After one very full day in Saint-Émilion — two tastings, a harvest-season visit to Château-Figeac, lunch at Chai Pascal, dinner at Le Tertre — we pointed the car west and did the opposite of all that. We spent September 8–13 in Cap Ferret, and the itinerary for the week was essentially: enjoy the villas.
I’d be lying if I wrote this up as a packed, hour-by-hour guide. The spreadsheet for this trip has detailed dinner bookings and activity notes for nearly every other leg. For Cap Ferret it has two villa addresses, four restaurant names, and a whole lot of beautifully blank calendar space. That wasn’t an oversight — it was the plan. After three weeks of train stations, rental cars, and back-to-back bookings, we wanted one stretch of the trip where the only obligation was a dinner reservation on the last night.
Villa one: Villa Mimbeau (September 8–10)
We started with two nights at Villa Mimbeau — billed as a luxury villa on the seafront (Villa de luxe en bord de mer), and it delivered on exactly that. Right on the water, easy, and the kind of place where unpacking feels immediately worth it. Both Cap Ferret villas were confirmed dog-friendly, so Sally had full run of things, and a golden retriever with her own stretch of waterfront is a very happy dog.
Villa two: the Canon villa with the heated pool (September 10–13)
For the second half of the week we moved to a villa in Le Canon — “Magnifique villa et sa piscine chauffée au Canon” — and the star of this one was the heated pool. September in southwest France can go either way weather-wise, and a heated pool takes all the gamble out of it. This is where the week got properly lazy: mornings with no checkout deadline, afternoons around the pool, and evenings figuring out dinner.
Where we ate
Our dinner shortlist for the week was Chez Hortense, Emile et une huître, and Chez Boulan — the classic Cap Ferret waterfront names, all flagged in our trip sheet as must-do restaurant links. The one firm reservation we made was dinner at Mayzou on our last night, Sunday September 13, at 8:00 PM — a table for two in the indoor dining room (Salle intérieure), at 32 Avenue Nord du Phare. Booking something on the final evening of the week was a good forcing function: whatever lazy rhythm the pool days had set, we were going to end the week properly.
That’s the honest truth of this leg: two villas, a pool, a shortlist of waterfront restaurants, and one last-night reservation. If you’re planning a French summer week with a dog, there’s real wisdom in building in a slow stretch — every other leg of this sabbatical was better because Cap Ferret existed.
Where I stayed
Villa Mimbeau — a luxury villa right on the seafront, booked on Airbnb for two nights (September 8–10). Confirmed dog-friendly. Beautiful for waking up to the water and doing very little else.
Magnifique villa et sa piscine chauffée au Canon — four nights in Le Canon (September 10–13), also Airbnb, also dog-friendly. The heated pool was the whole selling point, and it was the right call.
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