A walk in the heart of Bas Poitou ...
Camping la Grisse is nestled in the heart of the Bas Poitou, now the southern Vendée, in this part of historic Aquitaine, set against the Bocage Vendéen, on the border of the Marches de Bretagne, south of the Loire ...
If you are coming from the north on the A83 or from the south on the D949, which we'll talk about later, you must take this road, known as the D747, in the direction of La Tranche/Mer, at the Pont Rouge...
When you arrive at La Grisse, you suddenly leave the Bocage Vendéen, or «Armorican Massif«, to enter the Aquitaine Basin, the gateway to the Charentes and the Marais Poitevin... Between Brittany and Aquitaine, nothing less! ...
Here, within cycling distance, all the Natural Regions are represented in just 15 km, so follow me and let's set off along the back roads, it'll be quieter...
Between Brittany and Aquitaine ...
It's easy to find out, just climb the hill in front of the campsite ...
As you leave the La Grisse campsite, you cross the adjoining farm, greeting the unruffled cows, and then head «south»! ... From the top of this hill behind the village of La Jonchère, the landscape suddenly opens up as far as the eye can see, all the way to the sea, leaving your eyes wide open at the sight of the Charentais Plain, plunging straight into the Marais Poitevin, with the coastal Forêt Domaniale set against the Dune in the background... You can already smell the iodised ocean air, which is just what you came for!
All to the Beach ...
From there, it's on to Angles, which will remain your nearest village during your stay ...
As you leave the village, you cross a small bridge over the Troussepoil, a small river which, like you, comes from the Bocage, and this is the Marais Poitevin! ...
If you follow the small road straight on, surrounded by canals, you'll see the immensity of the meadows as far as the eye can see, cows, migratory birds... Look to your left, a colony of Swans proudly displaying their skulls, and there's a Stork perched on its nest, with its 3 youngsters sticking their heads out... Further on, a Heron with its long beak leaves no chance for this Frog or Eel, under the indifferent gaze of this enormous Gondine Rat, busy grazing on the bank ... But let's carry on, because the children are getting impatient, they want to swim and they're right, you have to make the most of the brilliant sunshine on this Côte de Lumière! ...the beach at longeville
At the end of the road, here is the village of Conches, owned by the commune of Longeville/Mer located nearly 10 km away ! ... Yes, this is France and its communal logic !!! ... But we'll come back to Longeville later...
This little village of Les Conches is very typical of coastal fishing villages, like those of La Terrière further on and La Tranche/Mer. In the past, people here lived exclusively off the production of meagre patches of sand and «fishing on foot» for a pittance, according to nature's whims... Today, these villages, which can be found all along the coast, have changed a great deal, the small farmers have disappeared and, ironically for modern times, their patches of sand are now worth their weight in gold! ...
As soon as you enter the village, a subtle scent takes hold of your nostrils, and you realise that it's the «Maritime Pines» as you take the long driveway leading to the beach... An immensity of Pines, Green Oaks and Oyats, rooted in the Dune to hold it back, but listen, the muffled sound of the Ocean heard from the forest is becoming clearer and clearer... Take a left when you reach the large car park, it will be quieter ... A few steps further is «Bud-Bud», the surfers' beach ... A small path opens up, and suddenly emerging from the shade of the pines, it's the bright sun ... Whouaahh, finally the beach! ... The burning sand and invigorating sea air, the immensity of the horizon and the Baie d'Aunis, for me the most beautiful in the Vendée... Amazing! ...
ecole de surf bud There, you descend from the dune towards the Grande Plage, a well-known surf spot, with huge waves, not a single stone, just sand, fine sand as far as the eye can see for 8 km... The sound of the waves, the cries of joy, happiness... Quickly, the children run and splash about, already in the water... Careful, not too fast! ... But of course, nobody listens! ... Sea bathing, sunbathing, then a spot of beach volleyball after a trial session of surfing at the «Bud Surfclub» ... Impossible before leaving not to take a few moments to scrape the sand at the water's edge to look for «Pignons», a kind of small flat shell also called «Télines», strangely out of alignment and resembling a butterfly once opened and unfolded completely ... They are so delicious as an aperitif, grilled in a pan with garlic butter... By the way, at the next high tide you should go to the Lighthouse, there on the limestone plateau uncovered at low tide, to catch the Stranded Crabs, the Winkles with their pointed tips, the Pink Prawns so terrible to catch, and with a bit of luck maybe a nice Dungeness Crab... But here come the children, crying out for food: Popsicles, hot chichis on the beach... Ah, that's what holidays are all about! ...
Come on, it's time to go home ... But first, how about a nice home-made ice cream in La Tranche/Mer? ... Ouiii ! Of course ... A few kilometres and you're in the Grande Rue near the church ... Onlookers and hawkers rub shoulders in a good-natured crowd ... « It's true that La Tranche/Mer has been lovely since they redid the centre,» says one of them! ... In fact, this little village, which increases its population 10-fold in the summer, is looking pretty good these days... By the way, don't forget to come and see the fireworks displays on 14 July and 15 August, they're so beautiful! ...
Dinner at Angles, the Legend of the Bear ...
Well, this time we're going home ... But in the end, given the time, everyone agrees that it's too late to light the Barbecue on the pitch at Camping la Grisse, and then, tomorrow there's the weekly Aperitif offered by the owner every year in the July-August high season, which is scheduled for every Wednesday or Thursday evening at the campsite under the Préau at the entrance ...
