One dark and violent morning in the early days of 2009, the most powerful force to hit France in years came storming down upon the edge of the Atlantic.
Winds of up to 200 km/ph tore through the nebulous dawn, leaving 26 people dead, forests and power lines crushed, buildings and roads annihilated, and the people of Rowan (a tiny fishing port) utterly flabbergasted.
For not ten miles out to sea, a mysteriously conceived blob ascended from the depths, blasting its way onto the surface. The locals have since named this land mass (which measures 250 acres across at low tide) “l’île mystérieuse” – or ‘the mysterious island’ – aptly named after a novel by Jules Verne.
Mysterious indeed, as this island has arisen rather close to the famed lost Island of Cordouan, a place once home to the English ‘Black Prince’, who lived there before it sank during the Hundred Years War in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The Black Prince was a renown formidable warrior, who donned in black and mercilessly crushed all in his path – a sort of dark knight. Has he risen from the sea in the form of an island to slap France in the chops one last time? Or is this just one behemoth of a geological disturbance?
19th century French Historian, Jules Michelet, gives a clue. He has called the area “a sea of contradictions”, as depths in the southern end of the gulf suddenly plummet into a fathomless abyss. However, historical records simply state the continual erosion of Cordouan’s limestone led to its disappearance.
In any case, Cordouan or not, this ‘mysterious island’ is currently not listed on any map, nor does it have any bona fide name. In short, it does not officially exist. Scientists, however, are radically attempting to alter this, as the island has attracted an array of vertebrate and plant life which they believe is in dire need of protection.
This scientific urgency is fuelled by the activity of bombastic parachuting thrill seekers, who use the island’s lack of legitimacy in order to land, as well as howling, boot scooting ravers who use it for intense go-go dancer type parties. The circus like behaviour the island appears to have spawned has also led to increased interest from mysterious advocacy groups.
Dr Stanley Sherbet, from the Underwater Transmogrification Society (UTS), claims the Black Prince has indeed returned, and is intent on ‘finishing the job’ by sending all who seek his shores into an unbridled pleasure seeking rampage.
How do i get there?