Le Caillaud Picnic Area With Ocean View

Preferably when the weather is nice

On the land side, on the boulevard de la corniche, there is a place called “les Caillauds”.
“Les Caillauds” was the name of a plot of land at Pointe de Vallières because on the Napoleonic cadastre of 1837, it is registered on the cadastral plan between Tourtet, Didonne and Langevin where we find on the current plan of St-Georges de Didonne, the Chemin du Caillaud. In fact it is Le Caillaud in the singular which can be found in section D5 of the Bourg of the Napoleonic land register. see here on the AG17 website: charente-maritime.fr/archinoe/cadastre.php.
Indeed, we also find Les Caillauds on section D2 of the Bourg of the same land register next to Chemin du Caillaud (current rue de la Crête) and another plot "route du Caillaud" (Paul Doumer district).
For this toponym, we immediately think of the Celtic origin cail or rather chail in Saintonge, with its derivative caillasse. The place is clearly stony ground which perhaps signifies the existence of a megalithic field like in Carnac or Montguyon. 4000 years ago, the cliffs of Vallières were much further out to sea by around 400 m. We can therefore imagine the presence of a megalithic calendar monument which was used to calculate the rhythm of the seasons.
It is not surprising when in 1840, the Protestants built a temple on the “Le Caillaud” plot and our elders grew vines on the stony Vallières ridge.


Seaside on the same boulevard, you will find a small relaxation area with a few tables for picnicking and relaxing with a splendid view of the ocean, the estuary, the beaches and the towns of Royan and St Georges de Didonne