French Road Is Only Drivable Twice a Day, Then It Disappears Under 13 Feet of Water

The Passage du Gois is located in France and connects the Gulf Burn?f with the island of Noirmoutier—while that sounds innocuous and even banal, the road seemingly has a mind of its own. Drivers can only travel on it twice a day for a few hours before it’s flooded. Thanks to the rising tide, the Passage du Gois is mostly hidden beneath 4 to 13-foot waves.

Long ago, the only way to reach Noirmoutier was by boat. The Bay of Bourgneuf, however, gradually silted to form a causeway—a raised road across wet ground—that allowed people and animals to wade through towards the island. In 1701, this 2.58-mile passage was first mentioned on a map and, in around 1840, regular service began via horseback and later cars.

Because of the high waters, the Passage du Gois is generally unsafe for travel. Safeguards—special panels—are in place to tell people if the road is drivable. But, every year there are those who disregard these warnings and get trapped among the rising tide. Fortunately, there are elevated rescue towers that stranded folks can stand on until the water subsides or someone comes to get them. Their cars, though? Not so lucky.

Above photo source: DRIVE2.RU

Photo credit: Greg_Miko

Photo credit: ludovic

Photo source: DRIVE2.RU

Photo credit: Kirsty Meddings

Photo credit: Joseph Trechniewski

Photo credit: Steve Grosbois

Photo source: DRIVE2.RU

Photo credit: chris_3164

Photo credit: Oliver Hankeln

Photo source: DRIVE2.RU

Photo source: DRIVE2.RU

via [Bright Side]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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