Harbour

Vieux port

Name: Vieux port
Address: Pornic, FR

Pornic, FranceVendée

Type: Harbour

Old drying harbour at the head of the Anse de Pornic in Loire-Atlantique, overlooked by the 13th-century château de Gilles de Rais.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the west through the Baie de Bourgneuf, keeping clear of the Plateau de la Banche to the south-west. The old port dries at low water on a mud and sand bottom, so entry is limited to two hours either side of high water for most keelboats. The modern Port de Gourmalon marina lies 0.4 nautical miles south-west and offers deep-water berths at all tides.

Practical

Around 150 berths, mostly for resident shallow-draught boats that take the ground. Water on the quay. No fuel in the old port, fuel pontoon at Gourmalon marina. Capitainerie shared with Gourmalon. Shops, bakeries, fishmonger and restaurants line the Quai Leray and the Rue de la Marine within 50 metres.

Ashore

Château de Pornic, built in the 13th century and rebuilt in the 14th, stands on the rock above the entrance and is visible from the harbour. Sentier des Douaniers coastal path starts at the château and runs 9 km along the cliffs to Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer. Covered market Les Halles on Place du Marchix, 250 metres up the hill, open Thursday and Sunday morning. Sandy beach of La Noëveillard 800 metres west past the marina.

History

Pornic was a fortified port of the Duchy of Brittany and the château was held by Gilles de Rais, companion of Joan of Arc and later condemned for his crimes in 1440. The port developed in the 19th century as a sea-bathing resort served by the railway from Nantes.

Story

Jules Verne spent several summers at Pornic in the 1860s on his yacht Saint-Michel and set part of his novel Les Enfants du capitaine Grant in the Loire estuary nearby.