Le Grau-du-Roi

The Grau-du-Roi (in occitan lo Grau dau Rei or Lou dou Rei Grau), is a French commune located in the southeast of France in the Department of Gard in the region of Occitania.

Géography

The Grau-du-Roi is located in the south of the Gard Department at the edge of Hérault and of La Grande-Motte, its neighbor to the West. it is the unique maritime commune of the Department. The commune of Aigues Mortes is adjacent to the town of Grau-du-Roi.

Built on either side of a grau, a breach in the cordon littoral is naturally open to 1570 to a place called Gagne-Petit, between the mouth of the Vidourle and that of the Rhone, this resort offers 18 km of fine sand.

The commune is surrounded by bodies of water:

• in the South, the Mediterranean Sea (From Northwest to Southeast) Boucanet Beach, North Beach, South Beach, the tip of the Espiguette (in French: pointe de l'Espiguette ).
• In the East, the small Rhone
• In the West, the Vidourle
• In the North the Vidourle, the ponds (the Lake of the Ponant, Médard, the Levant Repausset ), and the Lake of Salonica.

The Grau-du-Roi climate is of the Mediterranean type, with mild and wet winters, and hot and very dry summers. Even though temperatures can sometimes be very hot in the summer and be cold in the winter, they never reach extremes, thanks to the proximity of the sea, which tempers the climate. The cold record is −12 ° C (on the 10^th of February 1956), while the heat record is 36.5 ° C (on the 21^st of June 2003). The Rainfall is infrequent: annually, there are 55 days of rain, and only one day of snow. There are 249 days of wind per year (especially the mistral).

History

At the time of the Crusades, the town of Aigues-Mortes was a royal port although the sea never came to the foot of its ramparts. The ships is set out through a channel dug through the ponds to the sea.

It was at the end of the 16th century that the Rhone, by entering into a torrent in the waters of the Repausset, opened the grau in question, at the place called Consac de Gagne Petit. From that moment taken long runs of work to maintain this opening on the sea in order to maintain navigation in the port of Aigues-Mortes.

The port of Grau is connected since 1725 by a six-kilometer channel to AIGUES-MORTES. In 1727 are built in the sea two moles metal extended in the Lake of the Repausset.

Although not being a full commune in its own right, the place was renamed during the French Revolution, Grau le Peletier.

The channel, dressed in 1845, is the current channel between Le Grau-du-Roi and AIGUES-MORTES. The Espiguette Lighthouse is, as for him, was built in 1869. Over the years, administrative buildings, huts and houses, lay the foundations of a fishing village. First section of the commune of Aigues-Mortes in 1867, Le Grau-du-Roi wins its autonomy in 1879.

In 1854, Le Grau-du-Roi is still just a hamlet of fishermen. Fishing and agriculture provide the population with few resources: tourism remains embryonic, although, since the second half of the 19th century, the fashion of sea bathing has become widespread. These immersions are still primarily considered as medical treatments, and the institutes which themselves are mounted on the beaches welcome especially indigent populations. But Government and people have understood that their wealth was there, on these sandy beaches, sea and Sun. In 1855, a work of infant hygiene was founded "with the aim to facilitate the use if sea baths for the poor people or the little affluent» it was recognized as being of public utility in 1869."

In 1909, the extension of the Nimes AIGUES-MORTES railway line was a real breath of fresh air: bathers come and local productions, such as fish and white grapes, were finally shipped to the national markets. After years of effort, work and health regulations, on the 26 of April 1924, a decree of the President of the Republic finally Ranks Le Grau-du-Roi climate and the seaside resort. The first world war relatively spared the village.

