Église Notre-Dame des Flots du Cap-Ferret, Catholic church in Cap-Ferret, France

The Église Notre-Dame-des-Flots is a Catholic church at the corner of boulevard de la Plage and rue des Roitelets in Lège-Cap-Ferret, beside an Arcachon Bay beach. Architect Raymond Morin designed it in a mid-century "paquebot" style: a tall white concrete tower capped by a thin cross, a lower white building fronted by vertical fins, and a nave shaped like an overturned boat hull.

A first chapel dedicated to Notre-Dame-des-Flots was built in 1893 and served by the Dominicans of Le Moulleau until their expulsion in 1903. It was enlarged in 1932 to seat 200 and became a parish in 1936 under Bishop Feltin. After the war, curé Robert Marquaux launched a larger church on the same site in 1955, funded entirely by parishioners; work began in 1956, paused in 1958 for lack of money, and the old chapel was demolished in 1961. Cardinal Richaud inaugurated the new church on 29 August 1966.

The church keeps objects from the old chapel: a large sailing-ship model and the "pinassote de l'abbé Marquaux", a boat linked to the priest who built the church. Hugues Maurin carved a Virgin from driftwood, while Alphonse Sauvage made fishing nets, a ship's wheel and harpoon heads. The church is mainly attended during the summer tourist season.

The church stands at the corner of boulevard de la Plage and rue des Roitelets, on the edge of an Arcachon Bay beach near the Cap Ferret lighthouse. It is mainly attended during the summer tourist season, so services and visitors are concentrated in July and August. The cross of the sailors stands on the parvis in front of the entrance.

The "bells" are not bells: drops of mercury strike crystal, and loudspeakers in the bell tower amplify the sound. The mechanism was part of Raymond Morin's ultramodern design, inspired by 1930s ocean-liner Art Deco and 1950s Mid-century modern style.