The high, crenellated, cliffs of the Baie de Douarnenez make a striking backdrop for the rockpooling, crab hunting and shell collecting this beach is ideal for. Kite flying is another attraction, and there’s plenty of space for other water and sand sports if you like to kick balls around or hit them with bats – or even if you like more dramatic pursuits like sand yachting or speed sailing. The caves in the cliffs add a even more ‘Famous Five’ friendly element to the beach, which does have some calm shallows and non scary caves for the ‘Famous Five’ reading generation.

On the very edge of Cap Ferret, is the beach called ‘La Pointe’, the sandy expanse of which gets so buffeted by the winds and waves that tree trunk pillars have been hammered into it to help hold the beach together – the science of how this works in unclear, but apparently over the last 30 years around 400 metres worth of sandy beach has been lost from this coastline. Behind the flat beach at La Pointe are the dunes, which is where some of the sand ends up. Beyond that is more wild coastline and on the other side of the beach is the Atlantic. There’s no main road along this stretch of coast, just long thin stretches of pines and small villages living off oysters.

Cap Ferret is close enough for Bordelais to drive down for the day – so as you sit in your oyster hut right on the beach eating oysters shucked straight out of the waters it’s accompanied by a superb selection of local wines.

It was here, on this infamously clothing optional beach that Brigitte Bardot put St. Tropez on the map while filming ‘And God Created Woman’ wearing an itsy bitsy bikini.

Still a favourite with the shining stars of the film community if you do choose to wear a bathing suit make sure it’s the most daring of cuts, for most people jewellery and a triangle of cloth smaller than a folded handkerchief suffice.

For family folks there are some less racy options just along the coast, just don’t bother turning up without a hotel booking.