Why the need for a guide to Le Mans? Surely it’s all about the famous annual 24-hour race in June when petrol heads pack the city, and its equally famous car museum?

But no, there’s another side to Le Mans and I hope you’ll be as surprised and delighted as I was to discover an extraordinary preserved and extensive medieval quarter at the city’s heart.

So let’s start at the beginning…(Don’t worry, there’s more about the car race and museum below.)

Old Le Mans

Once a vital Roman stronghold, Le Mans remained important for the next 14 centuries. Walk through the ‘Plantagenet City’ and you step into a history that linked medieval France and England.

Remember King John and Robin Hood? Richard the Lionheart? King Henry and the murder of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury? They all took place while both France and England were part of the mighty Plantagenet Empire that stretched from Scotland in the north down to Spain in the south. In the east the Plantagenet Empire bordered Flanders, Champagne, Burgundy, Savoy and the region around Toulouse.

And Le Mans was the great empire’s heart.

The All-Powerful Plantagenet Kings and Queens

The story begins in 1129 when Geoffrey, the powerful Count of Maine and Anjou married Mathilda, the daughter of Henry I of England and the granddaughter of William the Conqueror. The power marriage had far-reaching consequences. The Plantagenet dynasty lasted until 1485 when Richard III, the last English Plantagenet King of England, died.

Plantagenet Le Mans – Guide to a City within a City

The old 24-hectare quarter sprawls over the hillside above the River Sarthe. Cobbled medieval streets are lined with half-timbered houses and stone Renaissance mansions.

It’s encircled in parts by the original 3^rd-century Gallo-Roman walls which at their most impressive run along the river front. At several hundred metres long in total they’re among the best preserved in Europe.

Pick up a comprehensive map and plunge into the muddle of mostly pedestrianised streets where the hôtels (grand houses) belonged to the once powerful families of de Rouxelin d’Arcy, de Clairaulnay and Courcival. These grandees were part of the French court and ran the flourishing city. 

Don’t miss the massive Saint-Julien cathedral, a Romanesque masterpiece. Soaring vaults in the choir are lit up by the colours from the stained glass windows. The Virgin Chapel is a revelation with its angels playing 24 different instruments painted on the roof. And watch the nightly summer night show telling the story of the mighty church.

Parts of the once magnificent Plantagenet Palace still exist; Le Carré Plantagenet Museum tells you more about the powerful empire.

Not surprisingly Plantagenet Le Mans is something of a film set, featuring in films like The Man in the Iron Mask with Leonardo di Caprio and Gérard Depardieu in Cyrano de Bergerac.

Guide to Plantagenet medieval Le Mans.

Guide to more Le Mans Attractions

Go back even further at the Musée de Tessé. Venture down to the basement for the museum’s Egypt collection of mummies. Two full-scale reconstructions, including one of Queen Neferari, are impressive in their detail and scale.

The museum opened in 1799 making it one of the earliest in France. It also has French, Italian and Flemish paintings from the 16^th to the 20^th century. 

If you’re interested in 19^th and 20^th century paintings of Le Mans and the river Sarthe, go into the Queen Bérengère Museum housed in three old wooden houses in Plantagenet Le Mans. It’s at 7 Rue de la Reine Bérengère.

Guide to Le Mans Markets

The best known local market is the Jacobins at the foot of the cathedral. It’s held every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 8am to 1pm.

For a more international flavour, try the Sablons Market on Thurs from 8am to 1pm.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans Race

The first ever automotive race, the Grand Prix (Le Grand Prix de l’ACF) took place on June 26 and 27, 1906. It covered 103 kms (64 miles) between Le Mans, Ferté-Bernard and Saint Calais on public roads closed for the race. Certain towns were bypassed for the race and instead the formidable vehicles raced on specially constructed wooden roads. The Hungarian Ference Szisz won the event in a Renault AK.

In 1923 the race was changed from a speed event to an endurance 24-hour race, encouraging reliable and fuel-efficient vehicles that last and spend as little time in the pits as possible. It’s now one of the world’s great sporting events.

Today some 60 cars compete; the winner being the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours.

Le Musée des 24 Heures du Mans (The Museum of the 24 Hours of Le Mans) 

The museum is a must for anyone visiting Le Mans, even for someone like me. I like driving, and cars, but I am not an enthusiast for motor museums. But even I found the museum fascinating. It’s large and arranged chronologically so you start with those strange machines built in the 19th century.

