The second weekend of September 2017, Ange, Manon, Polly and I went to the closing events of two beach cafes at Leucate Plage. The first, on Saturday 16th was the last evening for Le Poulpe. The second; on Sunday 17th, the closing event for Biquet Plage.

Like the music festivals, these cafes are temporary, existing for only a short time each year; mid-May to mid-September, so a little longer than the festivals. The food is excellent; fresh seafood. We’ve had crispy octopus (Poulpe) at le Poulpe and great fish dishes at Biquet. The wines are well chosen and complement the food. The service is excellent, with a warm welcome; they’re always happy to see the dogs, serving them a bowl of water while we have an aperitif. The cocktails are perfect. We often have a Mojito, or a virgin Mojito if one of us is driving. Mojito’s have become the drink of the summer. Sometimes at Biquet, I’ll have a ‘Frankie Vincent’; ‘les rubish’, so they say; rhum, ice, passionfruit, pineapple and a basil leaf. But everywhere else, it’s a Mojito.

We’ve spent five weekends, and a few day trips, at one or other of the beach cafes this summer. Most times under a hot sun and blue skies. They’re dotted along the coast from Montpelier to the Spanish border. Leucate plage has four cafes; as well as ‘Le Poulpe’ and ‘Biquet plage’, ‘La Ginette’, at the village end of the beach; in an old hotel, with its restaurant and a beach bar separated by a quiet road. Further south, beyond Biquet, is ‘Le Pilotis’; specialising in oysters. We started the summer in May, with Kevin and Adrienne, drinking those Mojitos; but arriving too late for lunch, thanks to an hour’s delay on the Autoroute.

Biquet and le Poulpe are the coolest places of the summer in Languedoc; and it seems, largely unknown outside the department. Le Poulpe is made up of four orange and white containers, decorated with a painting of a steampunk octopus; one is a bar; two are kitchens, the fourth; utilities. Joining up the containers are boardwalks, shade sails, ‘fatboy’ seats and lights, slouch sofas, tables, chairs, the odd quirky thing, and rented beach space for the day. ‘Bienvenue’, it says as you arrive, with a list of cocktails and tapas. They have DJ Sundays from 13:00 to 22:00, playing ambient, chill and deep house. Occasionally we just set up the beach shelter 20 metres away and walk up for mojitos, receiving that warm welcome. From the beach, you can see snowcapped mountains; the Canigou, the village of Fitou, and the sea.

‘Biquet plage’ is bigger, probably 3 times the size, with a big open bar, a sign proclaims; ‘nudism interdit‘, plenty of tables and rusting chairs, a more classic soundtrack, a great menu for wine, food and cocktails. The boss is a maverick, a great character, who steers a tight ship. He’s run Biquet for many years, holding court in colourful shirts and eccentric spectacles; a master host. Biquet’s charm lies in its mass collection of quirky, rusting, sea kissed bic-a-brac, recovered, flotsam and jetsam that decorates the restaurant; right on the edge of the sea. At the entrance is a, fibre-glass great white shark; its jaws open, over a step ladder. Guests are invited to put their heads in the shark’s mouth, and contribute to a charity to save the same creatures from the fin-soup business. Beside it are rusting metal poles that resemble drinking straws, and old propeller blades, sunk into the sand, painted to look like size 143 (EU) converse boots.

We enjoyed the beach cafes that we recreated the Mojito’s back home. Stocking up on mojito mix, lime, mint and rum to have cocktails nearly every evening.

So, the mojito summer, is now over till next year. I write this blog on the empty site of Biquet Plage, overlooking a calm sea and an empty beach. To my left, the site of le Poulpe, and to our right, le Pilotis. The sand shows no signs of ever having hosted the beach cafes. But they will be back next year, and so will we.