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.