Roland Garros Promenade

The Roland Garros Promenade is a relaxing and serene walk that takes you past many little nuggets such as seaside villas, surprising Black Cows cliffs or the staircase of 100 steps.

A nice place to walk

The Roland Garros promenade is like an imaginary border that connects two worlds. On one side, there is the universe of the Belle Époque which is represented by a row of sumptuous XNUMXth century villas.^e century. On the other, there is the marine universe, vast and immense, which extends as far as the eye can see, from the first grains of sand. 

Whether for a day, a weekend or a lifetime, walks on the Promenade Roland Garros are a delight for many holidaymakers and Houlgate residents.

If the sea is oily, take a few minutes and sit on the benches scattered here and there along the promenade. Contemplate, if only for a moment, this Olympian calm. Inhale a breath of iodized air and exhale.

A walk under the sun 

Whatever your team (sunrise or sunset), one thing is certain: if you discover the walk in the morning, you will love to rediscover it in the evening. Because what is magical about the Promenade Roland Garros is seeing how the colors and the villas come alive under the first and last rays of the sun.

Apart from villas, beach cabins also like to be bathed in sunlight during the summer season. Striped in orange and white, they are easily recognizable along the promenade. Orange umbrellas, accented with blue, bloom on the beach. What a nice snub to the rays of the summer sun.

An idea that dates back to 1860

Over time, the Promenade Roland Garros has undergone many changes. The beginnings of its construction date back to 1860 when the SCI, the Société Civile Immobilière at the origin of Houlgate, would have expressed to the municipality the wish to establish a masonry protective dike.

This work that followed (retaining wall, flattening of the top of the dunes for example) led, thereafter, to the construction of seaside villas. Then, in 1882, a group of owners decided to install a plank dyke on the beach, between the casino and the Protestant temple.

Over the years, the city eventually became the owner of the seawall. She then asked the architect Lewicki to build a brick dam, which was inaugurated on August 25, 1912.  

Did you know?

On September 6, 1912, the aviator Roland Garros took off from the beach of Houlgate, opposite the villa Les Mouettes (which still exists) "to beat the world altitude record" of 4 m, hence the name given to this dyke in 950, by the municipality. 
Today more than a hundred years old, it will nevertheless have had to wait for a complete renovation in 1973, which will have led to the laying of pink and white slabs on which tourists continue to put their feet every day.