The Meschers sur Gironde cliffs are limestone cliffs that line the Gironde estuary.
They are located between Plage des Vergnes, Plage des Nonnes, Conche de Cadet and Port de Meschers.
They are made up of cavities dug by water, but also by man, including troglodyte caves. You can visit the Matata caves and the Régulus caves. You can also find carrelets.
The cliffs are not far from Meschers town center, which is organized around the the church de MeschersHere you'll find the market square, and a number of stores and restaurants within easy walking distance. The area is very busy in high season.
From the church, it's easy to get to the port de Meschersbut also to Meschers cliffs to discover the famous plaice. Not far away is the Nonnes beachVergnes beach, and the small Arnèche beach.
Meschers, an authentic fishing village, has today become a family destination, where you can enjoy its beaches and troglodyte cliffs, far from the crowds of the Pays Royannais.
The history of the white cliffs of Meschers
The cliffs have been recognized as a curiosity since the mid-19th century. Witness these travel accounts, such as this extract from 'Lettres et souvenirs de voyage' (late 19th century):
"The white cliffs of Meschers, on the banks of the Gironde, are well worth a visit and a study. There, as at Vouvray and Rochecorbon, on the banks of our Loure river, time, that great architect, has carved out deep caves in the chalky rock flanks, suspended at dizzying heights above the water, and which the ocean, in these days of great wrath, comes to invade.
In the past, these caves served as a refuge and home for a whole world of lazy, sickly people. They were the quarries of America, the region's Court of Miracles. They lived a little off fishing and hunting, a lot off tithes taken from other people's property, marauding and smuggling... They sometimes feared the customs officers, but they didn't know the taxman, since the Meschers caves had no doors or windows. But one fine day, after some mischief, dame justice opened her eyes and got angry. She called in all the local gendarmes and customs officers, and one fine night the whole gang was rounded up in a single raid.
Since then, the Meschers caves, which are strictly supervised, have become deserted, while retaining their character and character.
The narrow path cut into the rock sometimes rises, sometimes falls, crossing half-cut boulders that tower 40 to 50 meters above the river through holes pierced like loopholes. The astonished eye wanders over the undulating, verdant banks of the lower Médoc, which flee opposite the horizon, and rests on this beautiful emerald-green sheet of water that laps at your feet and loses itself in infinity".
