Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet declare their love to each other again in the basin of Arcachon, (more precisely, in Cap Ferret, not far from Bordeaux), in Nous Finirons Ensemble. With the release of the sequel of Les Petits Mouchoirs ("Little White Lies"), France.fr takes you to the filming site, amid the pine trees and bordering the Atlantic, with one of the most famous couples of French cinema.
Despite their hilariously down-to-earth Instagram style, the Cotillard-Canet couple bring their glamour to Cap Ferret, the strip of land that separates the ocean from the basin of Arcachon, only an hour away from Bordeaux. The Cap is the setting for the movie Les Petits Mouchoirs and then its sequel, Nous Finirons Ensemble, both filmed by Guillaume Canet. In this second film, released a few weeks ago, fans of the prequel will be happy to find the gang of friends, made up of François Cluzet, Gilles Lellouche, Marion Cotillard and Laurent Lafitte, as much as to rediscover Cap Ferret, this time filmed off-season.
The house Max lives in—a character played by François Cluzet—was already pcitured in Les Petits Mouchoirs. This charming wooden dwelling is in the heart of the "44 Hectares area," a wild, preserved place located on the tip of the headland, between the ocean and the basin. The different wooden cabins that comprise it are typical of the oyster-farming villages characteristic of Arcachon.
The oyster: a regional treasure
It would be a sin to visit this region without eating oysters! This regional treasure has a special place in Les Petits Mouchoirs and in Nous Finirons Ensemble, as one of the characters, Jean-Louis, is played by a major player in the region's oyster farming, Joël Dupuch. In charge of "Les Parcs de l’Impératrice" establishment, this friend of the Cotillard-Canet couple treats clients to meals in the finest restaurants of the basin, such as "Le Relais du Cap" in Claouey, in the town of Lège-Cap-Ferret, "Le Bistrot" of the basin, also in Lège-Cap-Ferret, or "La Co(o)rniche à Pyla-sur-Mer", designed by Philippe Starck, which is supposed to be where Guillaume Canet and Joël Dupuch meet.
Small oyster-farming ports, sandy beaches, pine forests ... the Bassin d'Arcachon is located 30 miles from Bordeaux, but feels like another world. It represents a string of towns and villages, crowned with the famous Pilat dune and the charming peninsula of Lège - Cape Ferret. There are dozens of good reasons to discover this piece of France where the tides and the current have shaped an extraordinary landscape, but we've rounded up the top eight!
Another must-see place in the basin is "Chez Hortense." A true Aquitanian institution, this restaurant which resembles a fisherman's cabin, located at the end of the peninsula, also has its place in the sequel of Les Petits Mouchoirs. This was Guillaume Canet's intention while filming: to show an authentic face of Cap Ferret.
Besides film buffs, Cap Ferret attracts visitors because of its beautiful, large white-sand beaches. Surfers like Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard, who tackle the waves en famille, prefer sea beaches, famous for their waves, while those the basin has to offer are calmer.
And, if you want to go higher, you must cross the basin towards the Dune de Pilat, the tallest sand dune in Europe. From the summit, you have a breathtaking view of the Banc d'Arguin National Park, the woods and the tip of Cap Ferret: a landscape that has inspired many visitors, among them, of course, Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard.
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By Constance Dive
Head of section for France.fr
