Thursday, July 03, 2008

Oyster Shacks

Around the oyster ponds on the Ile d'Oléron are the little cabanes, or shacks, where people work on the oysters. Inside, they're either separating the baby oysters and putting them into flats, or harvesting the adult oysters, or performing other oyster-related tasks.

A blue shack.

Maybe a few of them are playing cards and drinking wine! The shacks are painted in vibrant colors. I don't know how this tradition began, but I suspect that it's kept up to attract tourists. We weren't the only people out there with cameras!

A yellow shack.

While there were cars parked around the buildings, and some signs of activity, the whole scene was very quiet and peaceful. I think May is on the slow side for oysters. It's a month without an "r" in it, after all.

A red shack.

Of course, once you've stopped once or twice to walk around and take pictures of the colorful shacks, you've pretty much seen them and they begin to look alike. So you move on.

A blue-green shack.

Which is what we did. We continued down the island toward its closest point to mainland, to the town called le Château d'Oléron, where there is actually an old fort. We stopped in to have a quick look.

A shack with new, unpainted siding.

7 comments:

  1. Lovely pictures and bright colours! You're right though, once you've seen one shack, you've seen them all! At the risk of sounding 'blazé': it's the same with the 'châteaux'. You find the same features and pictures everywhere, while the dongeons, although always impressive, look very much alike.
    Nice anecdote: if you knew the number of places in Belgium and France where Napoleon supposedly slept ... you wonder how the man found the time to fight so many battles ... :-)! Martine

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  2. Ingrid Betancourt's release (and the way it came about) is welcome news. Six years! This must be a remarkable family and now I hope they can be ordinary.

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  3. Oh wow, I love those colors. I would like to visit Ile d'Oléron now! It looks like such a cool place.

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  4. Those shacks are really sharp looking! Found this article on Ouest-France today:

    http://www.ouest-france.fr/Des-mortalites-massives-de-jeunes-huitres-/re/AgricultureDet/actu_3640-657604------_actu.html

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  5. martine, thanks! We have the same issue with George Washington in the US - he slept everywhere!

    louise, the news coverage has been non-stop, so I don't think they're going to get to be ordinary for some time.

    jennie, the Atlantic coast is very interesting. There's so much to see!

    rachael, thanks! And thanks for the link!

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  6. Thanks for the photos of the colorful shacks and the education on oysters. Makes me love them even more!

    BettyAnn

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  7. Wonderful photos!!! Love the colours..:-)

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