Bouzigues

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Bouzigues is a lovely coastal town in Hérault, southern France. It is known above all for its oyster production and numerous quality seafood restaurants. Bouzigues can be thought of as a seaside resort without the resort, with very limited accommodation and not too many tourists. It is a perfect getaway for anyone who wants to enjoy a slower pace of life.

Bouzigues Halal Explorer

Bouzigues, Hérault 08 - The waterfront. You can see the square tower of the church to the left.

Orientation

Bouzigues is on the north side of a large tidal salt water lagoon called the Étang de Thau, which extends 5 km south to the Mediterranean Sea. The sea water flows freely into the lagoon, fish and boats can come and go as they please and the lagoon's shoreline is tidal. However, the étang is sheltered from the worst of the winter storms and Bouzigues still enjoys the atmosphere of a traditional fishing port and the sunny and warm climate that draws so many to the south of France. The urban core is a dense medieval old town, with narrow streets and warmly pastel-coloured houses of two and three storeys, while further out are a few streets of modern villas. At the west end of the seafront are the shellfish industry's warehouses and stores and at the other end, the cute little harbour. From here, you can gaze over miles of oyster beds across to the distant holiday complexes of Sète and Marseillan, while the Mediterranean scrub behind is scattered with vineyards and the odd olive grove.

The town's portentous title of oyster capital of France (capitale de l'huître) belies the fact that Bouzigues is for most of the day a small, sleepy community, with only around 1,700 residents. It only really comes alive just before lunchtime, when busloads of hungry travellers arrive to promenade up and down the waterfront in search of the perfect fruits de mer. Then, between 12:00 and 14:00, each restaurant is packed with people chowing down on oysters, mussels, razor-clams, prawns, sea bass and red mullet. With lunch service over, visitors gradually disperse and Bouzigues drifts comfortably back into its peaceful ways. With the crowds gone, you can soak up sun on its two beautiful beaches, wander its shady medieval backstreets and keep track of the comings and goings of the marina - if not in solitude, at least with the feeling you are privy to a cleverly-guarded secret.

History of Bouzigues

Note: 20 August 1944

Hippocampe-poissonnerie Huitres de Bouzigues - Bouzigues oysters Tielle setoise haut - Tielle sétoise

What to try

Oysters (huîtres) from Bouzigues are amazingly fresh and must be tried by every visitor! Squeeze a dash of lemon onto the flesh, then scoop it out with your teeny-tiny fork and swallow whole. Washed down with a glass of the local white (Picpoul de Pinet), this is just like tasting the sea.
Mussels (moules) are the other shellfish that is farmed in Bouzigues. Some of the restaurants serve them raw on a platter with oysters, but these are frankly not worth the bother unless you really want to try them. Much better is the classic moules marinières, which you can get at a few different restaurants.
Prawns (crevettes) in Bouzigues are fat and delicious and are served shell-on - forget any notion of piddly little shrimps. There are few more satisfying food experiences than breaking into a prawn, dipping it in alioli and devouring it whole.
Razor clams (couteaux) are uncommon on menus in the English-speaking world, which is odd because when cooked well they are divine: quite meaty and a little bit squeaky when you chew them.
All of the above on one almighty seafood platter (plateau de fruits de mer), a typically-lavish offering served at many restaurants. Most are for sharing between two.
Tielles sétoises are small pies filled with a sort of squid, tomato and red pepper paste and are a speciality of Sète.
Bourride à la sétoise is an alioli-based orange-coloured fish soup which normally uses a white fish such as anglerfish (baudroie) with carrots, onion, potatoes and herbs.

Restaurants

There are many restaurants lining the front and all seem to be of a very high standard, so the below list is by no means supposed to be comprehensive. If you are eating at dusk, try to get a table facing west; the sunsets over the étang can be spectacular whilst you're tucking into your meal.

