Obviously the Grand Dune itself dominates – it looks like someone has taken part of the Sahara and dropped on the French Atlantic coast. Directly opposite across the bay is the tip of Cap Ferrat – the peninsula where the great and the good of France go for their holidays.

I was there for a paragliding holiday. Unfortunately a high pressure weather system put paid to my flying ambitions, but I enjoyed walking along the shoreline, and the nearby town of Arcachon was very pretty too. Saw many a vivid sunset over the Atlantic from the top of the Dune.