Leaping, neighing… roaring… Here comes the Mascaret, rolling and galloping as fast and powerful as a herd of horses at full charge.
The Mascaret is famous, sure, but what do you really know about this impressive natural phenomenon?
So what is it exactly?
« Mascaret » is a 16th-century Gascon word. Its meaning? « Spotted ox » (you see, with my horse metaphor I wasn't that far off…). It comes from the word mascara, which precisely means to spot. The Mascaret is therefore the wave of the spotted ox.
The word refers to a natural and spectacular phenomenon. It is a wave train that runs up the river and can reach several metres in height. It starts on the rising tide and unleashes a whole series of waves moving between 10 and 30 km/h, born and spreading through the river's intimacy, capable of travelling up to 150 kilometres from its mouth.
This « galloping horse » is a wave feared by fishermen and boat masters since the Middle Ages. It is also called « la barre d'eau » or « la barre de flot ».
It is a full-blown event, for the surfers who want to tame it, and for the spectators who still turn up in droves to watch the phenomenon.
