The Naked Truth About Cap d'Agde [Paperback]

Ross Velton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

Libertines and naturists alike abound in Cap d'Agde, the legendary nudist resort town in Southern France that attracts 300,000 visitors each summer.

This 192-page book (with 16 pages of color photos) tells you why--and how to make the most of holiday to this famous "naked city."

Cap d'Agde offers more than a gorgeous wide stretch of nudist beach with some tacky gift shops and overpriced seafood restaurants. It's a full-fledged town with its own vibe and rhythm.

Cap d'Agde can be laid back and sensual, exciting and erotic, busy and overbearing, and earthy and rude--but never quite normal and normally quite surreal.

When you see 100 people huddled in a circle on a certain stretch of beach in the Cap, don't automatically assume that they are waiting to buy ice creams. And, yes, you were the only person wearing clothes in the queue at the post office the other day.

Cap d'Agde helps you make the transition from the humdrum to the slightly fantastic.

This book gives you all the info you need to book and enjoy a trip to Cap d'Agde--with tips and tales of what really goes on, such as how the libertines, naturists, and gays each find their unique pleasures. It also evaluates the clubs, bars, saunas, restaurants, and accommodations.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ross Velton has authored or co-authored five other travel books and written articles for newspapers and magazines on subjects ranging from the sex clubs of Paris to soccer in Albania.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1: Cap d'Agde in Context

The prospect of taking your holiday in a resort the size of a small town, where people go about their daily tasks in the nude, take their children to the beach in the afternoon, partake of a pastis and a convivial game of pétanque in the early evening, and have group sex in the clubs at night is bound to raise questions--not to mention eyebrows.

What kind of place is this? An oversized Club Med? A summer camp for seniors reliving misspent youths--and youths misspending young adulthoods? The largest den of iniquity yet known to man?

The answer has to be 'all and none of the above'. For Cap d'Agde represents different things to different people, and accurately describing what type of holiday you should expect depends on what you want to expect. Perhaps the best advice, then, for those visiting Cap d'Agde for the first time is to be ready for anything, but expect nothing.

Non-European visitors, and even those from the United Kingdom, might wonder how so much could be written about a place which, in the context of French holiday destinations, hardly trips off the tongue like Saint-Tropez, Nice, and Cannes.

Ask any half-serious German, Dutch, French, Belgian, Swiss, Italian, Danish, or Swedish naturists whether they have ever heard of Cap d'Agde, and they will probably think you are making fun of them. Ask if they have been there, and most will grin and nod. In continental Europe, this mildly ugly resort on a mildly attractive stretch of the Mediterranean coast about 50km southwest of the city of Montpellier in the French region of Languedoc and Roussillon is the principal meeting place for a large proportion of European nudists, swingers, and alternative lifestylers. Other large naked places are scattered throughout Europe--in Spain and Croatia, for example?but none has the mythical reputation enjoyed (or endured) by Cap d?Agde.

Whether the Cap is still the largest nudist community in Europe is debatable. Even so, it receives around 300,000 visitors annually, and its 120 or so businesses drive an economy worth at least 10 million euro a season.

More has been written about Cap d?Agde than any other nudist resort in the world, although unfortunately much of the press is over-sensationalised--if not plain rubbish. To explain the Cap d'Agde phenomenon to the general public, the type of journalist who probably thinks twice before taking a shower in the nude has sensationalised the place to such an extent that separating fact from fiction, myth from reality, is difficult. This fiction, of course, has done no harm to the Cap's visitor stats.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Chris Santilli (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966268342
• ISBN-13: 978-0966268348
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,106,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Naked Truth?, September 19, 2003

By 

Dale R. Huber (Kapaa, HI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Naked Truth About Cap d'Agde (Paperback)

Does Ross Velton tell the "Naked Truth About Cap d'Agde"? That depends upon your point of view. After I made my plans for a week at Cap d'Agde, I purchased the book and read it before, during and after my visit comparing it to what I saw and experienced.
First of all, the Quartier Naturiste is just that, a section of the town of Cap d'Agde where it is possible to be be naked in public at all times. Personally, I was nude 24/7 and found the experience wonderfully refreshing. In an uptight, clothe compulsive world, it is physically, mentally and spiritually liberating to be able to do all your regular daily activities like shopping, banking, eating out, going to the post office, getting your hair done, filling up your car and even going to a laundromat without the restrictive encumberances of clothes. And consider there are thousands of others of all sizes, shapes, colors and ages doing the same, it makes you realize what a very special place Cap d'Agde is.
Being the "Naked City" that it is, however, the Quartier Naturiste also attracts people of all persuasions. Not only will you see families from babies to grandparents but you'll see couples (gay and straight) and singles (mostly male) some of whom come to Cap d'Agde for its "wilder side". Half of Ross Velton's book is written for those whom he calls "libertines" (who are a minority from what I could see) and how they can go about persuing their sexual pleasure at Cap d'Agde. Not only does he list bars, clubs, and rendevous points of very stripe but he offers tips, advice and etiquette for successful swinging.
That being said, let me say that in no other source, did I find so much basic information about Cap d'Agde (the other half of the book). Not only is there a map, but there are listings and contacts for places to stay, directions on how to get there, what it will cost, when to go, restaurant reviews, bar and club reviews, etc. For this reason alone, I highly recommend it for the first time visitor whether they are just plain nudists or swinging libertines.
Fortuntately, Cap d'Agde is large enough for all. Just like you may not patronize the local bar down the street, so too, you do not have to go to a sex club. And just like the French are more accepting and open minded about public nudity in order for a place like Cap d'Agde to exist, so too is their attitude towards sex. Not having taken the libertine path myself in Cap d'Agde, I found nothing there to be any more sexually overt and flagrant than I found in any other European city.
So, buy the book, get on a plane, take off your clothes and stay for awhile so you can experience something totally unique to the world.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the truth is told!, July 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Naked Truth About Cap d'Agde (Paperback)

The naturists who hang out at Cap d'Agde, though they are in the majority, don't want anyone to know what a haven for swingers (or libertines, as the author Velton puts it) that The Naked City is. Cap d'Agde has something for everyone and this travel guide certainly gives everyone the exact info they need to find their pleasures, whether those pleasures are lurid or benign family fun. The section advising single men made me laugh out loud. I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it highly even if you are only an armchair traveler.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't wait to go now!!, July 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Naked Truth About Cap d'Agde (Paperback)

I'm making my first trip to Cap d'Agde this August so I wanted to be up on things. This book describes every in and out of nudist town--from the sexy parts to the family parts. It's written clearly with interesting details. The authour's humor is so British--no slipping on the banana peel laughs for him--but it works for an American audience too. The many color and black and white photos show both people who go there and various parts of the town. The detailed maps also give me confidence that I'll be able to find what I need. Even though my French skills are lacking, given the author's tips, I'm confident I'll be able to find plenty of places and people that welcome Enlish speakers