Vegetarians, you're out of luck. Bouzigues is unfortunately typical of rural France in that none of the restaurants have proper vegetarian menus and most don't even have the odd meat- or fish-free dish. The nearest vegetarian restaurant is La Part des Anges in Sète, but Montpellier has a much wider selection.

For seafood

Chez Alex & Lucie 19 avenue Louis Tudesq 43.448002, 3.656911 ☎ +33 6 03 74 21 48 Opening Hours: W–Su 12ː00–14ː30, 19ː00–21ː00 €25 and €32 three-course menus, à la carte mains €15-€25 Succulent and fresh food served in generous portions and with friendly service. When it's busy, service can be slow, so it's worth arriving early to beat the crowds.

Chez la Tchepe 14 avenue Louis Tudesq 43.447426, 3.657481 ☎ +33 4 67 78 33 19 Opening Hours: Tu–Su May–Sept 09:00–21:00, Oct–Mar 09:00–19:00 Platters: One person €16 incl. glass of wine, two people €32-€44, incl. bottle of wine Jean-Christophe Cabrol has been serving his own étang-grown oysters at his restaurant since 1989. You can dine in on a selection of mixed platters, or take away.

La Perle Marine 23 avenue Louis Tudesq 43.448295, 3.656343 ☎ +33 4 67 78 56 25 Opening Hours: W–Sa 12:00–14:30, 19:00–21:00, Sunday Monday 12:00-14:00, Tuesday closed €16 two-course and €28.50 three-course menus Faultless cooking and the moules are especially good. Aside from the usual Bouzigues fare, their in-house specialities are mixed seafood brochettes (skewers). The service is inconsistent, depending on who you get.

Le 29 au bord de l'étang - Remember "Le 29" is pronounced "le vingt-neuf" in French, rather than "le twenty-nineǃ" | @.fr 29 avenue Louis Tudesq 43.448337, 3.656130 ☎ +33 4 30 72 33 85 Opening Hours: Tuesday W 12:00-14:00, F–M 12ː00–14ː00, 19ː00–21ː30, Thursday closed off-season, otherwise 12ː00–14ː00, 19ː00–21ː30 Three-course menu €16.90, €22, €30. Two-course children's menu €10, shellfish platters €16-58, à la carte mains €16-24 Good, solid food. Serves a plethora of typical seafood, as well as burgers "à la française": cheeseburger with quality steak and camembert/reblochon, chicken or swordfish burger with Mediterranean salad; exciting stuff! Reservations by telephone or in person.

Le Grand Bleu 13 avenue Louis Tudesq 43.447530, 3.657422 ☎ +33 4 67 78 72 09 Opening Hours: Tu–Su 12ː00–14ː30, 19ː00–21ː30 Three-course menu €27-39, à la carte mains €20-25 A friendly and competent service complements some very fresh and delicious seafood. Pre-order for bouillabaisse (Mediterranean fish stew). If you can, try to be seated upstairs for a better view over the water.

Le Petit Bouzigues 45 avenue Louis Tudesq 43.448574, 3.655131 ☎ +33 4 67 18 89 50 Opening Hours: Tu–Thursday12ː00–14ː00, 19ː00–20:30, Friday Saturday 12ː00–14ː00, 19ː00–21ː45 €25 and €30 three-course menus, à la carte mains €18.50-24 Don't tell anyone, but... this could be the best restaurant in Bouzigues. One chef, one waitress, 16 covers. Intimate setting and superb cooking "à la plancha". Chef Antoine's speciality is octopus, but he seems to be able to turn his hand to all of the local seafood. Booking is essential.

Other options

Mitcho Pizza wagon on place de la Golette 43.446839, 3.658570 ☎ +33 6 24 92 88 21 Opening Hours: Every evening except Monday, 17ː30 until custom dries up a couple of hours later 33-cm pizzas €7.50-10, calzones €10-10.50, dessert pizzas €9 French-style artisan pizza made to order. Mitcho is a popular local character and cooks at a leisurely pace while chatting to his customers. If you don't wish to wait you can order ahead by phone.