This will be followed by an «Open Barbecue» where everyone will get together with their «dinner» to be grilled on the large barbecues on the campsite ... Afterwards, it will surely be the young musicians from la Grisse who will take over, unless it's the 2 Fab. from «DeeFazz», or «Francis and Benjamin» from 44°5 covering the international PopRock repertoire with the audience... This has been the great tradition every Summer at la Grisse since the very beginning... You won't want to miss it!...
By the way, speaking of musicians, I hear they're playing this evening in front of «La Cambuse» at «Johann's»... Why don't we go and see them? ... We'll take the opportunity to try the good Moules de l'Aiguillon, with marinara or cream, we'll see... Mmm! ... And if you don't like mussels, you're wrong, that said, there's nothing to stop you having a good pizza at the Trattoria, they're so delicious! ...
Look, you're standing at the foot of the magnificent Romanesque church in Angles, so while you're listening to the musicians, raise your head and take a good look ... See that amazing stone bear perched on the gable roof, just above the entrance doors? ... But what's he doing up there? ... Why does he seem petrified with anger at the crowd below? ... What's his story? ... He's the Bear of the Troussepoil ...
The Troussepoil is this little river, a former coastal river, which runs through our Canton from the Sources de St Avaugourd des Landes via Les Moutiers-les-Mauxfaits, down to the coast along the Givre and the Bernard, as we shall soon see, and which flows into the Marais Poitevin at Angles ... Remember, you passed over the bridge this morning on your way to the Plage des Conches! ...The bear at Angles
The legend of the Bear tells of a long time ago, in this deep, wild valley, very close to the river Grisse, lived a huge, bloodthirsty bear who terrorised the whole region... He attacked herds, shepherds and any unfortunate person who dared to venture there... When the bear approached the river to drink near the bridge, it was said that he had so much blood on his lips that the water turned red ... So this place became known as the Red Bridge! ... Legend also has it that on cold winter days, when the Bear put his feet in the water, his fur would immediately stand on end, so the river became known as «Troussepoil»! ... But the anger of the people was mounting: it was impossible to get to the Lavoir de Choisy from Le Givre by the «Chemin des Belles Filles»... It was too much! ... So a mysterious hermit, half soothsayer, was summoned from who knows where... He gathered together all the local people and told them: «I'm going to get rid of this animal, but on one condition: above all, you mustn't make fun of it, otherwise a terrible curse will fall on you! »The Hermit found the Bear, and then, strangely enough, led it like a sheep with his stick through the valley to Angles... There, he made the Bear climb onto the roof of the Church, which then leaned towards the crowd gathered below, showing menacing fangs. Then suddenly, the Soothsayer held out his stick to the Bear and transformed it into stone!.. Amazing! ... Miracle! ... The crowd exulted, dancing and howling at the «EvilBeast«, then the «Beautiful Girls» of Frost, delighted to see him in such a bad position, came to laugh at him...
«A curse, I warned you!» shouted the Druid at the idiots, and immediately the girls became so ugly that they were chased out of the village! Legend has it that the girls of Givre have remained «very ugly» ever since! ... Well, that's no exaggeration !!! ...
After a wonderful evening of storytelling and music, it's time to head back to the campsite ...
Now that we've had time to relax on the coast, we're off to do a bit of «culture» and discover the hinterland...
In pursuit of «Charette» in the Bocage ...
Leaving from La Grisse campsite, say hello to the cows on the farm and set off for the mysterious «Haut Bocage», where you'll follow the paths of Tales and Legends ...
After the first kilometre along the Route du Givre, you'll come across the «Pavé de Gargantua», then at the Gué du Troussepoil, listen carefully for the famous «Legend of the Bear» that frightens young girls by the river! ... Yes, we talked about that earlier... Then, among the oaks and ferns, you take the famous sunken lanes used by the «Paysans Vendéens» who revolted against the «Terror of 1793» during the French Revolution, which hunted down priests and forced young boys to be killed to defend the brutal Republic they no longer recognised... It was here that, in order to take the «Port de Moricq» from the Republicans, the «Amazons» of «Monsieur De Charette» tried to take the «Château du Givre» from La Brunière, and thus cut off the strategic royal road from Luçon to the Port of Les Sables d'Olonne (today the D949), at the «Pont Rouge«, the fugitives even dropped a few coins which we found in our fields at La Grisse, 200 years later! It's true! ... Finally repulsed, you follow those who were then known as «Brigands» along «le chemin du Pavé«, along this ancient Roman road leading to «la Templerie» and into the strange forest of Moutiers-les-Mauxfaits via a new ford at Troussepoil, «la Passagère»...etang-de-Bois-Lambert Then, tired, you leave them there, by stopping at the edge of this superb pond of «Bois Lambert» inviting to dream, very close to the Park «Indian Forest» where young and old jump from tree to tree, like the squirrels which populate the forest... Then, resuming your journey along the «Joyeuse«, you continue towards St Vincent/Graon towards the Lac du Graon, where you can fish and swim for hours on end, between siesta and excitement! ...
Come on, it's time to move on a bit, let's continue towards Champ St Père ... A new deep valley awaits you a little further on: the «Vallée de l'Yon» ... La Baffardière, la Pierre aux Fées, then finally at l'Aubonnière and the «Chaos de Piquet» this unique site, one of the most beautiful in the Vendée! ... You'll spend hours discovering each of the 40 mills along these narrow paths... La Chaussée, le Petit Pont, le Lavoir, le Séchoir and la Filature (the spinning mill) are all reminders of a time, not so long ago, when the rhythm of life was set by nature, as the water flowed by...
Stop for a moment and listen carefully ... Yes, it's the Goblins from the «Maison des Libellules» who come to surround you ... Perhaps with a bit of luck, one day you'll hear «Fabienne the Storyteller» tell you the history of these places in the language of Shakespeare and that of our Dutch friends ...
