The Locality & Surrounding District
St Geours de Maremne
Central to the Landes · en route d'Compostella...
Saint-Georges Monastery and Church [The pride of St Geours] was registered as a Historic Monument in 1992. The old fortified church in the centre of the village dates back to the XIII and IV centuries...
The apse and the bell-tower date from primitive times...
The strengthened bell-tower is a true keep and has shared previous use as a weapon store, dungeon and local prison.
During the 13th century, the Barons of Saint-Martin were the Lords of Saint-Geours.
Monastery & Church
l'Eglise Saint-Georges
The Village
St Geours de Maremne is a village of 1.800 inhabitants, located between Dax and the Atlantic Ocean - 30 km north of Bayonne.
On the fringe of the Basque Country, St Geours is at the heart of the famous Pine forests of the Landes, and rests on the crossroads to the Compostella at Santiago. If you would like more information about the Compostella, go to: virtourist.com
The Village offers a Mini-mart, 2 Bakeries, Press/Tobacco, Butchery, Charcuterie, Pharmacy, Florist and two excellent restaurants for the fine gourmet. Amenities such as Doctor, Dentist, Post Office, Hairdresser and a Gym are also present, as well as a Junior School. Our favourite Supermarket is at Soustons.
St Geours is the current up & coming town of the district, with plans for a public swiming pool and aquatic centre (opening May 2008), a new zone industrial for modern technologies and telephone centre, and a new International size golf course, which will include a small modern 5* hotel with a series of self catering condos all built with ecology in mind. This new location, which is just 1 mile away, will include a polo club site and arena...
St Vincent de Tyrosse and Local Region
As well as Supermarkets and other shopping, there is an excellent secondary school in St Vincent de Tyrosse. There are also Lycée’s at Dax and at Bayonne offering a wide curriculum, and a brand new one currently being built in St Geours. This Lycée will be the new showpiece of the region, and thus only the top flight from the teaching profession.
Whilst we are informed that the best surgeons are in Bordeaux, there is a hospital locally at Dax and one at Bayonne. Dax & Bayonne also offer an excellent range of stores and shops, including DIY specialists and other outlets.
Activity & Quality Time
There is plenty to occupy your time in and around St Geours, thanks to the local boating, fishing and sailing schools at Soustons lake and the windsurfing school at Port d'Albret. There is great surfing in the Golf du Gascogne and other activities such as archery, tennis, pelote basque, ball trap [clay pigeon shooting], paintball, skateboarding, sea fishing, as well as numerous cycle lanes crossing through the surrounding forest, and even a quad bike circuit at Seignosse as well as International Golf at Moliets.
Aside from the local bars & restaurants, traditional French life can be tasted in many of the surrounding Landaise villages. But none so inviting, as our very own Camping des Platanes where Andy & Celia, turned french native, are our local hosts.
St Geours celebrates with two Fêtes [Festivals] each year: One for St Georges Day celebrating their ties with St George, and a summer fête with a whole week of Food, Wine, art exhibitions, fun fair & plenty of Jollity.
Three Fêtes are also held at Soustons each year. One, like St Geours and most other villages, to celebrate the summer and the end of the seasons work, and one for Agriculture – the latter is wild…! Additionally, in the spring; la Fête des Tulipes, when the bulbs are picked for the Dutch spring bulb market…!
Of course, if you want to see the Fête of all Fêtes, then a timely visit in June to Pamplona in Spain will allow you to take in the spectacle of ‘The Running of the Bulls’ and beer swilling parties that last for amost a fortnight.
Travel & Tourism
There are many travel options open to visitors: Dax · Bayonne · Lourdes · Pyrenees · St Jean de Luz · St Jean Pied de Port & Spain to name but a few. Major airlines fly in to Bordeaux from the UK (1h 30 Drivetime) and Ryanair fly to Biarritz (45 mins) and Pau (1 hr). You can also connect to the TGV from Waterloo, setting down at Bayonne, St Vincent de Tyrosse, St Geours de Maremne or Dax. Driving down from St Malo via the new Auto routes is a breeze at just 5/6 hours, or if you prefer, Brittany ferries sail to Santander (4-5hrs Drivetime) or P&O ferries sail to Bilbao (just 3-4hrs Drivetime).
Rip the Tide
Finally, this region would not be complete without the European Surfing championships held at Hossegor, Capbreton and Seignosse in August. ...2007 Champion: Mick Fanning(Aus)
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 12 February, 2008 : - - World surfing champion Stephanie Gilmore (Kingscliff, NSW, AUS) will be going all out to prevent history repeating itself at the upcoming Roxy Pro presented by LG, the season-opener on the ASP Women's World Tour at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast.
Gilmore took the surfing world by storm in 2005 when she claimed the Roxy Pro Trials wildcard and went onto become the youngest surfer ever to win in an elite world tour event as a 17 year-old. After a meteoric rise to world number one, 20 year-old Gilmore will enter the 2008 Roxy Pro presented by LG as top seed and therefore will draw the wildcard surfer when she commences her world title defense in round one. Profile: Best looking chick on the planet, and she was born on my birthday - Not the same year tho ay! God! I'm old enough to be her grandfather... |  |
See all the latest European & International surf news at: surfersvillage.com
In short, St Geours de Maremne in the south west is easily accessible and you won’t be wanting for things to do in your spare time. When family and friends come to visit, there will never be enough time to show them around all of the bountiful places available in this utopian part of France. Oh! and did I mention the local cave where we stock our wines from…? ...Of course not, there's never enough time.
If I've tempted you with my local blog, why not come down for a few days and give it a test run...? After all, there are four bedrooms here, and we're just a phone call away...
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Ian Cawley & Patricia George.