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Cap d'Agde-Sous les pavés, la plage*, the sea not the war
A direct consequence of the ‘Mission Racine’ (see below), the port of the Cap d’Agde seaside resort was created in 1969. It is today one of the most used ports in the Languedoc-Roussillon region able to accommodate 3,300 boats with a draught of three metres.
Each era has had its own major port project in the Gulf of Lion. Saint Louis built a port in Aigues Mortes and Louis IV did it at Sète. But before them, Louis XIII and his Minister, Richelieu, had envisaged it at Agde. An estuary through which the boats could enter; a volcanic site which would provide the stones. It had everything necessary to build a port on this sandy coast which had few sheltered areas. But the death of Richelieu meant that the ambitious project – joining up Cap d’Agde with the Island of Brescou – was abandoned.
Three centuries later, the State began to show concerns about the development of the coast. Partly to contain and restrain the large number of tourists who spent each summer in Spain without stopping in France. The ‘Mission Racine’ – the Inter-Ministerial Tourist Development Programme for the Languedoc-Roussillon Coast - was put in place in the 1960s. Presided over for more than twenty years by the State Counsellor Pierre Racine, its objective was to design six seaside resorts in the Languedoc-Roussillon region and in so doing transform the area which had been abandoned to the mosquitoes into a holiday region. Cap d’Agde was one of the ‘Racine’ projects.
In 1968, the State and the town of Agde signed an agreement with the SEBLI (a company specialised in constructing facilities in Béziers and on the coastline). The company was entrusted with carrying out the studies and works, with negotiating the land and financing the facilities to be built. The work began in early 1969 in line with the plans drawn up by the architect Jean Lecouteur and supervised by Jean Miquel, Director of the SEBLI.
Initially, they intended to accommodate 2,500 boats. The machines dug the basins in the marshes to obtain a draught of three metres. The excavators brought up sediments comprised of mud and sand, the alluvium of the Herault River.
The first basin to welcome boats was the Saint-Martin dock. The teams discovered the wreckage of two Phoenician galleys. For Pierre Weiss, the Technical Director of the Port, it is "proof that the Cap has been occupied since ancient times."
But today, there are no more galleys, and no more trouble. It cannot be denied that the port, which spreads out over 33 hectares (330,000 sq. m.), has been designed extremely well. To give an idea of the size, the facility covers a nautical mile from one end to the other, from the North quay to the exit of the port. The tandem of Cap d’Agde and the Ambonne port is able to offer a total capacity of 3,300 boats. The large size of the interior water areas, which are much wider than the areas normally devoted to navigation, mean that water shows and events, such as a mini-regattas organised by the associations during the Téléthon (France’s favourite annual fund-raising event which is organised in December to raise money for medical research), can take place there.
"The port of Cap d’Agde encountered an immediate success. Like many ports in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, it is saturated", explained Pierre Weiss, who added, optimistically, that "that can preserve in the event of a recession."
Whether a recession is looming or not, the port of Cap d’Agde is concentrating its efforts on innovation. "We do not intend to sit back and do nothing. We could easily be satisfied with the size of our current clientele. But we always try to keep our eyes open", he added. An example of innovation is the Moby-deck system. It has a series of mobile pontoons which help save space (see the inset for further details).
Pierre Weiss is convinced that fairy godmothers flew over Cap d’Agde’s cot. "Since ancient times, Cap d’Agde has been an ideal location for the construction of a port". We had to wait for the aftermath of May 68 for pleasure boating and holidays to achieve what trade and the war had not succeeded in building. Sous les paves, la plage (see note below), the sea not the war.
- *Translator’s note: slogan dating from the 1968 student riots and referring both to the paving stones thrown at the police and to the ideal of a more fulfilling life beyond the confines of drab conformity