Now let's go over to the other side to cool off at «la Guinguette» ... Further north, it's Chaillé Sous les Ormeaux, a name that in itself sounds like a whole programme, then Nesmy with its «Golf de la Domangère» and St Florent de Bois ... But let's return to Rosnay via the Tablier, you're in the heart of our magnificent Fiefs Vendéens AOC classified vineyard! ... After a well-deserved tasting at Christian Jard's «Château de Rosnay» of wonderful Grand Cru wines, you will no doubt end up with the famous «Troussepinette»...
You then head back along the Route des Vins, a little cheerful but hopefully not too much so, towards Mareuil/Lay Dissais, a magnificent village full of flowers and remarkable for its architecture... After a good «Jambon-Mojettes» finished off with a «Mizotte» at the «Mareuillais» restaurant, you continue north-eastwards along all those winding roads alongside the «Grand Lay», then leave it and head further and further towards the Haut Bocage with Château Guibert and its «Lac du Marillet«, a famous fishing spot, Then there's Bournezeau and its «Courses de Côtes», Gramont Abbey, the windmills of Mouchamps and Mont des Alouettes, Les Herbiers and St Michel Mont Mercure with its Archangel St Michel sparkling with "a thousand golden leaves" on the top of the church tower, the highest point in the Vendée at 290 m, no less! ...
Then finally, there's the fabulous «Puy du Fou» with its Grand Parc and Cinéscénie, which won an Oscar in 2011 and is one of the most fantastic shows in the world! ... After the little stories, you suddenly join the great History of the Vendée, so marvellously brought back to life by the De Villiers family and the solidarity of 3 villages of volunteers, over the last 35 years! ...Cinescenie du Puy du Fou
From Rome's Colosseum to the Knights of the Round Table, from the Fort of the An Mil to the Ball of the Phantom Birds, from Joan of Arc's Medieval City to Richelieu's Musketeers, from the 13th-century Village to the 19th-century Village, not forgetting the Terrible Wars of the Vendée, you'll find yourself immersed in each of these eras by day and by night... An unmissable highlight of your visit to the Vendée, you'll leave with unforgettable memories! ...
And now, why not push on to the Château de Tiffauges?
There, you arrive on the Marches de Bretagne, on the northern border of Bas Poitou ... This is the legend of «Bluebeard» and the true story of «Gilles de Rais», Joan of Arc's famous brother-in-arms, with whom they liberated Charles VII's moribund Kingdom of France from the English, thus putting an end to the 100 Years' War and definitively forming the nucleus of our present-day France ... An impressive show of life-size medieval catapults ... It's a shame the legend ended very badly for him! ...
On the way back via La Roche/Yon, which we'll talk about in a moment, it's impossible not to stop off at the magnificent Logis de la Chabotterie in St Sulpice le Verdon, a little architectural gem from the 18th century...
You are witnessing the last moments of freedom and the arrest of our brave Vendean leader, François Athanase de Charrette de la Contrie, whom we met at the beginning of our journey near the Château du Givre. His execution in Nantes in 1796 put an end, almost definitively, to the Vendean Revolt...
But it's another chef who will make you forget all the miles you've travelled in his superb, Michelin-starred Restaurant de la Chabotterie...
Back to Aquitaine
But let's go back to Mareuil/Lay ... From there you cross the «Pont Neuf» spanning our famous river «le Lay«, a true North-South gateway between Bocage and Plaine, between Brittany and Aquitaine ... Visual, spectacular! ...
As if emerging from a tunnel, you leave the Bocage, so strange and reassuring at the same time, and suddenly enter the great white-stone Charentais plain of the southern Vendée, battered by the Atlantic westerlies...
In the distance, you can see a spire standing proudly like a lighthouse in the middle of the flat expanse. It's Luçon Cathedral, a veritable watchtower in the middle of this vast territory ... cathedrale de luconYou have a better understanding of the terror of these «Vendean insurgents» who were never able to get close to it, frightened by what they saw, like wild rabbits emerging from the undergrowth in the Forest of Ste Gemme! ...
A place steeped in history and the Episcopal Centre of the Vendée, Luçon was the bishopric that was «the muddiest in the kingdom», according to its famous bishop at the very end of the 16th century, who later became Cardinal de Richelieu, and who unified France through his religious and political authority, bringing the Wars of Religion to a bloody end throughout the Bas Poitou region as far as La Rochelle, the Ile de Ré and the nearby Charentes, but we'll come back to that at the end ...
After visiting this strange 15th-century Flamboyant Gothic cathedral with its imposing cloister, built on the foundations of the primitive 7th-century Abbey, you set off with your bag full of Kamok, Kayouski and other Liqueur des Vendéens from the Vrignaud distillery just opposite to stroll through the magnificent Jardin Duhmaine! ... But then it's on to the Marais Poitevin via the Vieux Port de Luçon...
«A »land born of the sea" but lost in the middle of the earth! ... Sad destiny for this forgotten Port of Luçon, now a Car Park! ... There's not a trace left, apart from the buildings around it and its old quarter! ... And the Sea? ... It has gone, far, far away, more than 20 km, leaving this seemingly infinite expanse of land to the control of mankind...
However, Luçon was once a port... Legend has it that the town was founded in ancient times by «Lucio», King of the Sea, one of the Cartaginians who sailed along the coast from the south via «Tonay Charente» (the Charente estuary) and «l'Houmeau» (the first natural port north of La Rochelle, near today's bridge on the Ile de Ré, in a small estuary leading to Nieul/Mer), They then crossed the Pertuis Breton, then the ancient sea of the Gulf of the Pictons (which has since become the Marais Poitevin) via the islands of St Denis du Payré or St Michel en l'Herm as far as Luçon, and then headed north again via Belesbat (St Vincent/Jard), continuing on to Noirmoutier and Armorique (Brittany)...