Here’s a guide to Le Mans 24-Hour Museum.

Le Mans at night

The Cathedral has the best known sound and light show with angels and demons, forests, ladders and more flickering across the façade. Royal figures appear on the porch while in the Place du cardinal Grente on the corner, angels escape from the Virgin chapel in the cathedral.

One side of the Romans walls display architects, and builders, musicians playing odd instruments while two chimeras fly along the top. On the other side, separated by the tunnel that runs up from the riverside gardens to the old medieval town, masks from the Roman theatre, knights of the Round Table and fighting dragons make their appearance. Drive or walk along by the river for the full effect.

And just east of the cathedral the White Lady appears. She’s Queen Bérengère, widow of Richard the Lionheart.

Where to Stay in Le Mans

We stayed in the Maison Saint-Pierre. Not only are the three rooms gracious and spacious and the breakfast excellent; the bed and breakfast is right next to the cathedral which is perfect if you want to marvel at the illuminations that race across its façade. (And the view from our window is spectacular.)

Also recommended is the 19^th-century Le Clos d’Hauteville. It offers three delightful rooms, an excellent communal breakfast. You’ll find a courtyard and garden to enjoy during good weather. Car parking is available.

There are also good budget hotels in Le Mans. Check out the main budget hotel chains here.

Where to Eat in Le Mans

We ate in three very different restaurants.

Le Mans is full of delightful surprises and Libertà is one of those. The restaurant is in La Visitation, a former prison now converted into housing, shops and restaurants and a great place to eat. There’s also entertainment, with events and live music. Libertà’s Italian/Corsican slant makes for some unusual cooking as well as offering great pizzas. It’s noisy, fun and good value with lunch menus at €19.90 and €24.90.

La Ciboulette (Chives) is a charming family-run restaurant in an old house on the edge of the medieval city. Good classic French dishes like magret de canard cooked with skill, friendly service and outside seating in summer. Menus at €24.90 (including an excellent vegetarian menu), €35.90 and a gourmet feast at €59.

We went to La Rotisserie when we were visiting the 24-Hour Museum, and needed a car to get here. Persevere: it’s a local favourite and was buzzing. It has all the classics, and majors in pork rillettes, roasts and grills. It’s well priced and fun. Thoroughly recommended.

More Information on Le Mans and Surroundings

How to get to Le Mans

From the UK: We took the DFDS ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe and drove the 270 kms/168 miles to Le Mans, taking 3 hours. More about Ferries to France from the UK.

France Travel: By car Paris to Le Mans is 208 kms/130 miles and takes 2 hrs 30 mins.
By train: The train goes from Paris Montparnasse and takes from 56 mins.
By bus: The bus goes from Paris City Centre – Bercy Seine and takes around 3 hours.

How to get around Le Mans

The bus and tram network work from 5.00am to 1.00am in the week and from 6.00am to 1.00am Sundays and bank holidays. The system is efficient and cheap.

Le Mans is in the Sarthe department of the Pays de la Loire region.

Also Check Out

Sarthe Tourism

Pays de la Loire

More to see in the region

We also explored the Loir (without an ‘e’) Valley. It was delightful, unexpected, and full of treasures.

Try these attractions:

Tour the Secret Loir Valley
Visit the Château du Lude and its fabulous gardens
Glorious Medieval Baugé with its château and apothecary
Step into the world of the privately and family owned Château de Bazouges

Declaration: I was travelling in the area as a guest of the Le Mans Tourist Office which sponsored the accommodation and meals.

The post Le Mans Guide – A Tale of Two Cities appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

Most people know the Loire Valley but what about a tour of the Loir (without an ‘e’) valley. The Loir river meanders along, north of, and almost parallel to its famous cousin. It calls itself a ‘Secret bien gardé’ . This well hidden secret rewards those who find it for its small towns, 140 châteaux, stately gardens and, in our case, a surprising find involving trains.

And for history buffs, the Loir Valley is full of English history – at least that part that involved us bashing the French during the Hundred Years War. The conflict in the Loir Valley was important and for the invaders, pretty desperate.

The French had entered an alliance with the Scots 200 years before against the traditional enemy they shared – the English. Towards the end of the Hundred years War the Scots stepped up to the mark here in the Loir valley. The English were soundly beaten.

