Gouville-sur-Mer and the Oyster Farmers

Mileage: 158334

We actually wanted to spend the night at a proper campsite today. Unfortunately, the desired spot did not respond to our reservation request and, when we arrived in person, it was, of course, fully booked. Fortunately, a few meters away, there was a pitch for self-sufficient campers at a very low price. No shower, but the provisioning and disposal of water was secured.

We immediately made our way back to the beach and it took us less than five minutes. Here, at low tide, one could walk between the farms of the shellfish and oyster farmers. On the steel pipe tables, bags were attached in which the mussels grew, sorted by size. From the smallest, barely the size of a thumbnail, to the finished oysters that had grown to the size of a fist after three to six years. In the shallow tidal area, the farmers accessed the animals on foot, while further out, boats were used.

As the tide came back, the fishermen and mussel farmers retrieved their boats from the water. We had never seen that before. They simply drove the tractor with the trailer into the shallow water, pulled the boat onto the trailer, and then went back behind the dunes, since there was no harbor here. They did this every day.

We were surprised today to realize that we had not yet experienced a sunset at the beach in the past days, so we made sure to catch one today.