Gateway to the Île de Ré (La Rochelle, France)

Member Name: Belgian999

Product:	La Rochelle, France
Date:	12/03/09 (51 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to get to, plenty to see, relatively unknown destination within France

Disadvantages: Gets very busy in summer

For years, La Rochelle was a place only known to me from hours spent poring over the 'Tricolore' workbook in French class at school. For some reason, most of the people featured in that book were residents of this port on the Atlantic coast, and it has stuck in my mind ever since. However, La Rochelle was added to Ryanair's ever-growing list of French destinations a few years ago, which (coupled with the steady stream of British tourists and emigrants to the central regions of Poitou-Charentes and Charente-Maritime) has seen a rise in tourism to this underrated destination. The construction of a high-speed TGV link direct from Paris in 1993 also now means that it is possible to reach the beach in three hours (and in comfort) from the capital city, and La Rochelle is also easily reached by car, with good road connections leading to the A10 and A83 motorways.

The town itself has a few sights to offer, and I can recommend taking a stroll around the Vieux Port to see the three famous towers that guard the old harbour. It is possible to climb the steps inside the towers for some great views across the port district and the town centre, and there are plenty of restaurants along the waterfront offering local specialities such as crêpes or choucroute-de-mer (seafood sauerkraut, which tastes a hell of a lot better than it might sound), and not at tourist-trap prices either.

However, for many people the main reason for visiting La Rochelle is to get to the Île de Ré. This narrow island is an extremely popular tourist destination for French holidaymakers and foreigners alike, and has long been a favoured getaway for the Paris 'set'. The opening of the bridge connecting the island to La Rochelle in 1988 was greeted with a mixture of relief and fear: relief on the part of the tourists, who no longer have to wait hours to board one of the roll-on/roll-off ferries that were previously the only way to reach the island, and the fear of residents that their peaceful haven would be overrun every summer. The reality, as is so often the case, is probably somewhere in between the two - now, you sweep over the elegant bridge and pay a return toll of Euro9, and the island economy booms every summer with an influx of well-heeled visitors.

Local building regulations designed to protect the integrity of the island ecosystem and retain its quiet and tranquil image ensure that no high-rise hotels can be built anywhere on the Île de Ré. This of course has restricted the amount of hotel rooms and holiday apartments available, meaning that accommodation on the island can fetch astronomical prices, but somehow the local populace of approximately 15,000 manages to co-exist with the waves of tourists in summer (the temporary population can outnumber residents by almost 10-to-1) and also cannot now be cut off from the mainland by winter storms. Traditional island industries producing superb quality sea salt and local wines have enjoyed a resurgence, and the income from tourism has probably more than compensated (in monetary terms at least) for the decline in Atlantic fisheries that affected not just this one island, but many communities all along France's coastline.

In summer the island is famed for its almost tropically warm climate, thanks to the nearby Gulf Stream, and miles of dunes and beaches - it is about 26km in length and at least half of that distance on the southern coast consists of unbroken sand. The roads and fields are crissed-crossed with miles of bicycle paths and it many locals don't even bother using a car to get around most of the time, as the roads are clogged with holiday traffic and it's easier to get around on two wheels. However, just concentrating on the campsites and beaches would be to overlook the wealth of sites of historical and cultural interest that the island has to offer.

One of the first places that grabbed my attention after we crossed the bridge was a symbol on the map to signify the location of the Abbaye des Châteliers. The ruins are to be found just off the north coast road between Rivedoux and La Flotte and have been designated as an official historic site since 1990. The original church and surrounding buildings dated from the 12th century, but were destroyed and rebuilt two hundred years later, only for the Protestant Reformation to bring an end to the Cistercian brotherhood on the island in the late 1500s. The remaining structures have been carefully restored and preserved by local volunteers and the whole site is open to visit without an admission fee, and it is definitely worth spending a few minutes wandering around the remains of what was once a powerful symbol of the authority of the Catholic Church.

Right at the other end of the island, the Phare des Baleines ('Lighthouse of the Whales') dominates the surrounding countryside and is one of the trademarks of the island. Measuring 57 metres in height, the spiral staircase that leads up the tower contains 257 steps and the views from the top are stunning: you can see the whole island laid out before you, stretching back towards the mainland and when you turn around, the enormity of the Atlantic Ocean is right there in front of you. And down below, dwarfed by the more recent structure, is the original lighthouse from 1682, which was constructed on the orders of Vauban, one of the most influential defensive strategists in the history of France, as part of his plan to modernise and protect the island.

He did not just concentrate on maritime structures such as lighthouses, but also ensured that the island's main settlement, St-Martin-de-Ré, was adequately defended from the threatened English invasion. La Rochelle was a prime target for raiders from across the English Channel and the island would have become a perfect stepping-stone to the mainland, but Vauban's defences were one of the main reasons that the island never fell into English hands. You can still see much of the defensive citadel that surrounds the centre of St-Martin-de-Ré, especially if you take the plunge and venture up the rickety wooden stairs the cling to the inside of the belfry of the church of St Martin in the town square.

This view also takes in some of the huge expanses of shallow shorelands and marshes that have been given over to the production of sea salt since time immemorial. The climate and location of the island makes it an ideal place to harvest the salt, but changes in production methods mean that another of the island's trademarks, donkeys in trousers, are now more associated with tourist attractions than salt works. These animals were used to carry the salt back to market but used to suffer terribly from midge bites in the marshes, so someone came up with the idea of clothing their legs in bright gingham fabric (typically blue or red) to protect them.

We visited the island in December, and as a consequence it was a very peaceful and quiet place... however, the proliferation of campsites and holiday flats in every village means that high season is a time to avoid if you prefer solitude and tranquillity, as 100,000 visitors on such a small island means that it can get pretty crowded. The scenery of the island is undoubtedly stunning though, with plenty of hidden corners to discover and it's a beautiful place to visit when the tourist trade is not at its peak - and where else can you see a donkey wearing check trousers?!

Summary: Well worth a visit...