FLY ME TO THE DUNE
As the summer sun warms the french coast, yeahbaby finds out why the dune du pyla, near bordeaux, is a paraglider playground
Ever since cave dwellers gathered around their fires, humans have dreamed of being able to fly as free as birds. And since the 1980s, when a few intrepid souls first ran down steep hillsides strapped into second-hand parachutes, paragliders have been recreating that experience.
The Dune du Pyla, about 45 minutes south of Bordeaux airport, is Europe’s largest sand dune – and the place for paragliding in Europe. Towering almost 110m over the Atlantic waves and stretching 3km from tip to tip, it’s made up of over 60 million square metres of sand. That’s one big sand pit for children of all ages to play on.
From April until September, the hot summer sun heats the flat land between Bordeaux and the Dune, drawing in cold air from the Atlantic. This causes a smooth sea breeze to blow in over the sand, creating perfect conditions for paragliders to learn their skills.
Over the last few years, paragliding wings have grown lighter, stronger and faster. Flights of more than 200km are not uncommon and the world-record distance currently stands at over 420km. But flying high and flying far isn’t enough for some pilots, with acrobatic competitions becoming increasingly popular. Competitors battle to pull off tricks with beguiling and deceptively gentle-sounding names like Misty Flip, Tail Slide and Infinity Tumble. In reality, these involve spinning the glider through 360 degrees, flying backwards and barrel rolling like a World War I fighter pilot. Not surprisingly, these moves are usually attempted high off the ground. At the Dune du Pyla, however, acrobatics are often done just metres – or even centimetres – above the sand. Here, students who are learning the ropes might well share the air with world-class acrobatic pilots taking their holidays on the French coast.
British paragliding instructor John Welch, who has been teaching students at the Dune du Pyla for 12 years, believes that there’s something magical about the place: “The Dune is like a skate park for paraglider pilots. You can do things here that would be unheard of anywhere else.”
Beginners can get a taste of what it’s like to fly over the sand and the water, using only the power of the sun. Local pilot Charlie Piccolo (who offers 10-minute tandem flights from €50) promises his tandem passengers a gentle flight in the softest of conditions, taking in a unique panorama of breaking waves, oyster beds and rolling sands. As a red-blooded Frenchman, Charlie feels no shame in seeking out the topless sunbathers and flying over to say hello. He is also a champion acrobatic pilot. For the adventurous customer willing to pay a few euros more, he will fling the passenger through a series of adrenalin-surging, low-level acrobatic moves known locally as wagga.
After a short briefing, the nervous passenger on a wagga-style tandem ride experiences a few seconds of calm and reassurance as the wind fills the wing, and pilot and passenger fly over the gently sloping sand. Then gravity loses hold, up becomes down and down becomes up. This is a roller-coaster without rails. The lines between sea, sand and sky blur and bend. Faster and faster the pilot swoops left and right across the sand – each pass lower and seemingly faster than the last. At times it is possible to reach out and run a hand through the sand, tilting towards the sky at an impossible angle. Everyone, but everyone, screams in either fear or delight. It really is just like a fast ride at the fair. When you’re on, you want to get off, but as soon as you get off, you want to get straight back on.
If you want to learn to fly, a one-week course in France (with a UK-based school) costs around €760, including tuition, kit hire and accommodation. The Dune can be hot, but anyone who’s fit enough to walk up a 100m hill can learn to fly to a basic level in a week or two. The reward can be fantastic. Imagine coming home from a week away and telling friends, truthfully, that you have learned to fly with the birds – and that you have an aircraft folded up in the boot of your car.
Some say that the perfect combination of sand, sea and wind at the Dune du Pyla affects even the flow of time itself. Welch tells of one student who was spending two weeks learning to fly at the Dune as a 40th birthday present. It seems he got so caught up in the relaxed vibe that he miscounted the last days of his thirties and celebrated in fine style in a local Michelin-starred restaurant, but on completely the wrong day. The hapless student only realised his mistake when his mum phoned to wish him happy birthday two days later!
IF YOU’D RATHER STAY EARTHBOUND
The Dune du Pyla offers plenty of distractions for non-flyers as well:
For young children there’s cycling along traffic-free lanes in the woods, a zoo (Route de Cazaux, La Teste, www.zoodubassindarcachon.com) and a waterpark (Routes des Lacs, Gujan Mestras, www.aqualand.fr) with 8 hectares of wet fun.
For bigger kids and grown-ups, there’s surfing at next door Biscarosse Plage, and bars with live music and salsa dancing at the inland beach of Etang Biscarosse (www.biscarrosse.com).
Finally, to continue with the flying theme, a trip to the nearby Museum of Sea Planes is a must (Musée de l’Hydraviation, 332 Avenue Louis Breguet, Biscarosse, www.asso-hydraviation.com).
UP, UP AND AWAY
Find out more about paragliding, including how to learn in the UK and abroad, from the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (www.bhpa.co.uk).
Arrange a week or two learning to fly at the Dune with British paragliding school Flight Culture (www.flightculture.co.uk).
Find out about extreme low-level flying (including white-knuckle tandem rides) at Waggas School (www.waggaschool.com).
There are several sites for camping (French-style in luxury mobile homes) near the Dune, including Pyla-Camping, which also owns the main take-off area and is very accommodating to novice and experienced paraglider pilots alike. (www.pyla-camping.com).
