Today we reached the northernmost part of the French coast that we will reach on this trip. It was a day of different experiences - forests, sand, lakes and some urban riding too. And a few hills, natch! We started the day with a quick visit (as it always seems to be the way) to the Promenade Fleurie’, a little island in ‘Etang Aureilhan’, a lake just to the east of Mimizan. This little island is covered with more than 400 species of flowering plants, and even with the grey overcast skies this morning it was stunning. Obviously a labour of love, and despite being free and open at all hours, seems to be respected by the community and visitors, as there was no litter or vandalism. Riding alongside the main road for part of our journey, we saw where at least some of our supermarket tomatoes come from - enormous greenhouses! At least some of them are heated by natural gas, as tanks could be seen tucked away behind the structures, and evidence of gas pipelines running underground alongside the road. We passed a few lakes, large ones, and with lots of beaches and camp grounds. All around the lakes, and through the surrounding forests, are miles of cycle tracks - usually in great condition, and well used today! This we have come to expect, but on the lake near Biscarosse, there were oil rigs dotted on it too! At Biscarosse there was an unusual roundabout decoration - a concrete seaplane! The lake was used as a base for seaplanes, and there was a seaplane manufacturer based there as well. (The company still exists. Founded by Pierre-Georges Latécoère in 1917, the company was known in the past particularly for its seaplanes. Today, the group is a major supplier of sections of aircraft fuselage and doors and is the second-largest European supplier of onboard electrical wire harnesses and avionics bays with its Latelec subsidiary company.) A long day on the bike precluded us from having a swim at the lovely beaches we passed, including Le Petit Nice, but we did climb the Dune du Pilat, the tallest sand dune in Europe, 110m. The beaches along the coast here remind me of the Australian beaches - lots of sand, not too crowded (on our visits anyway) and people being pretty relaxed. The climb up the dune was pretty taxing - the sand is soft packed and the slope is steep. We found the most successful way was on hands and feet, so steep! After we did our climb we came to the ‘official’ access point a few km later, which has a temporary stairway installed every summer - I could see why that would be popular! (If we had seen signage to this place we probably would have used it too) We arrived in Arcachon later than we would have preferred due to the attractions along the way, slight detours when we took the wrong bike route, our first flat tire and climbing the dune. So we have only had a brief look at Arcachon so far but from what we have seen, Arcachon is a lovely place - we did a little walk along the promenade after a pizza dinner tonight. We also saw some lovely 19th and 20th century villas on the hills above the sea on our route in.