Clothes are Optional
| La Jenny is a lovely spot for a naturist holiday. These are my personal impressions from my visit in August 1997 and some practical information for anyone thinking of going there. |
The place
La Jenny is a resort in the Gironde departement of France, on the Atlantic coast approximately 70 km (40 miles) west of the city of Bordeaux. The coastline there is part of over 200 km of excellent sandy beach backed by sand dunes. In the 19th century these dunes were planted with pine trees to stabilise the dunes and as a source of timber.
It is in this pine forest that La Jenny lies, and the situation is idyllic. The accommodation is in timber chalets of various sizes dotted around amongst the trees. The trees let in dappled sunlight and moderate the temperature, protecting from both the direct heat of the sun and the cold wind from the sea. In an aerial photograph, almost all you can see is the central area where the swimming pools lie. Another advantage of the situation is that there are few insects, with almost no mosquitos.
The sea is a pleasant walk or cycle-ride through the forest, which takes about 20 minutes or more, depending on where in the resort you are staying. The beach is excellent, but the sea can be a bit rough. There is a life guard on the section immediately by the access path during the day.
There is a central area with a swimming pool complex, restaurants, bar, shops and supermarket, information centre, hairdresser, tennis courts, diving club, archery, table tennis, children's facilities including a pony club, and other attractions. There is a golf course, and a programme of activities for all ages is laid on.
The area is very pleasant, but not rich in "must-see" sights. The peninsula is divided between the pine forest and the famous Medoc wine-growing region, which will be an attraction to many people. For historical interest you need to travel to Bordeaux and beyond. The highest sand dune in Europe, Pyla, is south of Arcachon.
There is only limited access to the sea by road, and the neighbouring textile beaches (we took a brief look at Le Gressier and Cap Ferret) are packed and not at all pleasant. However, there is a cycle track that runs through the forest the length of the coast, and I imagine that it is possible to find solitude by cycling away from the crowds.
Pictures
Getting there
To get to La Jenny, you really need a car. The nearest airport and main railway station (fast train to Paris) are in Bordeaux. There is a bus service along the road parallel to the coast, but I don't know the frequency and it is still another 8 km (5 miles) to La Jenny from the road. The distance by car from Cherbourg (a 4.5-hour ferry crossing from Portsmouth) is about 650 km (400 miles) via the Royan-Pointe de Grave car ferry across the mouth of the Gironde, or about 80 km (50 miles) further via the Bordeaux ring road. These distances will be slightly different for other Channel crossings.
Lettings at La Jenny are usually from Saturday to Saturday, which means that arrival and departure can be in heavy traffic. Allow for delays on the Bordeaux ring road and long waits for the Royan car ferry in the high season (it took us about 3 hours wait to get on the ferry on the return). The ferry does not run in late evenings or overnight. (Note: there is a naturist beach not far from the ferry on the southern side.)
Also try to avoid arriving at La Jenny in the afternoon: I had to stand in line for an hour before I could check in. You can arrive from 09:00, although the chalet may not be ready at that time, and Reception closes at 20:00.
Naturism
Officially, nudity is compulsory whenever the weather is suitable, but in practice the only places where most people were naked were the beach and the pools. In transit, only a small proportion of people wore no clothes at all. It seems that most naturists do not wish to be unclothed all the time. In the evenings, there was a tendency to dress up in the bar and restaurant areas.
At the time of our visit, there were many families at La Jenny. There seemed to be few single people, probably because there is no accommodation specifically for singles.
Weather
I haven't checked out the weather records, but I understand that you can normally expect most days in the summer season to be quite hot (upper twenties C at least) with occasional thunderstorms. The nights are fairly cool, and the wind on the beach can be strong and a little cold. The forest protects from extremes.
1997 was a funny year. The area got a fair amount of rain in June, when much of the rest of Europe experienced rain and floods. August was particularly hot in France (and England) with temperatures in the 30s. This means that they are harvesting the grapes a month early in the Bordeaux vineyards, and we can expect an excellent vintage in Bordeaux (and here in Shropshire too!)
The Accommodation
The chalets are delightfully situated, and well spaced. However, some are owned by the resort and some by individuals who let them out through the resort management. This means that what you get may depend on the owner of the chalet. We were rather disappointed, especially as we had rented a larger chalet than strictly necessary, in order to have extra space and privacy.
Although tenants are supposed to clean the chalet on leaving, we found it dirty, with cobwebs, dust and a fridge in need of defrosting. The blankets were appalling and ought to have been burned. You are told that you need to bring sheets, or rent them from the resort: it's probably best also to bring your own blankets, which we had in fact done. (When we complained to a member of staff, she also said that you ought to do this, since they are the responsibility of the chalet owner.) The only cooking facilities were two old electric rings: this seems to be quite common in French self-catering. We had just come from a well-equipped, clean gite run by a friend of mine, so the contrast was disappointing. (A letter was sent to the resort and the travel agent.)
Others have told me that they have had better experiences. The condition of the accommodation and the long wait for checking in were the only problems we had at La Jenny.
If you like quiet evenings, perhaps you can ask to have a chalet as far away as possible from the central area, where the music sometines goes on late. Myself, I would always rent self-catering accommodation in France designed for a larger number of people than is actually in the group.
Shopping
There are a supermarket, a small shop selling magazines, beach goods and other items, and another selling clothes and jewellery. Prices seemed a bit higher than in a hypermarket, as you might expect, but not outrageous. Obviously, choice is limited. It is some distance to supermarkets outside: Le Porge, which has small shops, is about 12 km away, and there is a Leclerc supermarket further away in the other direction at Arès . My advice is to buy in the hypermarkets the things you will need when you first arrive.
In 1997, the pound sterling was very strong (around 10 francs to the pound) making France generally much cheaper for the British than in the previous few years.
Night Life
There are a bar, a restaurant and a pizzeria which does take-aways. There was a show of some kind each evening, for example, Afro-Caribbean music and dancing, a Brazilian band, karaoke and a cabaret staged by the staff themselves. Some of it was worth watching. There are discos for teens some nights. You can amuse yourself, or perhaps there is more night life to be had in Lège-Cap Ferret. We chose to go for swims and walks on the beach in the moonlight.
Sleaze
None whatsoever, as far as we could see. There was no offensive behaviour, and if non-residents came to the La Jenny beach, then they behaved impeccably. What people do in their own chalets, of course, is their own business.
Conclusion
Fantastic! Beautiful area, lovely atmosphere and a comfortable temperature. In particular, just the place to take someone for their first naturist holiday (but as someone else said, once they've been there, will they want to go anywhere else?). I shall certainly go there again, subject to some assurance from the agent about the standard of the accommodation.
Copyright © 1997 Richard Burnham
