A little bit of Summer in Winter. Today, I will tell you about Agde and Cap d’Agde, in France. If you are French, you might have heard about the Cap d’Agde. I had heard it was beautiful, my current colleagues often speak about the nudist beaches there. (I didn’t know about that at the time.). Since I had no job at the time (July 2022), I decided to take my car and visit the area.
Cap d’Agde, What Is The Fuss About?
Some Background On Cap d’Agde
In France, Cap d’Agde is quite famous. I had never been, so I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t even sure of how to pronounce the name… In some parts of France, you pronounce all the letters, in others, you don’t.
Well, if you have the same question as me, here is an answer: you pronounce everything, including the “g”. I know, another word that’s not easy to say in French…
If you go back a few centuries, you get some explanations. Originally, Agde was a Greek city. That’s right, Phocaeans came from Marseille to Agde around 525 before Christ. At the time, the city’s name was simpler (in a way): Agathé Tyché, which would mean either “good fortune” or “good city”. Because the city is in Occitanie (region) where there’s a specific dialect called Occitan,their language turned Agathé into Agde. But the residents still are called Agathois.
A Lot Of Beaches Along The Cap d’Agde
When I arrived in Cap d’Agde, I was like “hum, is that it?”. Colorful but ugly tourist shops, colorful but ugly tall buildings that looked like they had no personality, and some cute ports… I thought that maybe, this was famous because it was on the seaside, not because it was beautiful.
But then, I decided to hike along the beaches… And oh my God, they are stunning!!! And all different: you’ve got cliffs, no cliffs, white sand, sand full of beautiful seashells, black sand, all next to each other!
Plage de la Roquille: I had never seen that many seashells in one place. I couldn’t help but look for pretty ones to take home. Only sand, no pebbles, it was extremely pleasant to walk on the Roquille beach.
Plage de la grande conque: this beach is amazing, to relax, to hike and to get great pictures. This is a small black sand beach in the shape of a semicircle. It’s black because of the volcanic cliffs around it. They were formed by terrestrial and submarine eruptions that happened some 750 000 years ago!
The weather was stormy and rainy, but I still had a very good time there and I even went in the water up to my knees. I think that these beaches might be nice no matter the weather and the season.
Agde, Cap d’Agde, what’s the difference?
I didn’t know the difference between Agde and Cap d’Agde, I thought that it was the same place, Cap d’Agde simply being the point of land in Agde. Actually, these are two different places and you might want to take your car to drive from one to another. Otherwise, you might walk for a very long time.
Cap d’Agde is near Agde and near the seaside, but it feels like another city. It’s a seaside resort, full of new buildings that, as I said, are not very pretty. Maybe, they were, a few decades ago, but not anymore.
In Agde, the walls are mostly old and black, from the same volcanic stones as Plage de la grande conque. Some other houses are more welcoming, with warm colors. Here and there, you’ll find the shield of Agde. It’s a totally different atmosphere. It’s quite small, but I think it is a nice stop to do if you are in the area.
Also near Agde, Gruissan, Pézenas and Béziers are good for day trips.
To see more photos of France, you can visit the gallery France.
