Talbert Pipes Life in France Places Quimiac Quimiac is another tiny little hidden beach treasure of the Loire-Atlantique coastline - it's not touristey at all, and you have to do a good bit of exploring just to find it. It was worthwhile though, as we took these pictures on a beautiful day in June and only met 3 other people (all locals) during our entire afternoon's exploration of the area. Sunset gilds the rough-and-tumble coast between Quimiac and Piriac-sur-Mer, the westernmost point in our immediate neighborhood. This time of year (June) sunset takes place around 10:20 pm, which means we can close the shop at seven and still have daylight to go to the beach -- an excellent arrangement! The really odd thing we discovered about the beach at Quimiac is that it is literally covered with colorful tumbled stones. Emily filled a small bag with these in a dozen different colors and types. The crescent-shaped beach and rocky coast must act as a natural stone tumbler, as most of the stones were polished smooth and there were excellent examples of quartz. The entire sandy beach was carpeted with these things. There were pretty strong waves on the day we visited, though I don't know if this is normal. It was. however, a lot "rowdier" a beach than the bathwater-like lapping at Penestin. The sandy portion was a great place to go swimming from though, and the underwater surface was actually smoother and softer than the shell-covered Penestin beach. Another enjoyable feature of Quimiac is the cliffside paths which seem to run for kilometers over hills and cliffs covered in heather. It made a wonderful relaxed walking trail and we could easily have spent the entire afternoon just wandering the length of it as it traveled the coastline. And once more, a strange sight for all those like us from the East coast of the US - sunset OVER the ocean.