La Grande Motte

Situated close to Montpellier and Nîmes at the gateway to the Camargue on the Golfe du Lion, La Grande Motte is a seaside resort that was built from scratch 40 years ago, partly on sand dunes, partly on farmland and partly on land that had formerly been planted with vines that were abandoned because of poor yield. The idea behind the resort, which comprises 88 hectares of woodland, 195 hectares of public parks and gardens, 28,000 trees, a yachting harbour, hotels, holiday apartments, campsites, a huge sports complex, kilometres of beaches as well as other amenities, was to lure back holidaymakers from the seaside resorts of northern Spain. La Grande Motte became a commune in 1974 and has a permanent population of around 8000. The resort's landmark is its distinctive architecture: similarly to the newer winter sports resorts in the French Alps, La Grand Motte's origins as a resort created from a single mould are visible in its vast pyramid-shaped terraced hotels and apartment blocks, designed by the renowned architect Jean Balladur to retrace the lines of Aztec pyramids. La Grand Motte is one of France's most popular holiday destinations, attracting up to two million tourists a year.