Et le manège tourne

In search of my missing blip mojo, I went on a "photo outing" organised by the tourist office in Gruissan -- they are running this every Thursday during the summer. The theme of this one was the architecture of the port of Gruissan, and we were accompanied by a town planner who has clearly made a detailed study of it.

Until the 1970s, Gruissan was a small fishing village separated from the famous Plage des Chalets by a broad expanse of salt marsh with a track running across it to link the two. As part of the plan to develop the coast in the Languedoc which saw the creation of resorts like Cap d'Agde and La Grande Motte, during the early 1970s, six million cubic metres of earth were moved to create the new port.

Fortunately some of the grander projects were rejected: a massive star-shaped block of flats sixteen stories high for example, or buildings all over la Clape (a peninsula which is now a conservation area). Instead all the buildings are low-rise and the lead architect imposed proportions and shapes on the developers. The particularity is the curved rooflines which mimic the domed architecture of North Africa, protect from the heat, and were also cheap and quick to construct. If you can read French there's an interesting article here which covers much of what we were told by our guide, and includes some old photos which are a startling sight if you are familiar with Gruissan as it is now.

We set out from the port -- at this point there was a gorgeous blue sky and the light was lovely. Unfortunately it was also windy, and dark clouds soon arrived. There was a glowing sunset, but by then we were in the wrong place to get good blips of it. Anyway, my eye was caught by this children's carousel, and I like the surreal aspect of this photo. Go large to see the plastic duck.

Et le manège tourne.