The Côte d'Amour is a name given to part of the north western

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast of the

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

region in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It runs from Le Traict de Pen Bé to the mouth of the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

, both of which are in the

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population o ...

department. Many municipalities of Côte d'Amour are also part of what it is called no
Bretagne Plein Sud
( en, Lower Brittany. The department of Loire-Atlantique was part of Brittany until 1941). The coastline includes the peninsula of

Guérande Guérande (; br, Gwenrann, ; french: label=Gallo, Geraundd) is a medieval town located in the department of Loire-Atlantique, and the region of Pays de la Loire, Western France. The inhabitants are referred to as ''Guérandais'' (masculine), and ...

(in French "Presqu'île de Guérande", including the following localities and seaside resorts from south to north:

, Pornichet,

La Baule-Escoublac La Baule-Escoublac (; br, Ar Baol-Skoubleg, ), commonly referred to as La Baule, is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department, Pays de la Loire, western France. A century-old seaside resort in southern Brittany with villas, casino, luxury ho ...

Le Pouliguen Le Pouliguen (; br, Ar Poulgwenn) is a commune of western France, located in the Loire-Atlantique department, Pays de la Loire. Le Pouliguen is situated between La Baule-Escoublac and Batz-sur-Mer. Port The port is located at the border between ...

Le Croisic Le Croisic (; br, Ar Groazig; french: label=Gallo, Le Croèzic) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department, western France. It is part of the urban area of Saint-Nazaire. History The United States Navy established a naval air station on 27 ...

Batz-sur-Mer Batz-sur-Mer (, literally ''Batz on Sea''; br, Bourc'h-Baz) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. The commune is situated on a former island that, until around the 9th century, was separate from the mainland at Gu ...

La Turballe La Turballe (; br, An Turball) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. This commune is known for its harbor, which is the first fishing harbor in the region. Every summer, there is a sardine party (fête de la sardine i ...

, Piriac-sur-Mer and

Mesquer Mesquer (; Gallo: ''Mésqè'', br, Mesker) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. Population References See also *La Baule - Guérande Peninsula *Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department *The works of Jean Fr ...

Etymology

In 1913, the newspaper ''La Mouette'' organised an opinion poll to give a name to the shore and that is when it became "La Côte d'Amour". Despite popular assumptions, the name is not related to sex.

History

Until the 19th century, the area contained two small fishing ports: Pornichet in the east and

in the west. They were separated by a large sand stretch called La Bôle. The local economy was fueled by two industries. The first was fishing and

seaweed collecting Seaweed collecting is the process of collecting, drying, and pressing seaweed. It became popular as a pastime in the Victorian era and remains a hobby today. History of seaweed collecting Collecting seaweed can be traced back to at least the ...

; seaweed would be used as a fertiliser called "Goémon". The second was salt extraction from the local

salt evaporation pond A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The Salt pans are shallow and large of size because it will be easier for sunlight to travel and reach the sea water. Natural sal ...

s (french: marais salants). These economic activities declined around the 18th century, causing large sandbanks to form and

salt marshes A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

to drain. Le Pouliguen was a home to big boats and was known for

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

fishing. It was the main point of transport to

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. A naval building site was established in the city.

Development

In light of the emergence of new innovations, a group of constructors transformed the sandbank into a

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. The

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

evolved and became a

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

unique to the Côte d'Amour due to this new

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

. Another factor in the coastline's transformation was the extension of the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

from

to Pornichet in 1879 by the engineer Antoine de la Perrière. Investors saw potential in La Bôle and its surrounding villages, believing its microclimate would attract tourists if better advertised. With the help of Georges Lafont, an architect from

, La Bôle was developed into a town with what is now the De Gaulle avenue running through it, which is perpendicular to the sea and links to the station. They also constructed a sea boulevard, parallel to the sea, that linked the three seaside stations of the shore: Le Pouliguen, La Bôle and Pornichet. When the railway arrived to all three stations and the coast was ready to open in 1887, the name of La Bôle was changed to Escoublac-La Baule and later

. This was to preserve the name of the original village, Escoublac, which was previously next to the sandbank. Local and tourism development continued into the 20th century.

Today

The whole coastline is frequented by tourists, especially from April to October. It is characterised by its nature, its

seaside resorts A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the German ' ...

and sea-related activities. La Baule is referred to as a " Garden-city". The aim is to preserve the original architectural structure and nature of the city, for it to continue being a city in a forest in front of the sea. All three stations are home to several businesses, particularly those concerning water-regarding activities and sports. Equestrian centres are also found in the area.

Festivals and events

There is a year-round weekly local market in each of the local communities. During winter at the Bois des Aulnes ( en,

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

s forest), there is a family Christmas event called Noël Magique ( en, Magical

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

). La Baule Jumping Competition, an international equestrian competition, is held over the course of three days in May at the François André stadium.
La Baule Jazz Festival
takes place in the summer. At the same time, Le Pouliguen ( br, Ar Poulwenn) festival is held in July where more than 300 musicians and performers participate. JUmping La Baule

Gallery

Baie 3.JPG, Beach Côte Sauvage 3.JPG, Near Le Pouliguen Baie NIght.jpg, Beach

References

* "La Côte d'Amour Pornichet-La Baule-Le Pouliguen" Éditions Ouest France

External links

* http://www.tourisme-lecroisic.fr/la-cote-d-amour-2-13-frd.html * http://www.cotedamour.fr/ * http://www.labaule.fr/ * http://www.ville-pornichet.fr/ * http://www.lepouliguen.fr/ * http://www.mairie-batzsurmer.fr/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20020805160631/http://www.mairie-laturballe.fr/ * http://www.mesquer-quimiac.com/ * http://www.ville-guerande.fr/ * http://www.ot-guerande.fr/ * http://www.piriac.net/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20170403052911/http://www.mairie-saintnazaire.fr/site-officiel-de-la-ville-de-saint-nazaire-44600/ * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK2ZLQJmQQc {{DEFAULTSORT:Cote D'amour Loire-Atlantique Amour Seaside resorts in France Pays de la Loire Brittany