The Great Dune of Pyla,located 60 km from Bordeaux in the Arcachon Bay area,France,happens to be the tallest sand dune in Europe.Also known as Great Dune of Pilat,the sand dune is enormous-measuring 500 meter in width,3 km in length and rising to a height of 107 meter above sea level.Because of the dune’s unexpected location and beauty,it is a famous tourist destination with more than one million visitors
Interestingly,the dune is relentlessly moving inwards,slowly pushing the forest back to cover houses,roads and even portions of the Atlantic Wall.The rate of movement is discontinuous sometimes it moves fast (10 meter in a year) and sometimes very slow (less than a meter).During the last 57 years,the dune has moved some 280 meter giving an annual displacement of 4.9 meter per year.