Driving south from Hossegor towards Biarritz is a town called Labenne. Its initial facade of water parks, big campsites, gift shops and a ramble of tourists can put a lot of travellers off. However, if you wind your way through the hustle and bustle towards the sea and take a right down a long bumpy road you’ll find yourself amongst the dunes in perfect seclusion. You are shaded by low hanging trees, tucked away from the town. If you park up and follow any of the paths that weave through the trees, they will lead you to the sea.
Standing isolated in the dunes is an old chapel, known as Chapelle Sainte-Thérèse. The windows and doors are all boarded up except one around the back too high to peer in. However, we were intrigued to see inside so we grabbed onto some rope hanging from the broken breeze block that filled in the window and hoisted ourselves up. As we scrambled into the chapel we could see the Sanctuary and the Nave painted in emerald green. Looking around, the interior reflected that of the 1970s; remnants of bright yellow curtains hung from the staged area and cheap plywood covered the old stone walls. However, underneath the ripped and torn decor portrayed its initial life during the Second World War where it is known that German soldiers took sanctuary there before fleeing with the Church Bell.
Behind the Chapel, you’ll hear the waves crashing against the shore. Driftwood! Piles and piles of it scatter the long white beach. Some have been made into little shelters and dens others strewn far up the sandy banks. This area of the beach is always really quiet so if you fancy sunbathing in the nude or surfing with waves all to yourself then it’s definitely worth finding.
We found a deflated football, filled it with sand and tied it up with old rope from the beach and played a game of rugby; with driftwood for posts. Later on, we made a fire and drank wine whilst watching the sunset. Being on the West Coast you get a spectacular view of the sunset every night, it is something you will never get tired of seeing; as each night the colours differ slightly or the sun appears larger when it fizzles out behind the clouds.
If you are thinking of staying the night, just bare-in-mind that the signs do say no camping so in the height of summer the Police may tell you to move on in the morning. This being said I have stayed here twice and have never had a problem.
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