Long a stronghold of Roman antiquity, Luçon was devastated by the Norman Hordes in the 9th century, as was the entire region... Eventually, this port sank into the mud of the Estuary, which became land, definitively tamed by the monks during the Middle Ages... For a long time, however, Luçon tried desperately to connect to the Ocean via its modest Canal, like an umbilical cord linked to its «Sea», but this narrow canal, which was once reputed to be inconvenient, finally closed at the «Porte aux Herbes», leaving Luçon definitively to the Land ...
We now head further east towards Niord on the «Route Royale» (D949) from Les Sables d'Olonne, which is of fundamental importance in the southern Vendée... We arrive at Fontenay le Comte, the historic capital of the Bas Poitou region...
This legitimate city of the Counts of Poitou enjoyed the grandeur of the First Lady of the Renaissance under François I and Rabelais, with its Rue des Loges, its half-timbered houses and the «Fontaine des 4 Tias»... Then, after the black episode of the Wars of Religion, it was on the day it was recognised as a chief town, which gave its name to the new department of Vendée, that it suffered the worst humiliation of the Republic, repudiated by Napoleon like a common mistress who had become a nuisance and useless, to the benefit of the new Prefecture of La Roche/Yon! ...
The town of Fontenay le Comte is crossed by the river «Vendée» which rises in the mysterious «Forêt de Mervent» located just north of the town on the Massif Houiller near Vouvant and the wines of Pissote ... In the heart of this forest near the Great Lake, the Barrage de Mervent, is nestled the famous Zoological Park «NaturZoo» where you can admire white wolves, black bears, and other wild African animals in the wild ...
As in Brocéliande, this magical, ancestral place is home to another «Lady of the Lake», the «Fairy Mélusine»... Half angel, half demon, legend has it that a river flows from her bosom, taking the name of the «Vendée blanche»... So aptly named, this ancient river would become the name of this young department, newly created in 1790 by the fledgling Republic, symbolising only a few months later the Royalist national anarchy by its name alone, «Vendée«, thus unwittingly entering the history books and the collective memory of a region in its own right! ...
Ironically, Fontenay, «the faithful», definitively lost its status as the 1st town in the Vendée, which means that it was the Republic's «cuckold» for having remained faithful to it during the Vendée Wars! ... In fact, in order to pacify the Bocage once and for all, which was decidedly too tumultuous, Napoleon, now Emperor, ordered the creation of a new administrative centre, «La Roche/Yon»...
Why was this village, already an important historical crossroads, totally ruined and lost in a rebel zone? ... Well, all you have to do is look at a map! ...
La Roche/Yon has a perfect geographical location right in the centre of the country, «strategically only a day's ride from any point in the département», as it was called at the time... So here we have this completely new town, created on the ruins of its ancient «Castrum»... Designed in the shape of a Roman «Pentagon», «Cardo et Decumanus», with a perfect grid of streets based on the ancient model, in the romantic «Neo-Classical» image of the great American cities of the young United States... This was the fashion of the day, and was to be found everywhere in the projects of the time...
La Roche/Yon was the starting point for all the new Departmental Roads that still exist today, a veritable cheese cut into almost equal parts like a pizza, in order to militarily and administratively control every parcel of this rebellious Vendéen Territory! ... A perfect job, military, Cartesian, rectilinear ... Just look at our current map, almost nothing has changed, apart from these 2 recent cross-shaped motorways, which have simply followed the old route ... Moreover, the Vendée is reputed to have the best road network in France! ...
Renamed «Napoléon Vendée» with its National Hara, La Roche/Yon became a Military and Administrative Prefecture in 1804, and only regained its original name with the return of the Third Republic at the end of the 19th century ...
This decision, which was the foundation of the Vendée as we know it today, brought a definitive end to the disastrous history of a territory that had been out of control for so long ...
North-South, White-Blue, Royalist-Republican, every stone burnt in each of our villages, on each of our farms, bears the blood shed during this terrible and inglorious period for our Republic, when no one knew who was who ... Today, passions have joined the Pantheon of History in unity, where everyone has nevertheless managed to retain a little of their identity ... « Utrique Fidelis » « Faithful to both », the Double Vendéen Heart has become the symbol of this ... Utrique Fidelis" "Faithful to one another", the Double Coeur Vendéen has become the symbol of this ... (cf. Origin)
How fascinating it is to retrace this tragic history, so close to us, but so little known by the general public... Don't hesitate to go into it, the Conseil Général is making a major contribution with its Memorial and all its historic sites to visit, it's our identity...
In the footsteps of Eleanor ...
Let's continue for a few more kilometres and go back in time in the footsteps of Eleanor in the 12th century, the golden age of Romanesque abbeys and cathedrals...
In the magnificent cloister of Nieul/L'Autize, at the gateway to the Charentes region, you will follow in the footsteps of Eleanor of Aquitaine, known as Alienor in the Langue d'Oc, reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the kingdom and head of the largest Duchy in France in the Middle Ages, stretching from the Loire to the Pyrenees ...
First a young Queen of France through her 1st marriage to Louis VII, Alienor later eloped with Henry II Plantagenet, Duke of Anjou-Normandy, to become the first Queen of England... This ultimately tumultuous union led to the creation of the Anglo-Norman Aquitanian Empire, a veritable 2nd Kingdom on French soil, seriously threatening the legitimacy of the neighbouring «Frankish» Kingdom...
