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
Devon or Cumbria (or, for American readers, somewhere between the size of
Maine and West Virginia), located on the French Atlantic coast, just south of
Brittany and Nantes, and north of La Rochelle. Its position, within 2 to 5
hours of the various western ferry ports, makes the area an easy day's
journey from Britain and Ireland. The population, according to the 1999
census, is 540,000. |
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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 bay of 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 UK. If you contact the departmental tourist bureau direct, either
via their website or on tel:
+33 (0)2 51 47 88 20; email ) and ask for information you should receive some
substantial brochures called something like "Horizons Vendée". If your French is up to it, you will
get more out of the French version of the website than the English one, which
is still languishing in a more old-fashioned presentation. |
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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; 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 30 Below - in the order they appear in the guidebook,
and with Area 1. Around Challans Autrefois Challans Passio: Musée
Milcendeau, Soullans This peaceful spot in
the marshes south of Challans is dedicated to two famous men of Soullans -
the writer and politician Jean Yole and his contemporary and friend, the
landscape artist and portraitist Charles Milcendeau (1872-1919). (p46) Le Passage du Gois, Noirmoutier Arbre et Aventure, St-Jean-de-Monts Treetop trails in the
pine forest near one of the Vendée’s most popular seaside resorts. (p58) Sallertaine, near Challans Area 2. Around Les Sables-d’Olonne Apremont, near Aizenay Château des
Aventuriers, Avrillé A lot of fun for families, to
decipher clues (in English as well as French) and follow a trail around the
grounds of this Renaissance country house. There are lots of prehistoric
stones in the area, too. (p66) Balade
Enchantée, near Chaillé-sous-les-Ormeaux A brilliant guided nature walk,
with English commentary, along
the picturesque valley of the river Yon. You have to be fairly athletic to
keep up, and to scramble over the rocks. (p70) Indian Forest,
Moutiers-les-Mauxfaits Another fantastic
series of treetop trails in a forest near Moutiers-les-Mauxfaits. Also with
paintball, and bouncing bungee activities. (p73) Ile Penotte,
Les Sables d’Olonne A series of witty shell
frescoes decorate the narrow streets just behind the seafront of Les Sables.
(p80) Château
de Talmont, Talmont-St-Hilaire The ruined castle of Richard the
Lionheart dominates this attractive village. There are medieval-style
activities in summer. (p84) Area 3. Around La Tranche This historic port
makes a wonderful day-trip from the Vendée. It’s full of cobbled streets,
ancient buildings and interesting museums. (p98) Fantastic indoor aquarium,
full of fish, sharks and other creatures of the deep. (p100) Parc Floral et Tropical, La
Court d'Aron, St-Cyr-en-Talmondais The “Venise Verte”, or "Green
Venice" marshes, South Vendée Area 4. Around Fontenay-le-Comte Charming old village, with castle
and small museum, plus lovely garden. (p112) Fontenay-le-Comte A marvellous museum of
art and decorative arts in the centre of the historic town of Niort, just
outside the SE Vendee. (p122) Château de
St-Mesmin-la-Ville, near Pouzauges An imposing medieval
castle, in course of restoration, which offers some entertaining “living
history” sessions in summer. (p124) Vouvant, near La Chataigneraie Area 4. Around Les Herbiers Just outside the NE Vendee, this
attractive town on the river Sevre Nantaise is full of Italian-inspired
architecture. (p132) Historial de la Vendée,
Les Lucs-sur-Boulogne An ultra-modern museum tells the
story of the Vendée from prehistoric times to the present. (p139) Puy-du-Fou: Le Grand Parc, near Les
Herbiers This day-time
"historical theme park" makes a great day out for all the family,
with set-piece shows of falconry, medieval battles, Roman chariot-racing and
more, plus demonstrations of rural crafts and reconstructions of villages of
different historical periods. (p142) Puy-du-Fou: Cinéscénie, near
Les Herbiers Logis de la Chabotterie, near La
Roche-sur-Yon A rural manor house
that has been done up to present an atmospheric recreation of 18th-century
life in the Vendée. It has historic links with the Vendée Wars too. (p145) Chateau de Barbe-Bleue,
Tiffauges (p147) Area 6. Around the Pays de Retz Le Grand Blockhaus, near La Baule A restored German gun-emplacement
provides chilling impressions of World War II in the area, and has much to
tell about the “St Nazaire Pocket” that was not liberated till 11 May 1945.
(p150) Workshops full of
extraordinary creatures developed from the imagination of a talented group of
designers. Outside, you can take a ride on a larger-than-life-sized wooden
elephant. (p159) A drive-through safari
park, full of wild animals from the African savannah. (p162) Several sea-related
visits in and around the vast German WWII submarine base at St-Nazaire, on
the north side of the Loire. They include a convincing mock-up of an ocean
liner, and a chance to tour a 1950s’ French submarine. (p166) |
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, Normandy and Spain. As well as the highest standards
of on board facilities we offer a great range of self-catering and hotel
holidays with your car in France and Spain." 25-30%
discounts for BF’s frequent-traveller or property-owners’ schemes. |
BRITTANY
FERRIES
(see link beow) Portsmouth-Cherbourg (3 hrs on high-speed
craft / 5 hrs in France) Poole-Cherbourg (4 hrs 15 mins / 5
hrs); |
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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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Portsmouth-Le Havre (5.5-8 hours’ crossing time; approximately 5 hours driving time to Vendée) THANKS
TO VERNON FOR THIS INFORMATION |
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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, with stop at either Guernsey or
Jersey en route; approximately 3 hrs driving time in France); |
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IRISH FERRIES |
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Rosslare-Cherbourg
(17
hrs crossing time; approximately 5 hrs driving time in France) THANKS TO IVOR FOR THIS INFORMATION |
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Rosyth-Zeebrugge (17 hours crossing
time; approximately 8 hours'driving time in France) Dover-Dunkerque
(2hrs
/ 7/8 hrs drive in France) THANKS TO ROSEMARY FOR THIS INFORMATION |
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EUROTUNNEL And if you prefer to take your car on
the under-sea route instead, here is a link
to Eurotunnel for the Folkestone-to-Calais/Coquelles shuttle service. 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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TIP The fares include baggage in the hold, airport taxes etc,
so can be competitive when there are no extras to consider, especially if you
book a few weeks in advance and can be flexible about dates. The budget airlines can change their
routes on a whim, but here are the current (2011) routes: FlyBe
is operating year-round from London Gatwick to Nantes in 2011. TIP Wednesdays and Thursdays often work out cheapest, if you can fly
midweek. Airport to city centre
This is the link
to the "navette aéroport" bus service . Click on “fiche horaires de la navette aéroport”
to see the timetable. It now seems to have settled down to a regular
half-hourly service Mon-Sat; with just an hourly service on Sun. (NB No
TANair service at all on 1 May.) Between airport and railway station takes about
20 minutes, with one stop en route at the tram terminus of Neustrie (Tram No
3). The fare is 7 euros single fare (2011),
and may be purchased using a credit card if you do not have the loose change
with you; the ticket is valid for one hour on all the Nantes bus and tram
system. (The old “carnet”, enabling you to buy several tickets at once and make a
saving on individual price, is no longer available.) As with any bus or tram
travel, you must “composter”, or validate, your ticket by punching it in the
machine on entry into the vehicle. TIP 1 I am also looking at a route using the - much
cheaper - normal No 98 bus service from Nantes airport towards the south side of
the city (its terminus is La Greneraie, on the tram route 2 that can take you
north to within walking distance of Nantes railway station). On its route
towards La Greneraie, it connects with tram routes Nos 2 and 3 at either
Pont-Rousseau or Pirmil. A ticket for this bus (valid for an hour, if you
have to change to another bus or tram in that time-span) will cost only
1.50€, against 7€ on the airport shuttle bus, above. On the downside, the 98 bus seems to
run only every 45 minutes or so. To help you work out what’s where, you
can download the complete Nantes city transport map from this
page (click on “plan général du réseau”). Timetables for Nantes bus and tram
services can be downloaded from this
page. References on the timetables to jours verts
mean Saturdays; jours bleus are Sundays and bank holidays; jours roses are school term-times; and
jours jaunes
are school-holiday periods.
