BIENVENUE

PORT La NOUVELLE

Port La Nouvelle is a holiday village close to Narbonne. It is a typical south french familie village with a good "programme d'annimations" during the summer. It has a 12 km long, 800 mtr wide solid (salt, clay en sand) plain with a 60 meter wide sandy beach to the waterline. After a rain-shower the plain is smoother then ice and has sometimes up to 20-30 cm of water. The plain has hard super flat parts and softer less flat parts. At the end of the 12 km plain is La Franqui. The plain with beach is accessible by car & camper. Follow "plage sud" in the village. The 12 km long plain is divided in 2 parts by a concrete ditch and by high voltage kabels going to the pump house for the ditch. But I passed them while kitesailing with 15 meter lines and a Q-2002.

The winds have names like: The Tramontane, The Marin, The Llevant and the vent d'Espagne. The Tramontana is a strong, very inconstant, wind from the North-West (off the main body off the land). It is associated with good weather because it blows all clouds to the sea. Windrange is between 4-7 Beaufort. The Tramontane's rise is due to an anticyclone over the south west of France and a depression over the Mediterranean. Check the weather chart for a weekend of excellent kiting because:The Tramontane which awakes during the night
Only lasts for today
The Tramontane which awakes during the day
can last for 3,6 or 9 days

Normally, the Mistral blows the same time further up the coast near Almannare. The Marin is a warm and humid summerwind. It is a constant, soft and typical south-east wind blowing from the sea. It is realy a thermal wind which has many different names up along the coast. Down near the Spannish border on the French side it is called the Garbi. The vent d'Espagne signifies storms are on the way. It picks up rapidly and can drop as fast as it arrived. This wind blows from the South blowing side-shore. The Llevante is an east wind.
About 50% of the wind that blows in this region is the Tramontane, and about 90% of the time the wind is above force 4 (this is over the whole year). More than 340 days of wind a year, a nice statistic. The average number of days per month that have wind over force 7 is about 10 days per month !!

Just above Port La Nouvelle and/or below Gruissan there is also a beach. The area has a several km long beach with up to 30 meters of 0.75 cm heigh soft sand dunes at the water line followed by up to 200 meter of soft/hard plain. Unfortunatly it is scattered with wood, car tires and plastic garbage. Better try the beach between Gruissan and Narbonne Plage. Although in the holiday season they could be crowded.

Where are the campings:
  • On the road from la Franqui to Port La Nouveau, 2 campings.
  • Port La Nouvelle, 1 camping close to the center of the village,2 km from the buggy beach, and 1 camping at the buggy beach. See http://www.complexe-cote-vermeille.com/
Tips:
  • Nightlife: go Perpignan or Narbonne.
  • Supermarket reasonable size in centre of Port La Nouvelle,
  • MEGA BIG SUPER market & "every thing" shop (hyper marche) close to Perpignan. Access Perpignan from the north, going south, on the N9. There is also one in Narbonne close to the A9 motorway.
  • Taste and buy the top wine's from Jean-Louis LaFage in the village Maury. In the centre of the village across from the Cooperative.
  • Visit gran....granddad in Tautavel or chateaux Queribus or Peyrepertuse. Or combine this with your shopping trip to Andorra, the bigest shopping centre in the Pyrenees.
  • The wines in Riversaltes.
  • The museum for dinosaures, in Esperaza, many are found in Campagne-sur-Aude. Both worth a visit at about 44 km south of Carcassonne.
  • The caves of Limousis, north of Carcassonne close to Conques.
  • The kite shops that I have seen (15 km) have sometimes 165 cm of 6x4 RCF EXEL. But no 8x6 or 10x8 and certainly NOT in STRONG or ULTRA. They do have low quality carbon. So take your own spares. Check the kite shop of Eric Sendra. A Bazar at the beach side. I bought a Q-2002 which arrived at the shop the next morning. Good fast service.
  • On your visit to Montpellier check "Tete en l'air, 25 Rue du Fbg du Courreau, Montpellier, Tel: 67.92.35.17". It is in the centre of the city, close to the bus station in the Arab quarter. It has what you need. Including buggies.
    Another shop, more specialized in buggies & power kites: "Axel'air, rue St Clair, 34280 Carnon-Ouest,Tel: 67 50 62 60 (close to La Grande Motte/Montpellier)".
  • Check Decathlon in Narbonne or Perpignan for a cheap kite. I bought a Parawing 1.8 for 299 francs and a kind of 'firedart' 190 cm (including lines !) for just 100 francs.
Links with things to see, visit, eat and/or drink:
Links with the most important tourist information: