Bunkers
From the beginning of the German occupation of Saint-Palais-sur-Mer, on 23 June 1940, La Grande Côte Promontory held a strategic position. It could be used to control traffic on the Gironde Estuary and, as a result, all boats travelling to or from Bordeaux.
In 1942, the Germans, via Organization Todt, undertook construction of the Atlantic Wall to protect the coastline against Allied beach landings. With this goal in mind, concrete structures were built in Saint-Palais-sur-Mer starting in 1943, grouped together in three fortified batteries (on La Grande Côte Beach, La Grande Côte Promontory and Puits de l’Auture well).
In spite of the bombings of April 1945 to liberate the Royan pocket and the subsequent demolitions, some of these bunkers are still visible today.
La Grande Côte Forest and its tram
Across Arvert Peninsula, the sand deposited by the ocean began to encroach on the land beginning in the 15th century. From that point onwards, the movement of the dunes engulfed home and hamlets, as well as tracts of farmland and forest.
In the 19th century, like in the Landes region, Les Ponts et Chaussées (the French highways agency) was responsible for halting the advancing sand by sowing pine, broom and gorse seeds on the dunes. This was the genesis of the La Coubre and La Grande Côte Forests. For the second of these, the sowing took place from 1836 to 1856. To help manage the tracts of land, Les Eaux et Forêts (the French water and forests agency) had a forest tram line built between 1868 and 1874. That line ran to La Coubre Forest from the Combe à Massé hangar in Saint-Palais-sur-Mer, not far from the cliffs of La Grande Côte.
Once the forest had been established, the tram was also used for tourist outings. In 1895, its starting point was relocated near a restaurant on the promontory. The Royan tram line was extended there in 1897, making it possible to easily travel from one network to the other.
Casinos and the Decauville tram line
Once the Decauville tram line reached Royan in 1890, all eyes turned towards Saint-Palais-sur-Mer for the network’s expansion. The line was extended from Pontaillac to La Grande Côte in 1897, with the new line ending on the promontory. The tram infrastructure was demolished by the 1945 bombardments.
To boost the location’s appeal, La Grande Côte became the site of three casinos built in varying styles.
- The first, which opened in 1899, was built by Mr Baudry, the owner of Restaurant de la Grande Côte. In 1929, that casino was destroyed in a fire.
- The second was constructed in an Art Deco style, according to the plans of the architect Basalo, and opened to the public in 1930. It was occupied by the Germans during the Second World War and then totally annihilated by the bombings of April 1945.
After the war, Mr Bonnette launched construction of a new establishment in 1952, now known as Le Petit Poucet, which would operate for a while as a casino and then, later on, a restaurant, hotel and nightclub. The architecture was designed by Louis Simon (one of the architects of Royan’s reconstruction), assisted by Jean Prouvé. A series of extensions transformed it into the present-day building, which has been the property of the town since 1961.
The Chair
In front of the beach, there is a metal structure in the form of a chair where ships can pull up or moor when damaged.
Installed in 1979 and measuring 21 metres tall, the “Chair” is topped by a light and stands in a line with the BXA light buoy off the coast and the radar tower in Les Combots further inland.
This line of three lights was created to guide ships taking the western channel into the Gironde Estuary, so they could avoid the sandbars. It is also used to collect meteorological data.