A morning walk on the beach at Valras Plage in the Herault department of the new Occitanie (formerly Languedoc-Rousillon) region of France.
This short video gives a pretty good idea of life at the beach on a bright morning in the calm just ahead of high season.
Even in high season at 9 am Valras-plage feels like 4 miles of private beach. By 10 am families begin to take up spots near the gentle, protected tideline. In early July this part of the French-Mediterranean holiday coast is still free of the high season crowds.
The uncrowded water is a playground for sports enthusiasts of all ages and styles. Fishermen of all ages are always present. Paddleboards are an ever more common sight. The water aerobics group that marches the tide-line hasn’t quite reached high season numbers yet
Past the casino and the end of the developed residential area, a sailing school hosts crowds of school children for what seems like the whole summer, and 5 minutes further away something slightly more commercial offers short jet ski and banana boat rides to all comers.