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Plaine
The Vendée
Plaine more often referred to as the Luçon -Fontenay Prairie is the
original coastal plaine that developed behind the Bay of Pictons, It was
a vast expanse of natural grassland, almost devoid of trees, rising
from the then shoreline to a ridge which today is the N148 road and then
falling back down into the bocage. The Plaine has always been a
prosperous region something which is clearly demonstrated by the towns
of Fontenay-le-Comte and Lucon, but also in the houses of the Plaine,
which still stand tall and strong, having been built of stone and
thereby displaying the wealth of their original owners.
This is a landscape of large fields full of sunflower, maze and wheat,
with few trees and wide vistas. Agriculture is King of the Plaine, it
moves with the seasons changing as the different harvest and plantings
take place, but one cannot fell to be impressed with the fast expanses
of sunflowers, wheat and maize which are the major crops.
The Plaine is probably the area of least tourism in the Vendée, yet
within the vast open landscape there are some real treasures, The towns
of Fontenay-le-Comte and Luçon
have two of the finest historical heritages of any towns in the Vendée,
with Fontenay exhibiting architectural and scholarly heritage and
Luçon with its considerable religious heritage.
The Plaine is roughly wedge shaped widest in the west then squeezed by
the Marais Poitevin to the south and the Bas Bocage to its north. It
runs along a line in the north from St Hermine in the westend through Thire, St Valerien, L'Hermenault, Fontenay-le-Comte, Oulmes to Benet
in the east, and in the south from Luçon in the west through Naillier,
La Langon, Fountaines to Benet. They are not straight lines by any
means, and have peninsulas pushing out into the the Marais Poitevin.