A muse to Kings, this exceptional woman left her mark on the entire founding era of the Romantic Middle Ages and the «Troubadour Knights«. This exceptional woman left her mark on the whole of this founding period of the Romantic Middle Ages and the «Troubadour Knights», forcibly marrying »Francois" and "Anglois" in a long shared History, sometimes for the better, but very often for the worse! ...Talmont castle
His favourite son, the famous Richard the Lionheart, loved coming to hunt in the region at his Château de Talmont, a major coastal town accessible from the sea via the Payré... But we'll come back to that later...
Finally, there's Maillezais, another major town in the Bas Poitou region, situated in the middle of the «Green Venice«, an island of enchanting greenery drowned in canals and saturated with green, at the easternmost point of the extensive Marais Poitevin... The tomb of the first Counts of Poitou and long-time rival of Luçon, Maillezais eventually fell victim to the Wars of Religion.
You'll spend a pleasant day walking along the paths in the cool shade of the willows and pollarded ash trees, among the stonecutters at the foot of the remains of Maillezais Abbey... Picnics by the water and family boat trips with the help of a «pigouille», a large pole that is pushed along the bottom of the water to push aside the green duckweed that covers everything, causing the famous «will-o»-the-wisps" that give it such a beautiful postcard image...
Back to la Grisse via the Marais ...
A flat expanse left by the seemingly infinite sea, under the direction of Dutch monks in the 15th century the dykes and canals have been shaped by the hand of man over time, between this multitude of islands: Damvix, Vix, le Gué de Velluire (the only North-South crossing point), Chaillé les Marais, Ste Radegonde des Noyers, Puyravault, Champagné, Traize, St Denis du Payré, Grues, and finally Moricq with its «watchtower», the «Tour de Moricq» which guards the entrance to the small old port on the Lay...
Our river, which we found at the start of our journey, flows into the sea in the estuary between La Faute/Mer and L'Aiguillon/Mer a few kilometres away, contributing its alluvial deposits to the continual creation of the Marais Poitevin along with the Sèvre Niortaise further south, on the Charente Maritime border, providing freshwater for our famous «Moules de Bouchau-Tour de Moricqx», so delicious in the Baie de l'Aiguillon, also known as the «Golfe des Pictons«, or more broadly as the «Pertuis Breton», just opposite La Rochelle and the Ile de Ré ...
But let's get back on our bikes and take the narrow paths back to St Benoist/Mer and its water sports centre ... Well, why «Sur Mer» here ...??? ...
Well, because the sea was there too, a long time ago «at the time of the Romans» ... But it's been a long time since the sea left, more than 15 km away ... Today, it's the major bed of our river «the Grand Lay«, but already the Marais Poitevin ... Decidedly, this Marais is still there! ... Yes, it's over 100 km long, from Niord to Longeville/Mer, a real natural barrier all along the south of the Vendée!
Now, before heading home, we drive up through the small limestone plain of St Benoist to St Cyr en Talmondais, just a few kilometres away, and there it is again, our Route Royale D949 with our Bocage in the background! ...
The Cour d'Aron flower park, with its superb «Lotus» trees, and the Auberge de la Cour d'Aron a little further on, part of the «plush» Château de la Cour d'Aron rebuilt at the end of the 19th century, are just a few minutes' drive from La Grisse...
We're heading back via the Jonchère, just behind the campsite ...
Le Carnac Vendéen ...
Here we are again at the start of La Grisse, heading back west towards Le Bernard along the famous «Chemin des Belles Filles» mentioned on our walk to Angles ... You arrive here exactly at the ford where we left L'Ours, near another fine 19th-century château, «Château de Choisy» ...
Cross over and you're now in the Bernard on the «Carnac Vendéen» territory...
Funerary wells by the path opposite, Menhirs du Plessis, de la Pierre Levée, Cairn du Pey de Fontaine, Dolmens de la Cour du Breuil, de Savatole and one of the largest in Europe, the Dolmen de la Frébouchère. The dolmens of Cour du Breuil and Savatole, and one of the largest in Europe, the Frébouchère dolmen...
You then head off to Avrillé to visit the «Roi des Ménhirs«, also one of the largest in Europe, before finishing at the Cairn in St Hilaire la Forêt, where you can try your hand at Rupestrian craftsmanship... All these impressively large funerary monuments have stood there for almost 5,000 years, marking the end of prehistory and the beginning of contemporary civilisation...
Ironically, it's in the midst of these ancient megaliths that our new, ultra-modern wind turbines are being erected, the symbol of this 21st century «New Religion»! ... They can be spotted from dozens of kilometres away, but will they still be there in 5,000 years' time?...
Our walk now continues towards the coast, at Longeville/Mer ...
Situated on the Plaine Aquitaine side, this «long» piece of land with a view of the sea also has to contend with the nearby Armorique Bocagère, with its feet in the water of the Marais Poitevin finally coming to an end here... But one thing's for sure, it's «maritime»!...
Yet there are no harbours, no boats, just the Atlantic Ocean as far as the eye can see, in front of the Dune's fragrant maritime pine forest, a vast bay 15 km long from the Tranche/Mer lighthouse to St Vincent/Jard ...
Remember, you've already been to Les Conches at the other end... Here, you're at Le Petit Rocher, Longeville's main beach... Here, the pebbles are more to the right and the sand more to the left, so it's up to you...
Time to swim, surf and sunbathe in the sunshine of this magnificent «Côte de Lumière», and we're off again on the right-hand side ... the beach at longeville.
