Voluptuous embrace or passionate struggle, whichever, the ocean and Gironde will live for all eternity completely intertwined, constantly modifying the bed and the banks of the estuary.
The rythmic pulse of the tide makes itself felt far outside the limits of the estuary, laying down it's deposits, especially towards Mortagne on the rightland side of the river, towards Talais on the left hand side of the river. Obriously, the force between the ocean and the river in not equal. The volume of water that a fresh-water tide moves at the entrance to the Gironde is estimated at 1 billion 800 million m³ whereas the Garonne only unloads 30 million m³ of water. Strong currents are born in these tides, creating medial mayers, under water deltas from the Gironde, forming a semi-circular bar which is the outlet of the estuary.
the XIXth century, the large coaves of sand continuously moved by the wind were immobilized. Thousand of pine trees and holm oaks were planted. This is how the whole of the wild coast was born, the national forest of Courbre. 8000 hectares where stags, deer and wild boar live in the thick undergrowth which is crossed by only a few forest paths.
View points are not lacking : here is the highest, at the top of the 300 steps belonging to the lighthouse, one of the strongest on the Atlantic coast. There is a magnificant view from every angle.
Between the headland of Courbre and Royan, the beaches, of Palmyre, of Grand-Côte - and the first bays - Nauzan, Pontaillac, are open to the ocean waves. After Royan, from the Grande Conche, the shore borders the Gironde. The calcareous cliffs, with the many caves like at Meschers, which are indented with little bays carpeted with sand : known as baylets. On the top of the cliffs, the holm oaks fight against the wind and man.
All along the coast, there is a fragile equilibrium between marine and land waters, the rocks undergoing erosion, the earth beaten by the tides and the currents. Countryside, flora and fauna are at the mercy of man's development. To protect these sites, in 1976 the Conservatoire de l'Espace littoral et des Rivages Lacustres (The protective of coasts and lakeside shores) was created, installed in the old royal rope factory in Rochefort.
