Lynda and I have been really lucky in having visited some great places together on our travels and fortunately our latest destination has to be up there with the best of them. If you’re looking for quietly understated quality in a chic St Tropez-esque setting, then France’s Ile De Re is for you. Our first visit but I suspect not our last. Faded enough to be charming and not at all gaudy or overly commercial, Ile De Re sits just off the West coast by La Rochelle and is connected to the mainland by a recently built wonder bridge. Mind you at 16 Euros for a return crossing it would need to be a pretty spectacular one!
That Bridge
We set off for Dover bright and early on the Friday morning in torrential rain. Breakfast courtesy of Seafrance was a splendid and extremely welcome affair, and we felt no guilt at all having a 'full English' on a French boat. The rain we'd had in the UK just about set the tone for the whole journey actually as we had more of the same from Calais through to our first stop at Blois. We'd have liked to see a bit more of Blois as we literally only had 10 minutes there before rain stopped play and we headed west. One tip for those driving through France with their entire music collection loaded onto their iPod - the iTrip doesn't work in France and French radio is pretty rubbish. Bring some CDs or whatever your car plays if you're hoping for a proper road trip experience.
First holiday beer after arriving at Blois, and the town's Chateau
The rain continued the next day en-route to meet Frank, Ana and the kids just outside La Rochelle, and then mercifully eased off for a while, replaced instead by some very cloudy sunshine. After a lovely reunion lunch together we provisioned at Carrefour and then crossed over to the Island.
Our home for the week was a great house called Flocon De Sable. The extremely friendly and helpful owners Ian and Isabelle Dean have made a great job of putting together a really well equipped, comfortable and stylish property that blends in perfectly with the look and feel of the island. As always unpacking was a hasty business, followed by our first meal at the house, washed down with some excellent wine. We went to bed very tired, very full and very content, and despite the weather we were all eagerly anticipating our first dip in the superb 12m x 6m pool.
The first full day there was spent wandering through the local ‘flea market’ as we headed down to the beach with a very large picnic in tow. We were staying at La Noue, a tiny hamlet with a small square bordered by the typical collection of bars, patisserie, tabac, etc you’d expect to find in just about any small French village. Having built enough sand castles and finished off the picnic we decided it was time to give the pool a go. That afternoon was so much fun. Isabelle had offered us the use of all the inflatable toys belonging to their kids Alex & Emilie and our bunch didn’t need to be asked twice. Within seconds the pool was a thrashing maelstrom of kids, adults, rubber rings, lilos, snorkels and best of all a huge whale that was immediately christened ‘Shamu’.
Shamu and trainers !
We spent the next few days loaded into Frank & Ana’s vast 4-wheel drive, gently touring the island’s wonderful villages, ports, markets and lighthouses. Every town has something worth calling in for – Le Bois Plage, Ars-en-Re (yeah we had a lot of mileage from the Arse joke), St Martin, La Flotte, La Couarde and others. The island’s only 5kms wide by 30kms long but still has loads to see and do. Despite its small size there are amazingly over 100kms of cycle paths on the island and you can rent bikes from just about anywhere. We never actually managed it but the intention was always there. We saw churches, climbed lighthouses, lay on beaches and had lovely lunches. We ate ice creams, swallowed oysters, drank beers and even looked at the skulls of elephants and tortoises. There is no shortage of things to keep you occupied on Ile De Re.
Oysters, fun and a typical Ile De Re street
Midweek we went on a boat ride from St Martin out to sea which took us around Fort Boyard (remember the programme with Melinda Messenger that had teams running around doing various stupid tasks?) which is an amazing place stuck out on its own in the Atlantic. It’s a Napoleonic (sadly not as funny as Dynamite) construction, originally intended as a fort but quickly became obsolete from a military point of view before it was even finished and was eventually used as a prison. Couldn’t land there unfortunately as it’s used for a similarly silly programme for French TV and they have it shut-off as a consequence. From the fort we went over to Ile D’Aix, which is even quieter, smaller and traditional than Ile De Re. Definitely unspoilt and equally definitely a great picnic spot. The return trip included calling into La Rochelle, and although we only stopped for 15 minutes to drop off and collect passengers, we saw enough to convince us it was worth visiting on our way home.
Fort Boyard and one of La Rochelle's pretty harbours
A milestone event took place on the Saturday – Pablo became a teenager. We made sure we had cakes, opened presents & cards and sang ‘happy birthday’ the night before as we were up and away on the Saturday for the long haul to Blighty. The sun had decided to come out in force as we spent a really enjoyable hour or so at La Rochelle, then headed up to our overnight stop at Orleans. This was mine and Lynda’s first visit but not Frank and Ana’s. Another wonderful place. Mediaeval streets and a perfect cathedral blended with pavement cafes and restaurants packed full of young affluent French. We had a lovely couple of hours strolling, taking photos and enjoying the atmosphere.
Pancakes and relaxing - a splendid meal at Ars en Re
‘Formule 1’ provided our overnight accommodation and the next morning we drove the last 200 odd miles to Calais, then onto the ferry and home. Mine and Lynda’s holiday is over but the Spaniards are just beginning the second phase of theirs with Mum for the summer.
I think England is that way?
A huge thank you from Lynda and me to Frank, Ana, Pablo, Sophie, Carla & Andrea for a brilliant break. We laughed so much and ate even more. We saw some lovely things and visited some beautiful places - can’t wait to see all the photos. The sun would have been nice but the holiday didn’t suffer for lack of it. Thanks too to Ian & Isabelle for their hospitality.
Finally, special thank yous must go to Napoleon, Kipling, Rico, Rex and all the others, and also to Shamu & St Homard for making what was already a great laugh even better.
"What did you do in the vacation Napoleon?"
"Me and my Uncle went hunting Wolverines".