Walking between sand and pebbles, you come to «Le Bouil«, another of Longeville's beautiful beaches... Back on fine sand, it's very pretty here, much quieter, «the place to be»!...
Leaving the Longeville beaches, you enter «Le Goulet» in St Vincent Sur Jard to visit «Bélésbat» ...
This rocky promontory was once a Cartaginian trading post ... Remember, we've already talked about these famous explorers of the Ancient World just before the Roman Era who sailed north along the Atlantic coast from «Lucio» (Luçon) ...
But it was also the last home of the «Tiger«, «Georges Clemenceau» this «Vendéen Giant»... Now a «Clemenceau Museum» for this exceptional person, you will learn about the history of the man in the great History of France... This house is located exactly at the western tip of this beautiful Baie d'Aunis, undoubtedly the most beautiful viewpoint of the Vendée and the Atlantic...
Between limestone and granite ...
On arriving at St Vincent/Jard, you will surely have noticed that the coastline has changed, the pebbles have given way to pebbles, lots and lots of pebbles... It is now a real little stony cliff on this point which seems to have no end, forming a new little cove...
On the other side, Jard/Mer now appears with its small dry port ...
Take a good look under those large flat stones that have been turned over. Yes, that's a crab escaping, then another, and over there in that puddle are little grey shrimps, the «Bouc»... There too, it's «fishing on foot» at low tide, with everyone with their basket tirelessly turning over and over each stone in the hope of finding «Berniques» and «Bigorneaux Ronds»... Be careful not to slip on the seaweed and tip your basket over! ...
You continue along this coastline, which is now known as «Ragounite» ... Amidst the pebbles, the sand reappears timidly between the pebbles, as do the pines and holm oaks ... Picnic tables and the intoxicating scent of the pines invite you inexorably to stop here for lunch ...
Take a siesta, play a game of boules, go for a swim, and look south at this pretty little Breton-style beach, a real picture-postcard sight, superb!
Continuing along the beach for a while, the colour of the small cliffs suddenly changes again... The large flat clay-limestone rocks give way to reddish rocks that look as if they have been burnt from the bowels of the Earth... Wow, it's shiny! Gold??? ... But no, that would be too beautiful! ... It's «Iron Pyrite», you're on the «Mine Beach», a real open-air Iron Mine ... Go ahead, take a pebble from the cliff, see how heavy it is, even though it's a small piece! ...
Now go a few metres further, and there's a shock! ...
A sort of tongue of brown lava rises up from the reddish rock, mixed with a host of colours, and now replaces it in the cliff face ... This is the appearance of the «Granite» - you've just entered Brittany! ...
Yes, here we are again, exactly at the famous geological boundary between Brittany and Aquitaine, the «Armorican Massif and the Aquitaine Basin»... It's really quite impressive! ...
Time for a photo, one foot on either side of the Continent, and the GR National 364 passes by and grabs you, taking you a few hundred metres to the very end, the Pointe du Payré ... There, the wide Payré Estuary opens up, blocking the continuity of the Beach ...pointe du payré
Turning slightly right under the fragrant pines shaped by the westerly winds, the path suddenly opens out onto the beach... On the other side, just opposite, is the Petit Port de la Guitière...
In front of this arm of the sea, revealing a sandbank, is the surrounding salt marsh and its Etiers ... But how to cross? ... By the Gué de la Guitière, here at low tide you pass to the other side! ...
Knee-deep in water, hand in hand, it's the «Crossing of the Red Sea», brilliant! ... On the other side, the Guitière, a small Port of Boucholeurs breeders of oysters matured in ancient Clairs de Sel ... Shacks with their feet in the water, the «Maison Dorie» brings out your basket of oysters «Fines de Clairs» with a delicious iodised flavour, which you will take away ... Famous! ...
The castle of King Richard the Lionheart ...
After the tasting, here's a bit of history ...
Just a few minutes from the Payré Estuary, you arrive at Talmont St Hilaire by the river of the same name, or rather by its original name, Talmond. The name alone evokes the past of the 11th and 12th centuries, when the Dukes of Aquitaine and the Anglo-Norman Kingdom were united by Eleanor of Aquitaine...
This is the castle of Richard the Lionheart, his beloved son. You can relive the life of the Troubadours and the Knights« Tournaments of this famous King of England through tales and legends, as well as the real history of the 2 kingdoms of France, the »Normans« and the »Franks«, both equally legitimate through their sacred union, who fought to the death for centuries until the 100 Years» War, when the «Frankish» kingdom finally triumphed. There was only supposed to be one left! ... "
From its Palaeolithic and Ancient origins, it was the Romans who established the first bases of this strategic site at Talmond, controlling the whole of the western part of the region which was later to become the Bas Poitou... Then came the first Normans and their destruction until the year 1000...
Finally, in the 11th century, the first «solid» Château de Talmond was built by the first Counts of Poitou on this Motte de Défense, sheltered naturally and accessible from the sea from the outset by the Payré... But it was Richard the Lionheart, heir to the Plantagenet kingdom, who had the great medieval Château built at the home of his friend and Vassal Raoul de Mauléon...
Adoring these places and the immense forests of the Bocage, on his return from the Crusade he would spend days criss-crossing the Landes and Forêts de Gros Bois (Grosbreuil), Nieul le Dolent, Poiroux, St Avaugourd des Landes, la Boissière des Landes as far as Aubigny in endless hunting parties, unless, after Grobreuil, it was rather in the direction of the Pays des Achards, via Girouard, la Chapelle Achard, la Mothe Achard, as far as St Julien des Landes, returning via Vairé, St Maturin and Sainte Foy... He also had the Abbey of Lieu Dieu de Jard built, located at the entrance to Le Payré, very close to where you were just now ...
