This is now the third time this has happened to us in 5 years and I am just wondering if this is becoming more and more of a problem.
4 years ago we were on the south west coast of France and on going down to the beach one day, we were met by the red flag and a number of lifeguards patrolling the waters edge making sure no one went in. I spoke to one of the lifeguards and she told us that bathing was forbidden because of pollution levels in the water. This continued for 3 days before swimming was allowed again.
2 years ago we were in the Vendee and again, we went down to the beach for a swim. We were merrily swimming in the sea with hundreds of others but that night we were both violently ill, as were many others on our campsite who had also been swimming in the sea. The next day the red flag was out and bathing was forbidden. This lasted for the remaining 2 days of our holiday but it could have lasted longer as we weren't there to see how long the red flag stayed for.
We are currently in south Brittany and went to the beach yesterday to try and cool off in the hottest temperatures I have ever experienced this far north in France only to find the dreaded red flag and a whiteboard notice explaining that swimming was forbidden due to pollution.
Has anyone else experienced this or are we just unlucky? Is sea pollution on the west coast of France becoming more and more of a problem?
------------- Pixie
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I live in La Rochelle (between Bordeaux and Vendée) and yes actually, it is getting more and more frequent in our area !!
Here, it is more a problem of violent storms that make sewage overflow at some beaches than the heat.
I would highly recomment going to beaches with blue flags : it is a national sign for clean waters...
Yes!! 2 or 3 years ago I was the only one in my family to swim in the sea that day and was really ill. I thought it was down to the sea but there were so many people swimming I never previously thought it was a problem.
Does anyone know how the beaches are around Royan at the moment?
The website states that they are all blue flagged and I haven't found anything in the news yet.