- Location:
- Grayan-et-l'Hôpital, a small coastal town located at the tip of the Médoc, between Soulac-sur-Mer and Montalivet enjoys mild and sunny climate unique to the Southwest.
- At the heart of a pine forest of 2800 hectares, bordered by 7 km of beaches along the Atlantic Ocean it is a peaceful place to live.
- Proximity to Bordeaux, Royan and the famous Blaye Gironde estuary, make it a destination where communion with nature can combine with discovery of Medoc and the wider South West.
- History grayannaise:
- Before 1792, Grayan-et-l'Hôpital consisted of two distinct parishes: St. Peter and St. John Grayan Hospital.
- The name "Grayan" comes from either the Roman Graius own name, from Old French Grava, referring, no doubt, serious.
- As for the Hospital, it was around the 15th century, a welcoming stopover for pilgrims of Saint Jacques de Compostela, landed at Soulac-sur-Mer and supported by the religious order of the Hospitallers.
- Eleanor of Aquitaine, visiting Soulac-sur-Mer to embark Portsmouth, borrowed a road situated in the territory of Grayan called "Path of the Queen."
- Tradition: La Rosiere:
- Since 1893, under the provisions of the will of Louis Bertrand Babylon Grayan owner, the mayor and a jury shall annually elect a "rosière. They choose, for his moral qualities and virtuous, a girl aged 18 to 25 who receives a dowry for the reward to do honor to the community. At the end of the Mass, the young rosière 1979 with the Mayor of the city to attend the festivities and official discourse. In June 1904 Lambertine rosière Lambert was appointed the first in the history of the town. Since then, the municipality continues that commitment.
- Gironde only six municipalities that perpetuate this tradition: St. Trélody and Grayan in Medoc, Salleboeuf and Creon in Entre-Deux-Mers, Pessac and La Brede in the Graves.
- Gastronomic specialties:
- The fish (shad, baby eel, elvers, eel, sardines, hake, lamprey ...) are a key material of the table Medoc.
- To this are added the prawns with farms created in the 80's and located near Grayan in Saint-Vivien-de-Medoc and Verdon-sur-Mer.
- Meat and game are specialties médocaines recognized: the attic Médoc (specialty pork), lamb from Pauillac cooked in vine shoots, the doves, woodcock or thrushes.
- The Médoc also produces sweet: the noisettines Medoc (caramelized hazelnuts) or the branches of the Médoc (chocolate sticks).
- To accompany the wines of the Medoc are internationally recognized: Chateau Latour, Chateau Lafite, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild are some famous examples.