Tired of French food? You'll have to head into Sète for Moroccan, Chinese and Indian offerings, or Mèze, where you'll find a decent Vietnamese place on avenue de Montpellier (the main D613 road from Bouzigues). Other than that, the city of Montpellier's dining scene is considerably more cosmopolitan.

The local white wine, Picpoul de Pinet, is lush with seafood or as an apéritif. Black label (étiquette noire) Picpoul is fruitier and sweeter, while white label (étiquette blanche) is drier and smoother. There are many vineyards open to the public for buying and tasting Picpoul and other local wines in the triangle of land between Mèze, Marseillan and Pézenas, though of course all of the local shops and supermarkets stock most of the good Languedoc wines.

Aside from food, Bouzigues is no place for nightlife. There is only one bar in town, not counting those in the hotels listed below:

Le Globe 18 rue de la République 43.447476, 3.659299 ☎ +33 4 67 78 32 69 Opening Hours: Every day 07ː00–21ː00 Sports bar that also serves coffee. Mostly frequented by local residents. Free wifi.

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Muslim Friendly hotels in Bouzigues

Thau Aigrette - Little egret in the étang

There are not a great many accommodation options in Bouzigues, which is one of the reasons it's nice and quiet. As well as what's listed below, there are a handful of self-catering gîtes scattered around the place.

Hotels

À la voile blanche 1 avenue Louis Tudesq 43.446695, 3.658975 +33 4 67 78 35 77 Room €65-85, suite €110-190 - Harbourside location with views over marina and étang. Rooms are individually decorated. There is a restaurant on site.

La Côte Bleue 59 avenue Louis Tudesq 43.448156, 3.649110 ☎ +33 4 67 78 31 42 Room €68-147 - Motel-style establishment with modern rooms and a swimming pool. On site restaurant with a proximity to the water that is unrivalled in Bouzigues.

Go camping in Bouzigues

Lou Labech @labech.fr rue du Stade 43.450459, 3.666293 Follow the camping signs from the town centre. ☎ +33 4 67 78 30 38 Two people and electricity hookup €16-30 - Small campsite with space for 48 caravans and campervans. You can also hire a chalet. On-site health club, TV, free wifi, launderette, fridges and bike rental. Also home to two friendly donkeys.

If these limited options don't appeal, there is a lot of tourist accommodation in both Balaruc-les-Bains and Mèze.

Telecommunications

The bar (Le Globe) offers free wifi; just ask for the code. Otherwise, the nearest internet café, called cyberphone7, is at 13 rue du 11 novembre 1918, in Sète.

Explore more Halal Friendly Destinations from Bouzigues

Phoenicopterus roseus, Lido de Thau cf05 - Time to move on: flamingos in flight over the étang

Loupian - Bouzigues' attractive inland neighbour is an interesting village worth an hour of wandering. Most travellers visit the Gallo-Roman villa, which has some truly exceptional mosaics, but miss out Loupian itself; don't be most travellers. Drive or catch the bus (320).
Mèze - more or less a larger version of Bouzigues, with a great market on Sundays and Thursdays, a very pleasant harbour and large sandy beach. Drive or catch the bus (320).
Sète - nearby large town with an interesting port area, a good regional art museum and links to the musician Georges Brassens. Drive or catch the bus (320).
Montpellier - unmissable city with a youthful buzz and cosmopolitan energy that Bouzigues just hasn't got. Drive or catch the bus (103 or 104 to tram stop, then tram L2 into city centre. Ask the bus driver to include the tram fare in the ticket; it doesn't cost any different to buying them separately, but it saves on time at the other end.)
Nîmes - some wonderfully-preserved Roman ruins, including a monumental amphitheatre still in use. Drive or catch the train from Sète (TER is cheaper than TGV).