Our Loir Valley Trip

Unless you know this hidden part of France, you’re unlikely to have heard of La Flèche in the western part of the Loir Valley. It’s one of those towns you stumble across and wonder why you haven’t come across it before. Once important with a Jesuit college, grand buildings and royal associations, today it’s just a pretty riverside town. It’s surrounded by marshland and woods which are ideal for walkers. If you’re a nature lover, don’t miss the Bercé. This is one of the great oak forests of France, which is currently providing oak trees to be used in the reconstruction of the roof of Notre-Dame de Paris.

We spent two days here, just time for visits to 3 châteaux (one with a spectacular garden), an apothecary straight out of Harry Potter, and old trains.

The visit was just long enough to whet our appetite for this region and leave us planning a return. 

Where we stayed

We stayed in Le Relais du Loir, a modern hotel on the banks of the river. It has good sized, comfortable rooms, a terrace on two levels for drinks and snacks, and useful touches like ironing boards in the corridor. No restaurants were open in the town in mid-August on a Monday, so the charming owner, Bryan Beyer, rustled up a superb place of charcuterie, cheese and bread. Otherwise you can order a pizza from his ‘hole in the wall’ on the outer wall of the hotel. He makes the dough during the day, then fills each pizza according to your order. It takes around 20 minutes. Many of the guests were doing just that and eating their pizzas on the terrace. You can order beer and wine from the bar. Breakfast was excellent.

We didn’t have enough time to explore the Zoo which is just outside the town. Perhaps next time we’ll overnight in one of the very chic Safari Lodges slap bang in the middle of the Zoo. The experience is not cheap but where else do floor-to-ceiling windows let you stare face to face with African lions, Sumatran tigers, grizzly bears and sea lions who are equally curious about their new roommates?

What we saw

A Riverside Château – Château de Bazouges-sur-Loir

This family-owned and run château was the first place we visited. We had driven down from Dieppe through Rouen and Le Mans and arrived around 5pm.  It was one of those glorious late August afternoons. The air had a slight sharpness to it and the light sparkled with that bright last-of-the-season look. Autumn was on its way.

We were lucky: this was a private visit arranged by the Vallée du Loir tourist office and the family showed us around. On a normal visit you’ll follow the same tour and see the same rooms and garden, but you’ll probably only spot the family from afar. For the stories that they recounted (which are great fun) go to my article on the château (see below).

The château stands on the banks of the river Loir with a view that sweeps down past the seigneurial mill, built by the lord for his villagers and tenants, to the village. A small park and gardens stretch away from the château at the back, the paths shaded by tall trees.

The château jumps through the centuries, starting with the formidable defences and rooms of the Middle Ages. You walk through a hefty doorway in the 3-foot thick walls and the stone gives way to the panelling, delicate furniture and pale colours of the 18^th century. I half expected to hear a harpsicord playing.

Then you’re into the early 20^th century when the family bought the château and painters and writers from Paris replaced the 18^th-century grandees.

The Château de Bazouges is delightful, full of character and with the feel of a real family home.

PLEASE NOTE: I have been checking the site and the château is temporarily closed. I hope it will open in the future, so keep checking.

Medieval Baugé

The next day was straight back to the Middle Ages and a dip into the Hundred Years War where the English were routed by that deadly combination of French and Scottish troops. It was 1421 and the war that had dragged on for nearly a century was about to come to its conclusion.

Château de Baugé

Visit the Château de Baugé first for the story of the Battle of Vieil-Baugé in 1421. It’s been organised with families in mind so it’s done with a light touch.

Built as a hunting lodge for Good King René of Anjou, there’s little left of the original interior. But the French have done a great job building excellent theatre-like sets from wood on the château’s three levels. Models, mock-ups and screens in the walls tell the story of the world of the 15^th-century nobility, from the all-important hunt to the generous hospitality of the Good King.

There’s also an excellent well-stocked shop for a spot of Middle Ages style costumes, model soldiers and knights, books and jams of many tastes.

Hôtel-Dieu – An Old Hospital

A few minutes’ walk takes you to the imposing Hôtel-Dieu. Built in the mid 17^th century, the hospital was run by the Sisters of St Joseph who cared for the sick and the homeless. It continued to function through the French Revolution and in 1904 added an operating room. I don’t like to dwell on what they did before with the injured.

During world War I injured soldiers from the front were brought here. The hospital continued its work up to 2001, completing 350 years of nursing care.

It’s a fascinating place, showing the medicine and nursing of the past. Here in Baugé it was pretty advanced in its approach (the importance of hygiene recognised centuries before Florence Nightingale). You see one of the two main wards, plus all the other rooms needed to keep this venerable institution going. Leave time to look at the kitchen, dining room, Chapter room and all-important chapel which the sick could see through open windows.

