You can’t be on Noirmoutier without being aware of the tides. One of the routes in is a road that is completely submerged at high tide, after all. For inland folk like me, it remains amazing to see how far the sea “moves” from high to low tide. And one thing you can do at low tide is go out onto the revealed seabed and dig around in it to find things you can eat. We went to an organised event where they lend you a digging fork, but loads of people just do it themselves, of course. I was a bit dubious we’d find anything, but once we’d started, the Japanese Clams emerged from the muck with decent regularity. Once they’d cleaned themselves in clean brine for a couple of hours, my wife cooked them like mussels (shallots, parsley, onion, dash of white wine), a bit of pasta on the side, absolutely lovely. Nothing like living on forage to connect you to nature, after all!
Timsformational 