Traveling through Gers was nice, we had good weather, but we needed to see more of those southish regions so lets push more west to les Landes starting by the city Mont-de-Marsan.
Index
- Mont-de-Marsan
- Éco-lieu Jeanot
- On the west coast
- Camping and village festival
- A diverse hand planted forest
Mont-de-Marsan
Our first impression is really good for two people that don’t like city life. There is life but no crowds, lots of space to walk, the city centre is mostly pedestrian and you see many cyclists.
The city I think really tries to improve the quality of its inhabitants lives and offers a good impression to tourists. Lets review a few important details for us… You are well received at the information centre even when you ask unusual questions, you can find fountains with drinking water next to cafés and restaurants, the architecture is nice and well maintained. You can enjoy a city of art with free museums and sculptures everywhere, the market is awesome with friendly people, and you even have access to an artificial lake beach for free just outside of town.
One hiccup though, the military base near by and the very loud fighter aircraft passing by 5 to 6 times a day. Anyway we keep a good impression of this city.
Éco-lieu Jeanot
The éco-lieu Jeanot is one of many eco projects going on in this area. They are hard to find if you don’t know someone that know someone, but if you find it you won’t be disappointed. The association running the place organises many eco friendly events. On site you have a veggie garden, a nice house for artist residencies, and they organise seed exchange and sell fresh bread…
The place is not a camping spot and they are all quite busy running all those events so you can visit the surrounding on your own with a book for more information. I recommend talking to the wwoofers (volunteers), they are usually more joyful. One thing that we realise among others is the peace, people there actually all speak clearly but quietly, it is much appreciated.
On the west coast
After a couple of days in a campsite inland, we decide to go to the coast. We arrive in a free spot along the beach, set up the tent and start to explore. Before the high season in summer all kind of people are staying in this basic campsite for longer stay. The sea is blue, the sand is white, sand dunes are hard to climb, another great day on planet Earth!
Camping and village festival
The beach is good for a couple of days but we like better the green. Back to Brocas then, a small village south of Mont de Marsan In addition to being a cute village with a nice water feature and a lovely campsite run by volunteers, it also happen to be the place for an unexpected awesome festival. There are stands that sell art, local products, and food and drinks to survive the day. There are also some games for the kids (and not only them). But the must we agree is a show given by Generik Vapeur that is absolutely fantastic. Those guys are definitely not tame for our best amusement. Enjoy the pictures!
A diverse hand planted forest
In Brocas we meet and talk with nice people who leads us to this special place. In the middle of pines forestry, there is a forest of leaves trees planted by one man with the dream of seeing a forest of biodiversity growing before his own eyes. He has been doing that for 20 years now and hopes someone will continue the project after him, because as it should be, trees are supposed to live far longer than us.
This is it, the end of the discovery of this area, I hope you enjoyed reading, or the pictures, or both 🙂
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Next episode soon…
