Biscarrosse

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Coordinates: 44°23′39″N 1°09′46″W / 44.3941666667, -1.16277777778

Commune of Biscarrosse

Location
Biscarrosse (France)
Biscarrosse
Administration
Country France
Region Aquitaine
Department Landes
Arrondissement Mont-de-Marsan
Canton Parentis
Intercommunality Communauté de commune des Grands Lacs
Mayor Alain Dudon
(2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation 0 m–78 m
(avg. 26 m)
Land area¹ 160.48 km²
Population²
(1999)
9,281
 - Density 57.8/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 40046/ 40600
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.
France

Biscarrosse is a town and commune in the Landes département of western France, located south west of Bordeaux (50 km). It is a seaside resort on the Atlantic Ocean .

Near Biscarrosse, at 44°27′N, 1°15′W, there is the CEL (national test centre) from which numerous French military rockets have been launched for test purposes. Likewise, the CEL has facilities for launching civilian rockets to study the upper atmosphere.

Near the town centre, outside the Café de l'orme, there is what is believed to be the oldest elm tree in Europe. Planted in 1350, this Smooth-leafed Elm Ulmus minor subsp. minor has almost certainly survived because of its isolation from disease-carrying Scolytus beetles. The tree is now a wreck, the trunk, 3 m in diameter, is completely hollow, supporting just a few heavily-pollarded branches [1]. Legend has it that girls deemed promiscuous were forced to stand naked upon a barrel beneath the tree for a day. One unfortunate, unjustly accused, died of shame, the tree annually producing a corona of blanched leaves in her memory.

The Biscarrosse Elm in January
The Biscarrosse Elm in January

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