The Medieval Apothecary at Baugé

The Apothecary is a revelation. It’s a small room where beautiful porcelain jars, wooden boxes and special containers are stacked floor to ceiling.

Balm for wounds or sores, ointments for headaches and painful joints, tinctures made from concentrated herbal extracts like bark, berries, leaves and roots were made here. Imagine, if you can, a balm made from bishopwort, garlic, wormwood, helenium and cropleek. The ingredients were pounded them boiled, then strained through a cloth and smeared on the affected body part.

A 19^th-century apothecary in the Hôtel-Dieu contrasts the age when apothecaries were following Greek and Roman practices with the later time when science was taking over. Medicines used new ingredients, not the old medicinal plants and body parts of weird animals.

Buy your ticket and wait for your turn with an English-speaking guide to see the Apothecary.

The Logis Hôtel, Ô Prestige in the centre of town set us up for the afternoon after an excellent 3-course lunch at €34.

The Château du Lude

From Baugé it’s a hop, skip and a jump, or rather a 23 minute drive (24 kms/15 mile) drive to the Château du Lude. The Château has a fascinating history and the present owners’ family stretches back 240 years.

It’s an impressive building overlooking the peaceful Loir river though the grand old lady has a feeling of faded grandeur. You walk through four centuries of architecture, from the medieval fortifications through the 18th century up to today.

Try to visit on a bright summer afternoon when the gardens, which are the major reason for the visit, are full of flowers and bushes in full bloom. Or book for one of their special garden days in June, July and October when there are cooking demonstrations in the impressive kitchens.

There was one attraction left to visit.

Industrial Architecture – The Rotonde Ferroviaire 

The Rotonde Ferroviaire (railway roundhouse) at Montabon was built in 1890. Its purpose was to service the steam trains on the main Paris to Bordeaux route. The 2,500 m² building and 17 m turntable could service up to 85 locomotives at any one time. Tucked down a side road behind a wire fence, you get no idea of its importance in the past.

I didn’t think it would be of great interest (my partner Alastair McKenzie is the expert on such things with his site mechtraveller.com). But walking into the huge space, its magnificent roof now restored with a heritage grant of €480,000 and walking around the old locomotives that now sit marooned in the old spaces, I found this piece of industrial architecture fascinating.  

There are locomotives to see both inside and outside by the turntable, a former Orient Express dining and sleeping carriage on loan and an exhibition of old tools, 19^th and 20^th century signs, pictures and a video. And yes there is a model train.

It’s the enthusiasm of the volunteers which turns this extraordinary piece of railway heritage into a living space. While we were there, an English family who had bought a house nearby were talking to the volunteers. The family didn’t speak much French and the volunteers’ English was rudimentary, but they all got by.

There’s funding coming and the plans are ambitious. I thoroughly recommend a visit.

All the relevant information (and far better photographs) on the MechTraveller site.

How to get there

We took the DFDS ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe. It’s around a 321 km/200 mile drive to La Flèche taking around 3 hrs 5 mins.

The attractions are all in the Sarthe department in the Pays de la Loire region.

More about Ferries to France from the UK.

We were on a self-driving press trip organised by the Vallée du Loir tourist office who helped with accommodation, meals and visits. The trip also took in Le Mans, slightly to the north east of the Château de Bazouges.

Also check out the Region’s Atlantic Loire Valley Tourism website

If you want to see the Loir’s famous cousin, here’s a guide to the complete Loire Valley Tour

Read more about travel to France at the time of Covid-19 regulations

The post Tour the Secret Loir Valley appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

The Château du Lude with its beautiful gardens stands on the green banks of the river at the heart of the undiscovered Loir valley. It’s a perfect place to see the different façades and interiors of four centuries of architectural changes.

The Château du Lude has a great history and has been in the same family for some 225 years. Built where the three regions of Maine, Anjou and Touraine meet, Lude was strategically important. The 11th-century castle of the Counts of Anjou played a major defensive role against attacks by the ambitious Normans. It was inevitable that the château was caught up in the constant warfare that plagued the middle ages.

The Medieval Château du Lude

The château’s medieval beginnings show most obviously in the towers that protected the castle, though Renaissance windows have replaced many of the original arrow slits. Massive military fortifications under the main buildings provided the foundations for the château’s defences.

