Fort de Brescou

Drop anchor off Île de Brescou, a tiny rocky island about half a nautical mile from Cap d'Agde, dominated by a dramatic fort with roots going back to 1586. The Viscount of Joyeuse built it to keep the Spanish from using the island as an invasion foothold — and it's been standing guard over this stretch of the Mediterranean ever since. The sight of the old stone fortress rising straight from the sea makes for one of the more memorable anchorages on this coast.