A little bit about Biscarrosse and Biscarrosse Plage - 2 distinctly different places but near to each other - how to get there and the camping holiday rescources and facilities you will find in the area.

Biscarrosse is a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast just a few clicks south of Arcachon in the Landes region of south west France. The coastal resort is oficially called Biscarrosse Plage.

The town of Biscarrosse is just a few kilometres from the great long sandy beaches (the Plage bit) of the Atlantic and is a lovely little place with plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants to keep you entertained when you want to escape from the beach.

For all history buffs there is a 15th century castle and a church that are of interest, but more importantly you really need to see the 'Biscarrosse Elm' which is reputed to be 750 years old and supposed to be the oldest in Europe. It is one of the few to avoid Dutch Elm disease and is in pretty tatty condition, but so am I and I'm only 62!

There are a few large nature lakes in the near vicinity for those who like that sort of thing, and of course there are the forests of the Landes to explore and see a wonderful variety of wild life - ideally on foot or bicycle, or perhaps on horseback. The lakes are handy for swimmers who are unable to handle the surf in this area, because the waves hereabouts can be seriously big, and 5 metre ones are not uncommon.

Please be warned that whilst surfing here is superb it is not for learners, so guys, you are not wimps if you don't fancy tackling the surf! A little further down the coast near to St Jean de Luz the surf can often reach 12 metres- and believe me that can be seriously frightening if you aren't a good surfer. Just imaging a wall of wwater the height of a house approachiong you at great speed and you'll soon get the picture!

On the plus side for non surfers - the beaches are excellent with lots of lovely sunshine.

Getting to Biscarrosse is easy peasy, but it does depend to a great extent on the ferry port you use. The best ones for this trip are Cherbourg, Caen and the favourite has to be St Malo. If you follow these directions you won't need to consult a map until you want to find your camping site at or near to Bicarrosse.

So, from Cherbourg and/or Caen you need to head south to le Mans and then Angers, then pick up and follow signs for Saintes and finally, Bordeaux.

From St Malo just head due south and circumnavigate Rennes (easy) whilst heading for Nantes and finally Bordeaux. There are 2 ring roads (peripheriques) you have to be careful of: Rennes which is easy enough, and Nantes which often catches out the unwary. When on the Nantes peripherique always follow signs for Bordeaux and exit that ring road at junction 48.

OK, we should all be approaching the Bordeaux peripherique now - it's like a mini M25 really. Exit at junction 16 onto the N10 and head for Bayonne and Biarritz. Leave the N10 at junction 17 and head for Parentis en Born, Biscarrosse and your camping site.