Ah shucks. Oyster delights in France.

I’ve seen some peculiar vending machines around the world, stocked with items you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find, from umbrellas to underwear, pocket watches to pizzas.

Here, on the south-west coast of France, where the air is infused with scents of brine and pine, there’s a vending machine selling oysters (huitres in French).

Accepting contactless payments — it’s €16 ($28) for 24 — this machine is refrigerated and, we’re told, regularly replenished with boxes of freshly-harvested oysters.

While this is a somewhat quirky and surprising find to tourists like us, the vending machine has, along with lobster pots and tangled nets, become part of the furniture at the harbour in Andernos-les-Bains, one of the quaint fishing towns by the Bay of Arcachon, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean 60km from Bordeaux.

Holidaying by the bay with our French friends, who’ve driven over from Marseille (six hours to the east), we’ve rented a family house in Andernos’ quieter neighbour Ares.

Within strolling distance of us is a boulangerie, a florist, a wine shop and a rotisserie restaurant by the central square-roundabout, from which looms a 19th century church with impressive stained-glass windows by Raymond Mirande, a Bordeaux-born enameller.

Unsung compared to some of the other, posher, pricier towns of this region, Ares is a fine base to savour the charms on and around Arcachon Bay (or the Bassin d’Arcachon), whose vast tidal waters ebb and flow to reveal a series of sprawling sand banks and beaches, islets and fishermen’s huts.

One morning, at high tide, we embark on a day-long boat tour from Andernos, with the bilingual French-English commentary revealing the heritage and habits of the bay’s fishermen, who have been harvesting oysters here for generations.

Curlews and dowitchers are among the dozens of birds that catch our eye on the boat trip, which also lets us marvel at the Dune du Pilat, Europe’s tallest sand dune, and stretch our legs around Cap Ferret, a well-to-do bayside resort village nicknamed the “French Hamptons”.

Our other full day on this coast — before we head for a 48-hour stay in Bordeaux — is more low key, but just as enjoyable.

After breakfast, we decide to walk from Ares to Andernos. The 5km route takes us along the sweeping beach, then through the adjacent pine forest, past ponds and reservoirs, where cormorants, egrets and a wild boar are nibbling around.

Reaching the harbour at Andernos, we find that oyster vending machine along with a scattering of rustic seafood eateries but we press on, back onto the beach towards France’s longest pier.

Open to pedestrians, it juts 232m into the bay from the promenade at the heart of Andernos, where we bag a table on the terrace of Les Tamaris, one of the town restaurants specialising in grilled fish, seafood and meat dishes.

A choice of well-priced set lunch menus is also offered. For about €50 ($88), I enjoy calamari, followed by cod, fries and vegetables, then creme brulee, along with a few glasses of classically pale-pink Provencal rose (it’s my go-to summer tipple, and even though it’s still late April, today’s weather is warm, muggy and sunny, although an Atlantic storm will turn things wetter and cooler before we reach Bordeaux).

We consider taking the public bus back to Ares, but we ultimately opt to return the way we came. It’ll help us walk off our lunch, we figure, and we can also get some ingredients for tonight’s dinner, oysters included.

We stop to purchase a batch, not from that Andernos vending machine, but at a shed-like backstreet haunt in Ares called Huitres des Gourmets. It’s run by a man with a neatly-clipped moustache who sells oysters from as little as €5 ($9) per dozen.

For an extra euro, he’ll shuck them for you. Bidding him “au revoir”, we exit carrying a tray heaving with oysters back to our rented property. We’ll tuck into them later — just as the storm arrives.

fact file + To help plan a trip to the Bassin d’Arcachon, including details on hotels and holiday rentals, see arcachon.com/en + For more information on visiting the Bordeaux region, see visiter-bordeaux.com