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L'AIGUILLON SUR MER
Our History
Burnham-on-Crouch is twinned with a town in France called
L’Aiguillon-sur-Mer. The towns have been twinned since May
1980 and since then there have been many exchange visits
between the two communities over the years. The aim of
Twinning is to promote friendship between the communities
and encourage visits from families and groups to share
cultural, educational and recreational activities.
As a mark of the established link
between the two towns, Burnham has a Twinning Garden outside
Warwick Court and L’Aiguillon has Square Burnham-on-Crouch
which has a working traditional red British phone box!
L’Aiguillon sur Mer
L’Aiguillon-sur-Mer was chosen as
our Twin Town as it has many similarities to
Burnham-on-Crouch. It is a small picturesque fishing port
in the Vendee Region on the west coast, about twenty
kilometres northwards as the crow flies from La Rochelle.
The port at L’Aiguillon was created in the 11th century
and during the Ancien regime, the best canoneers of the
coastguard militia were recruited here.
Today it
is an important centre for fishing and the cultivation of
oysters and mussels. At low tide, rows of stakes can be seen
off the coast marking out the oyster grounds. These are
called bouchots giving the name to the “moule de Bouchot”
which are well known throughout France.
There
are opportunities for country walks and also a bird
sanctuary. Sailing and surfboarding, tennis, horse riding,
boules and mini golf are also available.
The
seaside resort of La Faute-sur-Mer is adjacent to
L’Aiguillon to the west. La Faute has ten kilometres of
sandy beaches backed by a pine forest. It is joined to
L’Aiguillon by a bridge over the River Lay.
L’Aiguillon has interesting shopping and a fine fish market of some renown.
All
this and more can be viewed on their excellent web-site at www.laiguillonsurmer.fr which
has English text available.