Le Puits d'Enfer

Les Sables-d'Olonne (Château-d'Olonne)

The Puits d'Enfer, the "Well of Hell", is a narrow, deep gash opening at right angles to the cliff of the côte sauvage, south of Les Sables-d'Olonne. The sea surges into it at high tide with a roar that explains the name of the place. A local tradition tells that a fisherman who had broken his promise of marriage was punished by the sea, which split the rock in two: the fissure is said to be the trace of that perjury. Other tales of the coast have it that during storms the cries of a drowned man or the laments of a damned sailor can be heard rising from the crevasse. The inhabitants also took it for granted that whatever fell into the Puits d'Enfer disappeared for ever — a belief that played a very real part in the history of the place. On 7 February 1949, children from a preventorium discovered there a trunk and the body of a wealthy Parisian, Robert Thelier; his housekeeper Andrée Farré and her accomplice Robert Planet had murdered him and had chosen this fissure precisely for its reputation of swallowing everything thrown into it. Sentenced to death in December 1950, Andrée Farré had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment. The affair has left the site with a lasting dark aura that redoubles that of the legend.

Ville des Sables-d'Olonne — Le Puits d'Enfer ↗

Getting there : On the rocky coast south of the main beach of Les Sables-d'Olonne, in the La Pironnière district, boulevard de Lattre-de-Tassigny; La Pironnière bus stop about 500 m away. The coastal path runs alongside the fissure, freely accessible all year round. The spectacle is at high tide and in rough seas, when the swell surges in with a roar — but the surroundings are slippery, unprotected and dangerous in heavy weather; stay on the path. Coordinates taken from the town's official listing.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound