La Baule-Escoublac is a commune in western France, in the
Loire-Atlantique department, in the Pays de la Loire region. Located
on the Atlantic coast, it is part of the Côte d'Amour, between Le
Pouliguen and Pornichet.
It first appears in history through
one of its villages, Escoublac, from the ninth century. It had to be
moved twice and then rebuilt after almost total destruction, first
in the 15th century and then at the end of the 18th century.
At the beginning of the 19th century, visionary investors understood
the potential of the bay of Pouliguen, which links Pornichet to
Pouliguen and decided to fix the boles - these dune expanses then
almost deserted -, to subdivide them and to create a seaside resort
along the long beach of more than 8 km. La Baule was born, and the
town will develop by allowing architects, such as Adrien Grave,
Georges Lafont or Paul-Henri Datessen, to create an architectural
heritage made up of villas and hotels in a mosaic of styles of
neo-Gothic inspiration or medieval, regionalist or resolutely
futuristic. Some streets and some neighborhoods in the locality have
retained the names of these investors, like André Pavie, Édouard
Darlu, René Dubois, Jules Hennecart or Louis Lajarrige.
The
town, which was also called Escoublac then Escoublac-la-Baule,
acquired its final name of La Baule-Escoublac on May 16, 1962, at a
time which marked the preference given to collective housing on the
seafront, where buildings have gradually replaced villas. "La Baule"
is the name of the seaside resort in the 21st century.
The
locality lives in the twenty-first century mainly from tourism, the
tertiary sector representing the bulk of economic activity. It
enjoys a renowned hotel infrastructure - with the economic presence
of the Barrière group -, a rich and protected natural environment,
as well as a quality urban heritage which attracts many artists and
sportsmen from the start of the twentieth century, like Guillaume
Apollinaire, Sacha Guitry or William Grover-Williams. Since then, it
has developed a series of events of international dimension such as
the Grand Prix automobile de La Baule, the International Jumping of
France or the La Baule-Dakar race, launched in 1980 by the nautical
circle La Baule-Le Pouliguen. Pornichet.
Numerous luxury villas along the waterfront and promenade
Ker-Allan Manor of the 15th century
Church of St. Peter in Escoublac
1786
Neo-Romanesque church of Notre Dame 1931-1935 in the center of
the commune
Former chapel of St. Anne 1880-1886, in 1989 it became a
cultural center
Lighthouse La Banche 1865
By plane
Nantes Airport (IATA: NTE) is around 80 km away.
By train
From Saint-Nazaire (see the travel guide there) there is a
train to La Baule (two stations there).
La Baule-Escoublac, Place
Rhin-et-Danube . is served by the TGV.
In the street
The toll
auto route A 11 (L'Océane) coming from Ponthévrard west of Paris leads
via Le Mans and Angers and merges into the RN 165 (European route 60,
crossing-free and with separate carriageways) in Nantes, from which the
RN 171 ( four lanes) that leads to Saint-Nazaire. Alternatively: From
Nantes south of the Loire on the D723/D77 and over the Pont de
Saint-Nazaire. Continue from Saint-Nazaire on the four-lane D 213 or -
closer to the coast - via Pornichet on the D 92.
By boat
Marina La Baule - Le Pouliguen
By bicycle
The EuroVelo 6 route
starts in Saint-Nazaire. From Saint-Nazaire, take the Vélocéan coastal
cycle path to La Baule.
Excavations carried out on the territory of the commune testify to
the fact that people have lived here since the Middle Paleolithic
period. Several surviving dolmens belong to the later Neolithic.
Fragments of Gallo-Roman settlements have also been found.
The
first settlement of Escoublac arose around the 8th century in a place
that is now not exactly established; it is assumed that it was a high
bank or rock. In 1050, the Bishop of Nantes sent monks here from the
abbey of Saint-Florent-le-Veuil. In the forest near the village they
built a church and founded the Priory of St. Peter. By 1350, Escoublac
had about 300 inhabitants, by the middle of the 15th century this number
had increased to 1,500.
In 1450, the village suffered a
catastrophe, the cause of which is not known exactly (tsunami, plague or
the events of the Hundred Years of War), but the population of Escoublac
was reduced by almost half, and the surviving inhabitants left their
habitat. Most moved to the area of St. Peter's Priory, founding a new
Escoublac, other residents founded the village of Puligen.
Since
the 16th century, the advance of the dunes on the coastal village has
intensified. In the 1770s, the dunes came close to the houses and the
church, threatening their existence. Local authorities decided to
demolish them and move the center of the village a kilometer further
from the sea coast.
The long sandy beaches of La Baule have long
attracted attention, but it was only with the opening of the
Saint-Nazaire-Croisic railway line in 1879 that the tourist potential of
the local coast was properly appreciated. The Escoublac Dunes Society
commissioned local architect Georges Lafont to design a new spa town.
Lafon laid out a long promenade along the sea and built over 250 villas.
In 1918, the financial magnate François André organized the
restructuring of the La Baule resort on the Deauville model, combining
casinos, luxury hotels and sports facilities in one place.
La Baule-Escoublac is located in the west of the Loire-Atlantique
department, 11.8 km as the crow flies west of Saint-Nazaire, capital of
the district to which the locality belongs; it is also 50 km as the crow
flies southeast of Vannes and 62 km west of Nantes. The commune is
located in the bay of Pouliguen and on the Guérande peninsula, a
territory attached to the mainland by a narrow passage located in the
commune of Saint-Lyphard. The locality belongs to the Côte d'Amour,
between Le Pouliguen and Pornichet.
Until 1900, Escoublac
extended to the east as far as the so-called "Pornichet" area - located
at the site of the current Boulevard de la République in the
municipality of Pornichet - where it then bordered Saint Nazaire ; when
the commune of Pornichet was created, it received 97 hectares of the
territory of Escoublac, i.e. the portion of the beach up to the Mazy
bridge (since removed) and a few tens of meters behind, which form the
district du Mazy.
To the west, the commune is bounded by the
large Étier du Pouliguen which connects the salt marshes of Guérande to
the Atlantic Ocean and which, while serving as a limit with the commune
of Pouliguen, shelters the port of the two cities.
La Baule-Escoublac is located in the west of the Loire-Atlantique
department, 11.8 km as the crow flies west of Saint-Nazaire, capital of
the district to which the locality belongs; it is also 50 km as the crow
flies southeast of Vannes and 62 km west of Nantes. The commune is
located in the bay of Pouliguen and on the Guérande peninsula, a
territory attached to the mainland by a narrow passage located in the
commune of Saint-Lyphard. The locality belongs to the Côte d'Amour,
between Le Pouliguen and Pornichet.
Until 1900, Escoublac
extended to the east as far as the so-called "Pornichet" area - located
on the site of the current Boulevard de la République in the
municipality of Pornichet - where it then bordered Saint Nazaire ; when
the municipality of Pornichet was created, it received 97 hectares of
the territory of Escoublac, i.e. the portion of the beach up to the Mazy
bridge (since removed) and a few tens of meters behind, which form the
district du Mazy.
To the west, the commune is bounded by the
large Étier du Pouliguen which connects the salt marshes of Guérande to
the Atlantic Ocean and which, while serving as a boundary with the
commune of Pouliguen, shelters the port of the two cities.