France’s best bathing beaches named

390 French beaches representing 173 communes – three more than last year – have been awarded the Pavillon Bleu 2017 flag for clean water and other environmental criteria.

Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur is the best represented region with 58 beaches, followed by Occitanie with 53. Communes pay a fee for their beaches to be assessed, on a sliding scale based on population.