In September 1939, the second World War marked the population much deeper. After the defeat of 1940, the Grau is located in an unoccupied zone. However, from November 1942, enemy troops were physically present and the conflicts directly affected the civilians. The Grau-du-Roi must undergo the occupation, with the implications of restrictions, sacrifices and compromises. The City Council is quickly dismissed to be replaced by a special delegation. That same year, the village life went through a new phase: the German troops settled in the coast. A part of the population was forced into exodus. The Gard coast is just 20 kilometers away, but due to the risk of landing, military structures and installations are particularly numerous in these places. Thus, the beaches of the municipality are bristling with all kinds of anti-tank systems and concrete pyramids, blockhouse... 800 hectares of vineyards and 200 hectares of grassland were transformed into minefield. In the village, the Germans also build the blockhouse housing the guns and the machine guns. The entrance to the canal was closed by a net anti-submarine net and a flamethrower. The Doors and shutters of the houses are used to make wooden platforms and encuvements. In 1944, the last months of occupation proved to be the most painful, because the occupation troops, won by the defeat, reinforced the bullying and requisitions. The Grau-du-Roi was released in August.

It was not until the 1960s that Le Grau-du-Roi really overcame the damage caused by the war. The resort then began a real tourism and economic development. In order to rationalize the coastal development, the State then put in place the root plan. The architect Jean Balladur oversaw the file. He must imagine structures capable of satisfying the tourist influx while respecting the quality of life of the natives and preserving the environment. It was within this program that the major project for Port Camargue was launched in the year 1968.

Economy

Since the Decree on the 5^th of April 1982, the sand-of-camargue, previously known as the sands country wine of the Gulf of Lion, is a French wine with a protected geographical indication. The order of the INAO creating this new label was published on the 6^th of April 2011.

It was the second French fishing port in the Mediterranean.

With one of the largest marinas in Europe, Port Camargue, the Grau du Roi - Port Camargue became a major tourist hub of the Languedoc coast.

Local culture, heritage Roads and transport

Midtown, built around the channel connecting the ponds (and AIGUES-MORTES) to the Sea (Grau) still retains its traditional character. Beyond the historic heart, houses and holiday buildings, spread over the decades: in the West, lies the District of the Boucanet stretching from the city center to the Western Woods (also called pine forest of the Boucanet) and in the East, beyond city center, lies the quarter of the Palace of the sea then port Camargue.

• The old lighthouse covered with a copper lantern (1828).
• The dauphin’s house, opposite the Church, typical of 1900’s architecture.
• The villa Parris, Belle Epoque, next to the lighthouse, with a cultural center. Balcony- terrace supported by cast-iron columns atmosphere.
• The villa Redares, an example of seaside architecture Art deco of the 1920s, the last vestige of this style in the town, it was unfortunately demolished in May 2011... The new City Hall was built in its place (2013).
• The Leenhardt Castle (falsely referred to sometimes as Leenhar Castle), is a monument that became emblematic of the Grau (right bank Beach), built around 1875 by the trader Victor Henry Leenhardt (1822-1904), it was demolished in the early 1970s, after a century of existence. Its construction had been the occasion an original test of the use of sand bricks, which gave him a special gray color. Many postcards showed it when it became a Protestant boarding house or a guesthouse. many bathers were photographed on the beach which bordered the building.
• The quay and facades preserved largely along the channel of the fishing port, within which the 18th-century redoubt could have been included in the 19th century (left bank recent discovery).

• St. Peter Church, rebuilt in the 1960s.

Cultural Heritage

• Auditorium
• Seaquarium
• The sea Museum

•  The natural site of the Espiguette and its lighthouse was built in the year 1869.

Roads and Transports

The Grau-du-Roi has a train station located on the Nîmes - Le Grau-du-Roi line. It is served by TER Languedoc-Roussillon trains which carry out missions between Nîmes and Le Grau-du-Roi.

The Grau du Roi are accessed by the A9 motorway, exit n ° 26 "Gallargues".

The Grau du Roi is served by the network of departmental Edgard cars.

Edgard network line connects Nîmes to the Grau du Roi and to La Grande-Motte located in the neighboring Department of Hérault.

Source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Grau-du-Roi