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THE VENDÉE
Why the
Vendée by Tate
BECOMING A VENDÉEFILE
If you
are looking for a holiday in France why would you want to visit the Vendée?
After all as a nurse who had just returned from a holiday there said to me “it’s
just a strip of coastline with a boring flat plain behind it, isn’t it”? Well
actually no it isn’t. The Vendée is without doubt one of the jewels in the
French holiday crown. Who says so? Well actually the French, but they say it
quietly because in typical Gallic style they like to keep the best for
themselves.
For years the French have visited the Vendée for their holidays,
enjoying the exceptional micro-climate, the miles and miles of exquisite sandy
beaches and the sleepy rural communities. In fact the French liked it so
much they chose to build their holiday homes, not in Provence, or on the Côte
D’Azur but on the Vendéen coast. Now the secret is out and the Vendée is fast
becoming a popular destination for holidaymaker and émigré alike, and if you
look at the Vendée in more detail you will find a region of France that is
beautiful, friendly, varied and steeped in history. So it doesn’t matter whether
you enjoy the sun, water sports, sightseeing or just hanging out with the
locals, the Vendée has it all.
Just to place the Vendée (the Bas Poitou
as it was before the revolution) in history it was the only French province to
resist the French Revolution, and as a consequence a bloody war was fought
between Les Bleu’s the French revolutionary forces and Les Blanc’s the Vendéen
army which supported the royalists and the clergy. The war raged for 12 years
culminating in the defeat of the Vendéen army and the death of some 500,000
Vendéens. A spectacular depiction of the Vendéen
War is re-enacted on weekend evenings throughout the summer at The Puy Du Fou.
With a cast of thousands drawn from the surrounding communities, and that’s no
exaggeration, this sound, light and laser show culminating in the raising of the
Chateau is without doubt a totally unique and unexpected experience.
So
having placed the Vendée in history let’s place it geographically. The Vendée
sits on the French Atlantic coast stretching from the Isle de Niormoutier in the
north to Marans in the south. The miles of white sandy beaches are a sun
worshiper’s paradise, varying from beaches that literally come into town to
beaches that require a walk over high protective sand dunes. Some are well used
and some are secluded enough to offer nudism.
Not just the province of the sun worshipper there
are many great surfing breaks and water sports venues, and let’s not forget
the yachtsman, after all there must be some reason, the Vendée
Globe round the world yacht race starts at Les
Sables D’Olonne. There are plenty of marinas all down the coast, and
virtually all of the coastal towns have a harbour. There are modern coastal
towns like Saint-Jean-de-Monts a land yachting centre, and my personal
favourite Saint-Giles-Croix-de-Vie. It has mixture of old and new
architecture, a beautiful harbour and a fabulous seafront and beaches. At the far southern end of the Vendéen coastline is
the Anse De L’Aiguillon a wetland paradise and a haven for waterfowl and the
whole coastline has oyster and mussel beds in abundance. On very low tides the
causeway out to the Isle de
Niormoutier has hundreds of cars parked on the sand on either side with
literally thousands of people raking all manner of shellfish. It doesn’t take
much imagination to realise that the coast is brimful of fantastic restaurants specialising in seafood, making it a culinary
dream for the gourmet and gourmand alike.
Behind the coast there is a
mixture of sand dunes and pine forests which is almost entirely bordered by
marshes from the Marais Breton in the north to the Marais Poitevin in the
south. Sandwiched between them and the Armoricain Massif we find “Lucon- Fontenay
Prairie” a large plain of relatively flat agricultural land with enormous
skies and a light that artists would die for. Much of the marshland is
reclaimed, it was drained at first by the Medieval Monks and the lords of La
Garnache and further in the 18th century by the Dutch. A trip
from Les Sables D’Olonne to Fontenay
le Comte on the route of the old Roman coastal road takes you through small
villages, miles from the sea, with signposts which say to the Port.
The
Marais
Poitevin is a large area of marshland criss-crossed with rivers and canals
with beautiful villages and picturesque houses scattered along their banks. The
Marais Poitevin is the second largest wetland in France; only the Camargue is
larger, holds a proliferation of wildlife and is a haven for the twitcher and
the casual observer alike. From the ruined abbey at Maillezais
to Marans the Marais Poitevin is unique whether you drive or take to the canals
on either a supervised tour or by hiring a punt and leisurely discovering for
yourself the latticework of waterways that interlace the area. Behind the plain
and the marshes is the Bocage( the Bas Bocage
& the Haut Bocage), an area of rolling hills, woodlands and farms.
The Vendée is one of the major food producing areas of France, it not only grows
the raw materials and raises the livestock, but it is also home to some of
France’s major food processing companies.
The only problem with the
Vendée is that there is too much to tell you about, so if you want to know more
about the beautiful old town of Fontenay
le Comte, or the barrage and lake complex at the Mervent
Forest, or the artist’s paradise of Vouvant, or
the wine route through Mareuil-sur-Lay, or the Breton salt
marshes or the fishing boats in the tidal harbour of Port du
Bec, you’ll just have to visit and see for yourself. Who knows you may fall
in love with it and become a Vendéefile, just like me. - Tate 2008
About the author: Tate
spends the summers in the Vendée and is passionate about good wine and good
food, he writes exclusively for the www.vendee-guide.co.uk
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