Witness of the resort architecture, from 1850 to the present day, Soulac keeps about 500 villas, wonderful houses so -called Soulacaises. The majority of constructions date from the 2nd half of the 19C and the 20C , The first villas, often scattered, few, raised by the sea or near the rue de la Plage, The Villa Marcellus was built around 1860 for the family Marcellus. At the time, only two separate pavilions existed. It was modified around 1890. The turret housing the staircase was added to access the wooden galleries. Notice decorations of glazed bricks and cabochons as well as two Jacobin skylights dressing the roof of the villa. It was rehabilitated in 1991. It serves as a B&B and can be rented, we just passed by it, The Villa Marcellus is located at 18 rue Fernand Lafargue, The beaches are a bit over 1 km from the plage des Cantines, 1.5 km from the plage Sud and 10 km from the Gironde estuary as well as less than 1 km from the plage centrale. The above Basilica Notre-Dame de la fin des Terres is 500 meters away.
Other things to see here with more time away from beach and wines are : The Hôtel de la Paix, built in 1866, became the new City/town hall of Soulac in 1901. Only the central building is preserved. The Hôtel de France opened in 1877 was to welcome the first boys’ school in 1885. The name of Hôtel de France was taken up by a building by the sea around 1900. The Mauresque casino was first built in wood in 1878 . Then he was replaced in 1900. In the 1950s he served as a cinema. Today it houses a savings bank.The Halles or market was built from 1887 to 1891, replaced in 1923 by Masonry, In 1868 a pontoon was built (in the extension of the main street from which a double wooden staircase made it possible to access the beach. In 1894, a metal gateway platform was built replaced ten years later by a metal pontoon, served by an inclined access ramp. A new pontoon in masonry is inaugurated on June 7, 1914 then a second further south in 1932. The Notre-Dame du Jeune Soulac Church a few km from the city center, in the heart of a hamlet bearing the name of Le Jeune-Soulac. The Chapelle de l’Amélie was established in 1882 in order to serve as a place of worship in the new district of Amélie, The Soulac seafront hosts a replica of the Freedom illuminating the world, better known as the Statue of Liberty, ordered in 1980 by the town, it was produced by the Thiébaut Frères foundry from the original molds of Auguste Bartholdi. It faces the Atlantic Ocean and the dunes of the Silver Coast This replica of reduced size is a tribute to the Marquis de la Fayette who embarked aboard the La Victoire ship in 1777, in order to fight alongside insurgents in the American war of independence. After having descended the Gironde estuary and stopped in Pauillac, it was through the Pointe de la Grave north of Soulac that La Fayette joined Spain before embarking on its crossing of the Atlantic. On the pedestal supporting the replica of the statue can be read: “The coast of the Médoc, and more particularly the beach of Soulac, is undoubtedly the last vision of France which the Fayette took with him before his journey to the American continent, The Fontaine de la Place Clemenceau, is one of the two monumental fountains created in 1857 and 1858, in order to adorn the famous alleys of Tourny in Bordeaux , one of the great arteries of that City, illuminated from 1929, unclosed in the 1960s, they were moved to Soulac for the first, in Saint-Germain-de-la-Rivière, then in Quebec (Canada) The current casino was decided in the early 1970s , it is one of the masterpieces of a set including the Museum of Art and Archeology and the Palais des Congrès. It was inaugurated on July 1, 1970, The Memorial of the Fortress of Nord-Médoc managed by an association (Historical Association of the Poche du Nord-Médoc), this memorial is devoted to the fortifications erected in Soulac and Verdon by nazis troops during WWII. Its purpose is to preserve the memory of this place so as not to forget this painful and tragic page of French and European history, in a spirit of reconciliation. The Museum of Art and Archeology, furnished since 1976 in a modernist building located near the seafront. Established on two levels, it brings together collections evoking the history of the Médoc peninsula from origins to the present day.
A bit of history I like tell us that the first trace of Soulac was not until the 11C, while the Benedictine monks established a first monastery in this relatively landlocked and inhospitable region. This dependence on the powerful Sainte-Croix abbey of Bordeaux kept it fairly modest, The popularity of the pilgrimage of Saint-James de Compostela helped to make the region a religious center whose importance grew, in fact, the way of Soulac, less popular than the main axes of Tours, Limoges, Toulouse or Puy, hosts its flood of pilgrims, In 1452, when the Hundred Years War ended, the King of England and Duke of Aquitaine Henri VI sent an army in reinforcement to tried to identified what remains of his possessions, invaded by the French troops. The king ,commissioned John Talbot,and he landed in Soulac and goes towards Bordeaux. This unsuccessful attempt ends with the Battle of Castillon, which rings the death knell for English domination over Aquitaine. The arrival of the railroad on the Médoc line in 1874 allowed the small seaside city to take off. The villas multiply and some Bordeaux bourgeois used spending some moments of relaxation. During the 20C, personalities such as the poet Jean Fernand-Lafargue or the politician and resistant Georges Mandel mark the history of the town, The Nazis occupation materializes, here as in all the coastal regions, by the construction of the “Atlantic Wall”, a set of blockhouses supposed to prevent any hint of Allied landing. The particular geographical location of the town, at the mouth of the Gironde river, led to the constitution of a fortress ,known as Gironde Mündung Süd called to become one of the last bastions of nazis resistance. The reduction of the last elements of this pocket was carried out during the venerable operation which begins on April 14, 1945. On April 20 at 20h30, General Milleret obtained the surrender of the Nazis.
The town of Soulac sur Mer on its history : https://www.mairie-soulac.fr/mairie/histoire/
The local Médoc Atlantique tourist office on the basilica: https://www.medoc-atlantique.co.uk/fiches/basilique-notre-dame-de-la-fin-des-terres/
The Gironde dept 33 tourist office on the basilica: https://www.gironde-tourisme.com/en/patrimoine-culturel/basilique-notre-dame-de-la-fin-des-terres/
There you go folks, a dandy road warrior trip in beautiful Médoc, a lot more than wine country for sure. The beautiful scenery of country air and the beaches, can’t beat this combination love it. Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Soulac sur Mer !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!! 
Paris1972-Versailles2003 