A visit to our Charentaise neighbour ...
Here's a good idea: set off on a mini Inter-Islands Cruise directly from the La Tranche/Mer landing stage... This superb trip will take you around the Ile de Ré, Ile d'Aix and Ile d'Oléron, as well as the famous «Fort Boyard», known to all...
Now, for those of you who don't have the sea legs, we're off again via the Marais Poitevin ...
Leaving La Grisse, at the 1st roundabout in Angles behind the hill, head for Moricq. There you will find the famous Tour de Moricq and plunge into this world of canals, amidst cows and birds, from the Port de Moricq on the Lay ...
On this little road, you will follow the path of the old coasters through these ancient islands: Grues, St Denis du Payré, Triaize, Champagné les Marais, Puyravault... On the way to La Rochelle, we leave the Vendée department at the Braud bridge over the Sèvre Niortaise and enter Charentes Maritimes, at Charron, a small stopper's port in the estuary, famous for its Moules de Boucheaux from the Baie de l'Aiguillon... From here, the view of the bay is magical, wild...
After Charron and a few kilometres, we suddenly climb onto the limestone plateau on the other side via Esnandes and Nieul/Mer, before arriving at La Rochelle... Here, you have three options: to the right, the Ile de Ré; opposite, the town of La Rochelle; and to the left, heading south via Rochefort/Mer...
We'll start with the Ile de Ré ...
Via the Port de la Pallice, we immediately climb the impressive Pont de l'Ile de Ré, overlooking the major deep-water commercial port in the area, thus spanning the small arm of the sea separating the island from the mainland... We enter the Ile de Ré via Rivedoux and La Flotte, then on to St Martin de Ré, the pearl of the island... It's amazing to think that barely an hour's drive from La Grisse will have sufficed!...
High above the vineyards, St Martin de Ré is a superb 12th century village fortified by Vauban, the famous Minister of Louis XIV... A real postcard...
The Citadelle Vauban was built as part of the defence of La Rochelle against the English enemy of the time... After visiting the legendary prison, you can enjoy a delicious fish soup with croutons in the sunshine, with a glass of rosé wine from the island's vineyards, in the little port from which the convicts left for Cayenne so recently... Then stroll through the superb cobbled streets of the Village des Artistes, which blend in beautifully with the walls of the Citadelle, from the top of which you can admire the Baie de l'Aiguillon opposite, and even, if you look carefully, see La Tranche/Mer and the Bernard Aeolian Windmills in the distance! ...
The crossing of this long island takes you via La Couarde/Mer and Ars en Ré to the Phare des Baleines at the far end, facing the Atlantic Ocean... A photo with the children, and back to La Rochelle on the Continent...
La Rochelle, an eternal rebel town throughout its history, so beautiful and so tragic at the same time! ... Independent and resolutely turned towards the Sea, this City of Sailors, which is still today a stronghold of grain merchants, was also involved in «Black Gold» in its time, like its sisters Bordeaux and Nantes...
A veritable Atlantic bridgehead, it was Eleanor of Aquitaine who had the town founded in the 12th century ... It then experienced the Golden Age of the Anglo-Norman Plantagenet Empire with Talmond on the other side of the Pertuis Breton ...
A beautiful, rebellious mistress in the image of its founder, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and fiercely contested during the Franco-English wars of the Middle Ages, La Rochelle always remained extremely resistant to the control of the Kings of France ...
Although French at heart, this liberal Protestant town often found itself involved in plots with its British allies against the France of the Kings, using its natural refuges of the Ile de Ré and the Marais Poitevin during the Wars of Religion ... But it was finally Richelieu, former Bishop of Luçon who became Cardinal of France under Louis XIII, who finally subdued it, in blood ...
Difficult to defend and under the watchful eye of the Kings of France, it was nevertheless part of Vauban's 1st «Atlantic Wall» ... But it was Rochefort/Mer «la Docile», which was easier to defend, that was to become Louis XVI's Arsenal along with Bordeaux, Lorient and Brest ...
The 19th century was a period of oblivion for La Rochelle, with the abolition of slavery and the decline of the proud Old Port, which had become too small and useless...
In the end, it was the Third Republic at the end of the 19th century that enabled this legitimate daughter to build a large modern deepwater port at La Pallice, definitively supplanting Rochefort/Mer, the favourite of the Kings ...
Its commercial destiny changed in 1940, when the Port of La Pallice became a German submarine base for the famous «UBoots» ... Arriving from the Ile de Ré, you see this enormous mass almost intact, although La Pallice was completely devastated by the Allies at the end of the 2nd World War, and La Rochelle one of the last cities liberated ...
Let's move on now to the miraculously preserved «Old» La Rochelle... Take the «Mail» to the «St Jean d'Acre» car park, and you'll find yourself on the outer quay of the Old Port at the foot of the «Tour des 4 Sergents»... This is the very spot where the famous «Francofolies» take place every year...
Entering the walls of the «Old Town» via the Old Port passes under the «Tour de la Chaine» and there on the Quays, the pleasure boats wait quietly for the rising tide... On the left are the seafood restaurants facing the Old Port, shellfish, fish, an idyllic setting, everything awaits you for the pleasure of the senses... Magnificent! ...
A little further on, you enter the Old Town with all its pretty shops under the arcades of listed buildings dating from the 12th to 18th centuries...
On the other side of the Old Port is the Tour St Nicolas, the largest of its kind. This former prison majestically guards the entrance to the Port... Just behind it, you enter one of Europe's largest aquariums, the Nautilus, Captain Nemo's submarine... Suddenly, you're travelling at the bottom of the oceans, surrounded by giant fish...