However, there are exceptions – i.e. much of July and August
seems to be designated “rose”.
The only way to be sure is to download
the TAN calendar here. TIP 2 If you are travelling onward by train to Pornic,
Challans, St-Hilaire-de-Riez or St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, you can pick up some
of the trains out of Nantes one stop down the line, at Pont-Rousseau station,
in the suburb of Rezé, which is on the 98 bus route. You will have to do a
bit of homework first to find which trains stop at Pont-Rousseau (not all of
them do). Pick up the latest train timetables from Pornic, Challans or
St-Gilles stations in advance of your intended trip, and use these to work out
the possibilities - being sure to read the small print about the operating
days and dates of the different services. After all that, you may decide it’s more
straightforward to take the airport shuttle bus into town after all! TIP 3 I haven’t tried the No 98 out yet. However, I have established that its bus stop
is NOT immediately outside the airport terminal building, but tucked away
behind the “P2est” car park, about a 6-min walk. On exit from the terminal building, turn
right. You will see a huge blue warehouse in the distance, with DACHSER in
large yellow letters. You are
aiming to walk across and through the “P2est” car park that lies immediately
to the left of this building. A
designated footpath leads that way, along the front of the terminal building,
and then across some small railway tracks into P2est. Walk straight across this small car
park to the exit barrier which leads to a small traffic roundabout. Go right
at the roundabout, and the 98 bus stop is a little way along here towards a
pizzeria, on the right-hand side of the road for the route into town towards
La Gréneraie. (If you were
arriving from Nantes on the 98, you would be alighting for the airport across
the road on the same side as the pizzeria.) You would buy your ticket from the driver, and must “compost”,
or punch, it in the machine beside the driver. The timetables for Nantes bus and tram
services can be downloaded from this
page; for the 98 bus, spool
down the list to 98.
If you go to the SNCF page in English you can fill
in a little box on the left to obtain information on "TER" (local
train services). TIP 1 If you are over 60, ask when you purchase your train
ticket about a “billet sénior”, which is about 10 per cent cheaper on off-peak
travel. Even more advantageous, if you are
planning to do a lot of other train travel in France during the year, is to
obtain a “Carte Sénior”
Railcard (costs 56€ for a year in 2011), which can get you 50 per cent off
the price of off-peak travel on TGV and local TER services. Nantes public transport system (TAN): You can download the complete Nantes
city transport map from this
page (click on “plan général du réseau”). Timetables for Nantes bus and tram
services can be downloaded from this
page. References on the timetables to jours verts
mean Saturdays; jours bleus are Sundays and bank holidays; jours roses are school term-times; and
jours jaunes
are school-holiday periods.
However, there are exceptions – i.e. much of July and August
seems to be designated “rose”. The only way to
be sure is to download
the TAN calendar here. LA ROCHELLE The budget airlines can change their
routes on a whim, but here are the current (2011) routes:
OTHER AIRPORTS SERVED BMI FLYBE |
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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 of France with Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux and Spain is now
complete. |
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NEW RULE FOR MOTORISTS From 1 July 2008 it is compulsory for any
vehicle being driven in France TIP Buy these items before
leaving home! |
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- The blood alcohol level for
drivers in France is currently even lower than it is in the UK, so drinking
and driving is out! If caught, you will have your licence removed on the
spot. - Equally outlawed is using the
mobile phone while driving - even with hands-free system. - Driver and all passengers must wear
seat belts at all times. Spot-checks are often made even in the most
rural of villages. - Never cross a solid white line in the
middle of the road! The French police can
take your licence away on the spot - awkward if you do not have another
driver in the car with you to take over... - And, finally, in August 2005 “Ian”
writes: |
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Coach travel from London's Victoria
Coach Station is provided by Eurolines
, though considering how long it takes (overnight, via Dover) it is
surprisingly expensive. 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 the route panels, or
just above them you can click for main and secondary réseaux, or networks. 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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