were treated to a selection of Oysters, Prawn, sea snails and other molluscs with nothing more than a squeeze of lemon and some garlic mayonnaise and of course a perfectly chilled local white wine! Shear heaven, for those who like seafood and are prepared to deal with the shells.
For those of you who love seafood, next time you are in the Arcachon area take a trip out to Port Ostreicole and try lunch at one the little ‘Shacks’. You will not be disappointed!
