ANGELA BIRD'S

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INTRODUCTION TO THE VENDEE Check
this section out for:
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THE VENDEE is a large département (or county) about the size
of |
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The name "Vendée" is taken from that of a river
that runs through the south-east of the département. After crossing
the forest of Mervent it flows through the town of Fontenay-le-Comte, which
used to be the capital of Bas-Poitou - the county's name was changed to
Vendée after the French Revolution of 1789 (see History page) - until
Napoleon decided his soldiers could keep the Vendeans in order more easily
from La Roche-sur-Yon. The river meanders on through the marshes to meet the
Sevre Niortaise, and turns west to meet the sea in the bay known as the Anse
de l'Aiguillon. |
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Though several beautiful tourism brochures for the département
are produced, you do not seem to come across many of them in the |
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WEATHER |
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A microclimate, said to be similar to that of the
Côte d'Azur, ensures that 2,500 hours of sunshine beam down on the Vendée's
140km of sandy beaches (see map, left - sorry you can't read the figures, but
basically the darker, the hotter...). June is traditionally the driest month. |
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Peak tourist activity is throughout July and August
(especially 14 July to 15 August). Principal seaside resorts are St-Jean-de-Monts,
St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, Les Sables-d'Olonne and La Tranche-sur-Mer. |
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There are plenty of activities for all:
water parks; castles; no fewer than five 18-hole golf courses; countless
churches and abbeys; museums of every sort; prehistoric standing-stones;
thousands of waymarked footpaths; a signposted cycleway running along the
coast (several sections already open, others under construction); mudflats
and marshes that attract unusual birds, from avocets to storks; fishing in
sea, rivers and lakes; and wide, unpolluted skies for stargazers. |
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A PERSONAL TOP TWENTY Below
- in vaguely anticlockwise order from the north-west - is my personal list of
must-sees for holidaymakers (more detail on all these is given in the guidebook): 1. Port du Bec, near
Beauvoir-sur-Mer 2. Le Passage du Gois,
Noirmoutier 3. Ile d'Yeu 4. Sallertaine, near Challans 5. Musée Milcendeau, near Soullans 6. Apremont, near Aizenay 7. Les Sables-d'Olonne 8. Jard-sur-Mer 9. Avrillé / Le Bernard, near Jard-sur-Mer 10. Parc Floral de la Court d'Aron,
St-Cyr-en-Talmondais 11. Mareuil-sur-Lay,
near Luçon 12. Marais
Poitevin, or "Green Venice", South Vendée 13. Fontenay-le-Comte 14. Vouvant, near La Chataigneraie 15. Cinéscénie, Puy-du-Fou 16. Grand
Parcours, Puy-du-Fou 17. Chateau de Barbe-Bleue, Tiffauges 18. Notre-Dame-de-Salette, near Chavagnes-en-Paillers 19. Logis de la Chabotterie, St-Sulpice-le-Verdon 20. Chapel
of le Petit-Luc, Les Lucs-sur-Boulogne |
HOW TO GET TO THE VENDÉE
(see also the Property owners’ pages)
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BY SEA |
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"Brittany Ferries
sails direct to Brittany, 25-30% discounts for BF’s frequent-traveller or property-owners’
schemes. |
BRITTANY
FERRIES |
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Portsmouth-Le Havre
(5.5-8 hours’ crossing time; approximately 5 hours
driving time to Vendée) THANKS TO |
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20-50% discounts for shareholders |
Dover-Calais (75 minutes' crossing
time; approximately 6/7 hours drive to Vendée) |
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Frequent Traveller
Club, giving 20% discount on all travel between UK, Channel Islands and
St-Malo |
Poole-St Malo (4 hrs 30 mins
crossing time by fast catamaran; approximately 3 hrs driving time in |
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IRISH
FERRIES |
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Rosslare-Cherbourg (17 hrs crossing time; approximately 5 hrs
driving time in THANKS TO IVOR FOR THIS INFORMATION |
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Frequent Traveller Club, giving discount on all travel |
Dover-Boulogne (1 hr crossing time; approximately
6 hours' drive to the Vendée). New in 2004, this company is undercutting the
traditional ferries by offering excellent-value crossings by fast catamaran
from as little as £55 return. |
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Rosyth-Zeebrugge (17 hours crossing
time; approximately 8 hours'driving time in France) THANKS TO ROSEMARY FOR THIS INFORMATION |
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And if you prefer to take your car on the under-sea route
instead, here is a link to Eurotunnel
for the Folkestone-to-Coquelles shuttle service. (35 mins’ crossing time, 6/7
hours’ drive to the Vendée). As you do
not even have to get out of your car, this is an ideal route for those with
difficulty walking, or for those travelling with pets in the vehicle. |
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Eurostar |
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Here is a site on which to check out the French Railways (SNCF) timetables. |
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Airport to city centre
BMI |
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Other air-travel possibilities |
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The road system is improving all the time. The A84 "Autoroute des Estuaires"
(a toll-free dual carriageway, linking the north-western ports with the city
of |
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The blood alcohol level for drivers in And, finally, in August 2005 “Ian” writes: |
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Coach travel from Once in the Vendée, you are not too well served for
public transport. Click
here to see the Sovetours bus services within the département (click on
“carte du réseau” to see routes, and then on individual route numbers to see
the timetables. The main Sovetours page now has links to different
bus routes, so you can see the timetables (click on one of the numbers at the
bottom, to go to one of those routes; once you have one up, and you look at
La Roche sur Yon, you will see links to dozens more routes). Note that quite large sections of the
timetables run in school term-times only. |
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AND
NOW HERE'S A BIG SECRET FOR DRIVERS:
Confused? You won't be...
This image is from one of the excellent IGN maps - red series No 107.
To see details of routes
from the ferry ports, click here.
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| mail webmaster by returning to
the bottom of the index page | |