An Irish Invasion
A tale of two flags...
I’m not sure the French know they’ve been invaded by the Irish. Perhaps they’re keeping it as a French style secret, the kind of secret that absolutely everyone knows, but when confronted everyone denies.
We’ve stayed at many holiday villages over the last twenty years, several I’ve also written about, including Lac de Sanguinet, Soulac Plage, on the northern tip of the Medoc, and Il de Ré, all wonderful family holiday locations with all the activities you could hope for, and some you didn’t hope for, Like the ubiquitous evening ‘animations’ that include ghastly talent shows, and a lot of very shouty compere’s urging you to do things the English middle classes would rather die than actually do, I mean do you want to do the twist? Or stick your head in a barrel of water, where twenty other people have gone before, to try and get an apple with your teeth, all to the soundtrack of thumping 70’s disco tunes like the complete Giorgio Moroder back catalogue including ‘I feel love’ by Donna Summer? mind you it is one of the most engaging disco tracks ever, and I always feel ashamed that I haven’t taken part, maybe I will one day when I’m too old, or dotty to care.
But back to Ireland, and the alleged invasion.
It was only when we were staying at the Lac de Leon Sandaya, Le col Vert, that I noticed all the chalets had names, and ours was called O’Hara. I assumed it was the name of a range from a larger manufacturer’s catalogue. Others would be called Murphy, Kelly, O’Brien, or O’Sullivan, all proudly named after one of the owners Irish heritage. But then I realised, all the chalets were called O’Hara. I did a quick Google only to find O’Hara was the name of the company that manufactured said chalets. Why would a French business have an Irish name? perhaps there’s a historical family connection (Google didn’t go that deep I’m afraid)? Google could only come up with the following gem:
“While not publicly detailed in search results, the Irish-sounding name is commonly used in French leisure marketing to evoke a sense of charm, natural surroundings, and comfort”.
France and Ireland do (did) have history: In the 18th century, after the defeat of the catholic King James II, thousands of Irish soldiers went into exile in France and formed what’s called ‘The Irish Brigade’, and the Irish flag was inspired by the French flag. It was presented as a gift to Irish Nationalists in 1848 by a group of French sympathisers, who, as it happened, were all women.
The weather was warm and breezy the weekend (Easter this year, 2026) we stayed at Sandaya Lac de Leon, mid 20’s and clear skies with a few of those puffy little clouds we’re so used to in the Limousin. But check-in was crowded, and everyone was speaking Spanish, not French. The staff were speaking Spanish as were all the people trying to check-in; we asked the ‘why Spanish?’ question when we reached reception, and it transpired it was a big Spanish holiday that weekend and as we were only 100km north of the Spanish border it seemed everyone had come to France for the weekend. There was a reason though, other than proximity, and better amenities, It was Semana Santa, the religious holiday where Spain goes all in for procession’s and blasting noise, and apparently a lot of Spanish find it all a bit much, together with the mass influx of tourists to Spain. So they’d come to Lac de Leon to party.
Like all French holiday villages, Lac de Leon, with a mix of tents, camper vans, and fixed caravan/chalets, was geared up to French holiday making tastes: activities, activities, and more activities. Kid’s clubs, bike hire, canoe hire to name a few of the uncountable ways you can be entertained, or entertain yourself.
We started at the pool on the first day, but the visit was short lived as the outdoor pool was a little chilly, and the indoor pool had underwater aerobics with a very loud instructor telling everyone to “Tu dois travailler plus dur”. We beat a hasty retreat to the beach on the lakeshore, just a ten minute walk from the Sandaya gates. The kids (teenagers) rented a pedalo, Charlotte pumped up the paddle board and off they all went for the rest of the morning. In the afternoon we went to Moliets, which is a bit of a surfing centre, we’d been before a couple of years ago, it’s where Reana, our daughter, first got the surfing bug, and a short walk on the beach to the mouth of the Courant d’Huchet (which I’ve written about previously here). The river empties into the Atlantic a few hundred metres north of Moliets. On the beach we found evidence of the recent storms that had devastated this part of France, including enormous bands of debris unusually high on the beach, and many hundreds of dead Puffins that got blown off course. Apparently due to hunger caused by not being able see food in the water because of the turbulent water surfaces. It was a distressing site for us as we’re very keen bird watchers.
We’ve often been to the ‘Dune du Pylat’, around 100km north of Lac de Leon, but what I didn’t understand was the concept of the Landes ‘wandering dunes’. Up until the mid 1800’s the dunes of the Landes coast we’re constantly shifting, often inland: villages we’re under constant threat of being buried, and water outlets we’re often blocked, making the inland waterways and lakes fetid, malaria-prone marshland, until Napoleon stepped in and undertook a massive tree planting project, favouring Maritime Pines. The trees stabilised the shifting sands and gave us the Landes ‘Pine look’. It’s not the most attractive area of France, with it’s 100’s of sq kilometres of endless regimented forest, but when you get to the coast, the endless beaches and the majesty of the Atlantic make up for it; imagine getting on a plane on a grey day, taking off and bashing through the clouds into the glorious blue beyond, it’s like that.
If you’re thinking of going to a Sandaya campsite/holiday-village any time soon, make sure you get what’s called a ‘Premier’ chalet. We’ve been going for years and booking the extra facilities has made our holidays much more enjoyable. They’re always in their own little enclave surrounded by trees and other ‘Boho’ style wooden structures. The chalets themselves have better balcony furniture, a gas grill, and once, on Ile de Ré, we got our own hot tub. And we always go at Easter when the weather is good, it was mid 20’s this year, and not so crowded, mind you with over 550 chalets and 250 tent pitches, Le col Vert never seemed crowded even with half of Northern Spain enjoying a weekend away.
We stayed at Sandaya Le col Vert at Lac de Leon
1548 Route de l’Etang
40560 Vielle-Saint-Girons - France
We visited Moliets en Maa
