When it was built at the end of the 1960s, the beach was over 650 feet away.

Today, the 80-flat building is just a stone's throw from the water.

Local authorities are in the process of tearing it down, before the sea totally swallows it up.

[Jean-Marie Combeau, local resident] "It's the disappearance of a monument for Soulac-sur-Mer. It was part of us and there you go, it's gone. It was bound to end up that way with the ocean."

Soulac-sur-Mer has suffered some of the fastest coastal erosion in France.

Beaches are disappearing at a rate of about eight feet per year.

In 2014, the local government made the decision to relocate the inhabitants of Le Signal.

90-year-old Jacqueline Gandoin was the last one to leave.

"The happy memories will stay in my head. Of course, the expulsion tarnishes things a bit but I keep good memories. The sunsets, the day rising, a quiet cup of coffee on the balcony..."

After the relocation of residents, authorities began the long process of expropriation, and removing asbestos and utilities connections before starting demolition in February 2023.

Adrien Privat, an official at French coast protection agency Conservatoir du Littoral, said global warming was partly to blame.

[Adrien Privat, Conservatoire du Littoral] "This building is a result of the strong increase of human presence on the coasts during the second half of the 20th century which are being threatened by the erosion, induced by the rising of sea levels and storms. This threat made it impossible to keep living in this building unless tremendously expensive solutions were found."

Privat said the Le Signal building, which originally targeted vacationers, was a typical example of the extensive build-up of coastal areas in the second half of the 20th century...

a time when urban planners had little regard for the fact that shorelines are dynamic and ever-changing.

He estimates that some 50,000 residences are in zones that will require them to be moved by the end of the century.

''This is a symbol of what could happen if we're unprepared and what could happen in other places, but more simply this should be a lesson for us to tackle other cases and have plans for adaptation and preparation for the effects of climate change linked to erosion or flooding where possible."