Le Figaro Bordeaux
They are the salt of the lands of Lège-Cap-Ferret.
Shaped by these men who brave the winds, the rain and the swell every day to earn their bread, the nine oyster villages of the commune are its pride, its lungs and its heart.
“My ancestors arrived in 1878, under Napoleon III, when these villages were created
,” recalls Patrick Ducasse, 73 years old.
The septuagenarian was born and still lives in the most emblematic of them: the oyster farming village of L'Herbe.
At the time, while the use of parks and oyster farming was becoming more structured, the oyster farmers - who for the most part lived opposite on the Arcachon Bay - built makeshift shelters on the coast of the peninsula. island.
“They didn't live there, but they slept there three or four days a week
,” confides the man whose cabin is now fitted out to comfortably accommodate up to six people in the summer.
On his living room table, Patrick Ducasse opens his archives at Le
Figaro
.
On the first land register of the oyster village of L'Herbe, roughly drawn in 1894, appear the names of six families, including his own.
The place now has 75 cabins, divided between historic families and sea workers.
“It’s a special world, because they are working villages.
We must understand that Lège-Cap-Ferret was shaped by oyster farmers,”
explains city councilor Philippe de Gonneville.
The cellars of these oyster farmers adjoin the beach and are located less than 500 meters from homes.
With a maximum surface area of 72 square meters and on one level, the colorful shutters of the latter interlock and tangle in narrow streets.
Here, everyone knows each other and
“you have to know how to live together”
.
Archives of the oyster village of L’Herbe in Lège-Cap-Ferret
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Living and working village
However, since the Napoleon III era, the small oyster farming village of L'Herbe has evolved significantly.
Only 40% of historic families, settled before 1965, still live there.
And they are the last to have a hereditary and transferable right to these houses, since subject to territory occupation authorizations (AOT), because they are installed on the coast - access to which is regulated by the town hall until 2030 with the agreement of the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea (DDTM).
The other cabins are allocated for the duration of a lifetime and as a main residence to maritime workers after public display.
They all pay low rents
“to have their feet in the water”
: between 250 to 400 euros per month.
But these new allocation rules have changed the face of the small oyster village.
“With the oyster crisis in the 1970s, families changed,”
recalls Patrick Ducasse
.
The young people who settled no longer knew the people and the solidarity was lost a little because the link from generation to generation is less there.”
However, for the latest oyster farmers to arrive, like Charles Vasseur, this rotation is necessary.
“For young people who make a living from local jobs, finding accommodation on the peninsula where prices have become inaccessible is impossible
,” explains the thirty-year-old who lived with his parents until obtaining a cabin in 2018, after four years of living. waiting and five refusals.
“The historic families are still there, this allows for social peace.
As for proximity, you don't like it or you don't like it
,” describes the young oyster farmer, recognizing that this mixed allocation system works.
Especially since the houses belonging to the historic families of this UNESCO heritage site are naturally the best maintained.
Ingrid Oliver, who with her husband produces up to 120 tonnes of oysters in the village of L'Herbe, however, did not want to live there.
“I wanted to poach, have a break and other neighbors
,” explains the figurehead of the largest farm in the village, which hires up to 17 people in the summer.
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Tourist invasion
And for good reason: the oyster farmers who live in the village of L'Herbe have to deal with its tourist attraction, as necessary as it is intrusive.
While around ten tasting huts line the edges of the beach, the thousands of tourists who visit the place from May to October are not always welcome.
“The particularity of this village is that we are no longer peaceful
,” complains one of the historic inhabitants, Philippe Ducourneau, 79 years old.
“There is a bit of overpopulation and the people who pass by are really curious, it’s annoying in everyday life.
It's difficult to get around, there are traffic jams... But it also makes businesses work, the landscape is pleasant and we live in swimsuits: we're not unhappy
,” says Patrick Ducasse.
No stranger to these complaints, the mayor of Lège-Cap-Ferret, Philippe de Gonneville, is working on the development of a charter of good manners for visitors.
Objective: for them to understand that these oyster villages are work spaces.
“When you have placed your towel on the beach, if a barge arrives to drop off oysters, it is not up to the tractor to go around the towel again
,” recalls the chief magistrate of the City.
“Sometimes, residents also find people picnicking on their tables, who open their doors and look out the windows.
We're not in a zoo.
It’s a minority, but it’s enough to make it unpleasant
,” admits the elected official.
“We have to find a balance and not forget that everyone is very happy with these tourists who come to taste oysters. Residential houses must accept these constraints
,” adds Jean Castaignède, mayor's delegate for oyster villages, oyster farmer for the 5th generation and resident of a neighboring oyster village.
Attached to the maintenance and preservation of
“these villages which are truly the heritage, history and identity of its territory”
, the municipality plans to limit access despite the freedom of passage between the houses and the need to welcome people for tastings.
A study on the subject, launched in the fall at vision 2040-2050, is underway.