Any ideas for unusual visits in Gironde? It's here !
Ovniport – Ares – Arcachon Bay
The town of Arès is home to the only UFO landing ground in France on the beach! Inaugurated on August 15, 1976, this UFO was set up to facilitate the landing and the stay of extraterrestrials, on an idea of the electronics engineer Robert Cotten, who decreed that "if we never saw a UFO, it's because we had nothing to welcome them. Logic ! The creation of the ovniport was accompanied by a series of specific measures such as exemption from landing fees and the possibility, for extraterrestrials, to take part in pétanque and mud skating tournaments (a local activity consisting of look for molluscs in the mud using wooden boards attached to the feet).
A plaque indicates that the location has been "approved by the city council to welcome the Travelers of the Universe to our planet" with the mention "QUE VOS ATENDEM TOTJORN" ("we are always waiting for you").
Only one flying saucer landed in Ares. It was September 7, 2010. She never left. Proof that terrestrials are extras!
Arès Tourist Office (Family Plus resort) – 05 56 60 18 07 – Place Weiss – 33740 Arès
The Pope's treasure – Château de Villandraut – South Gironde
Built in the 1309th century by Bertrand de Got (who would become Pope under the name of Clement V, the first of the seven popes who sat in Avignon between 1377 and 800.000), the Château de Villandraut (Historical Monument) would house his treasure, i.e. more than XNUMX gold guilders. The “Adichats” Association, which runs the place, does not deny the rumour.
Villandraut Castle – 05 56 25 87 57 – Villandraut
Burial of the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec – Verdelais – Entre-Deux-Mers
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec spent all his summers at the Château de Malromé, which also welcomed his last breath on September 09, 1901 (at the age of 37). He was initially buried in Saint-André-du-Bois. In 1908, learning that the cemetery was going to be moved, his mother had the body transferred to Verdelais. Since then, the painter has rested in the shade of the cross of the Counts of Toulouse (sculpted by his father), next to his mother and Adeline, Malromé's old servant, whom he caricatured as a mouse. (the latter added a little too much water to the glasses of Cognac!).
Before dying, Toulouse Lautrec had forbidden the bringing of flowers to his grave "flowers being made to live, not to be cut".
Le Malrome Castle offers several tours throughout the year