The iconic Noirmoutiers Estacade was located on the island of Noirmoutier. An “estacade” (local name for a pier) was a kind of long, openwork jetty made of wood, stakes, and piles.
At 06:00, I crossed the woods with my headlamp, in the dark of night, to reach the pier, which I had spotted the night before. The place was deserted at that early hour. There was no wind, the sea was calm, and there was a silence that nothing broke. I arrived just as nautical twilight gave way to the blue hour, before the sky burst into an explosion of yellow, orange, and blue, heralding the imminent sunrise.
A superb moment of weightlessness with nature to start the day off right.