Then, at the end of the jetty, you come to the «Port des Minimes«, a superb marina...
We're leaving La Rochelle and heading south ...
It's Fourras, a pretty little seaside resort at the end of this magnificent peninsula opposite the Ile d'Aix with its Boucheaux d'Huîtres de la Pointe de la Fumée ...
Then, if you continue a little further, you'll arrive at Rochefort/Mer ...
This small military town, founded by Colbert on the orders of Louis XIV, was the scene of intense activity for almost 3 centuries with its Arsenal Maritime ... Indeed, after the final grounding of the old Arsenal of Richelieu de Brouage in the marshes of Marenne Oléron located a little lower, it was decided to build a new strategic place on the Charente ...
Located almost 12 kilometres inland, but accessible to shipping at the time via the estuary of the Charente coastal river and, above all, easy to protect, Rochefort/Mer was chosen ...
Because of the marshes, all the buildings in the Arsenal were built on stilts, a real technical feat for the time, and for 200 years, the finest warships of the French nation would emerge from its holds ...
But in the end, it too was «dumped» in the muddy shallows of its marshy Estuary and, above all, outstripped by the size of the new ships ... The Rochefort Arsenal was decommissioned at the beginning of the 20th century ... Rochefort returned to its status as a small coastal town, retaining its military identity through a Marine Aviation School that is still in operation ...
The Corderie Royale and the Maritime Museum await you for a visit to a not so distant past when Rochefort was also intimately linked to the sea by its coastal river, the Charente ...
As you pass the ghostly but admirable Port de Brouage, so special to visit, lost in the middle of the Marenne marshes, you continue a little further, just above the Fort de l'Ile Madame, and soon the bridge to the wild Ile d'Oléron ...
Over there, on the other side of the Ile d'Oléron, is the Port de la Cotinière, facing the ocean, or Boyardville on the mainland, just opposite Fort Boyard, a famous monument, but one of the biggest misses in history! ...
Ordered at great expense by Napoleon to defend the entrance to the Charente, it was not even equipped ... Indeed, after decades of difficulties and changes of regime, the «Boulet de Canon» had just been replaced by the ’Obu de mortier« with a longer range ... Once completed, it was useless ...
Now a prison for some time, it was abandoned to the seagulls in shame and solitude, like a huge ocean liner stranded there in the middle of the Estuary... But there again, the irony of history is that Fort Boyard was truly resurrected by «Père Fourras», «Félindra» and «Passe-Partout» when it recently became the subject of the famous TV game show, and has now become a must-see attraction in Charente Maritime! ...
We could continue on to Royan and La Palmyre Zoo, but we're going home instead...
Back to la Tranche/Mer ...
Back via La Rochelle, we take our famous Route du Marais back to Lagord, heading for the nearby Vendée ... Le Pont du Braud, Puyravault, Champagné, but at Triaize, we'll make a slight detour along the coast towards La Tranche/Mer via L'Aiguillon/Mer ...
A few kilometres past Triaize is St Michel en L'Herm and its Abbey ... The Abbey of St Michel en l'Herm was the very first to be founded in Bas Poitou in the 11th century, along with Maillezais ...
In this area, huge cultivated fields appear, you find yourself in the granary of the Vendée as far as the Polder du Maroc at the Pointe de l'Aiguillon, the last lands abandoned by the sea and definitively reclaimed by man in the 19th century ... In the middle of this ocean of ears strangely sits an island, like Mont St Michel, it is the rock of the Dive seemingly stranded there, also abandoned by the sea ...
Suddenly, we're on the sea, you're on the Digue de l'Aiguillon, ending at the Pointe de l'Aiguillon at the end of the land, then it's the ocean ... Oh but look, there's the Ile Ré just opposite with the bridge and the docks of La Palice in La Rochelle where we were earlier ... They look so close you could touch them! ... And there's a saying that goes: «If you see them clear and close like that, it's a sign of rain», so let's go inside...
Walking back along this wild strip of land through the precious Digue de l'Aiguillon, you can't help but think back to those sad events of a short time ago ... Indeed, it was here in several places that the dyke gave way during the «Xynthia» storm in 2010, causing the terrible, fatal floods that we all know about ...
It's now L'Aiguillon/Mer with its little fishing port in the Lay estuary, which is also seriously silted up! ... Crossing to the other side of the little bridge, it's La Faute/Mer, then the coastal road to La Belle Henriette, then the arrival at La Tranche/Mer via Ste Anne and La Grière ... CNT
A last Ice House on the Grande Plage, watching the Windsurfers from the Club Nautique Tranchais, in front of the Embarcadère ... This is where the magnificent fireworks are fired on the beach of La Tranche/Mer, every 14 July and 15 August ...
Let's finish with the «Auniscéane» swimming pool at La Tranche/Mer, with its Ammam, Sauna and Jacuzzi, open all year round. ... I highly recommend it, it's a great place for the whole family to relax with friends ... All year round or in Summer, various activities are organised, from VIP Birthdays, Cinépiscine, Végas Howen, Ice Cream Party or Ibiza Afternoon, in the 3 huge pools + Water Tobbogan, with a small Fun Pool for Babies... Fantastic! ...
That's it, after this relaxing moment we're heading back to La Grisse. Our journey will end where it began, on this magnificent Côte Vendéenne...
It's fantastic! ... In just 15 km by bike, all the natural regions are united here ... It's unique ! ... And with only an hour's drive within a 70 km radius, you can visit all the essential places in our region, from the south of the Vendée to Charentes Maritime...