A New Beginning

When the Hundred Years War limped to its end in 1453, everything changed. Now great lords showed off their power and wealth in grand buildings rather than on the battlefield. They competed to outdo each other in the size, opulence and decoration of their new architectural masterpieces.

In 1457 the adventurous soldier-knight Jean de Daillon acquired Lude. He began to rebuild his new property which had been badly damaged in the on-off century old war between the French and the English. This part of the secret Loir valley has found itself one of the main battlegrounds.

Daillon was a lucky man. In the convoluted politics of the age he had supported King Charles VII instead of his son Louis. When Louis became King Louis XI Daillon spent 7 years hiding in a nearby grotto (well that’s the story) before he was forgiven and reinstated.

The Italian Renaissance (and how to out-class the neighbours)

And the Château du Lude was no exception. Grand staircases link the floors. The rooms built for some pretty ostentatious entertaining have wooden parquetry floors, painted ceilings and grand fireplaces.

I found the château sad. It feels rather neglected, like an old dowager who has lost her sparkle.

But there are good things to see. The most impressive room is the library which was added by the Duc de Bouillon in the 19^th century for his 2,000 odd books.

And the all-important rooms housing the servants and the kitchens are great fun.

The Upper Upstairs

Go behind the scenes and it’s a different story. The nursery and the rooms upstairs for minor friends, children and servants are functional rather than ostentatious. But even here there are a few nice touches. Washing was rudimentary but fancy having jugs and pots inscribed with the name of your property. A touch of luxury to make you feel better?

The Downstairs Bit

I love kitchens and these are impressive, housed in the original medieval basements which you access from the outside. Here the downstairs lot laboured to keep the nobility and their friends well fed. But the food must have been pretty cold by the time it reached the owners and their guests in the rooms above.

How they got around

Walk around the stables once busy with lads feeding and grooming the horses while other stablemen looked after the carriages that transported their masters from château to château. It all seems very grand, but early coach travel was far from comfortable. Suspension wasn’t introduced until the mid 17^th century. Carriages were challenging in bad weather; until the 1680s when glass windows were introduced, all you had to protect your elaborate dress were simple blinds.

18th-century Womanpower

Works on rebuilding the west wing facing the river in the 18^th century were carried out by the energetic half-French, half-English Marquise de la Vieuville. She was typical of her time – women were responsible for many grand building works (as well as producing those oh-so-important heirs), while their husbands hunted, wined and dined their friends.

The French Revolution interrupted the work but did no damage to the château. It did however cost her husband, the Marquis, his life. He was guillotined in Rennes in 1795 at the age of 82 which seems a little unfortunate.

The Marquise left the chateau to her daughter who married into the de Talhouët family. Their descendants, the Count and Countess de Nicolaÿ and their children still own and run Lude.  

The Gardens of the Château du Lude

The gardens are extensive and a major reason to visit the Château. They stretch out on two levels from the Château in splendid and typical French formal fashion. The upper grand terrace runs along a vista of green lawns, gravel paths and the odd statue. The formal gardens lie on a second level beside the river.

The small Jardin de la source has a Chinese pavilion; come here in the spring for the hellebores, euphorbias, geraniums and Chinese peonies. Sadly the kitchen garden was shut on our visit.

Garden Events through the year

The best way to enjoy the gardens is the first weekend in June, when the château hosts La Fête des Jardiniers. Or book for one of their Journées Potagères et Gourmandes in the summer/autumn when you can visit the kitchen gardens and watch a cooking demonstration in those fabulous old kitchens. In 2021 it’s on October 31.

How to get there and more information

We took the DFDS ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe. It was a 321 km/200 mile drive taking around 3 hrs 5 mins. The Château du Lude is the Sarthe department in the Pays de la Loire region.

More about Ferries to France from the UK.

We were on a self-driving press trip organised by the Vallée du Loir tourist office. The trip also took in Le Mans, slightly to the north east of the Château de Bazouges.

Also check out the Region’s Atlantic Loire Valley Tourism website

More to see in the region and surrounds

This part of the secret Loir Valley has plenty to offer. Check these out:

Medieval Baugé has a great castle (good for children), a former hospital with enough gruesome details to keep everyone happy and a spectacular historic apothecary.

Make a small diversion to see the delightful Château de Bazouges with its family history and lovely gardens.

If you want to see the Loir’s famous cousin, here’s a guide to the complete Loire Valley Tour.

Read more about travel to France at the time of Covid-19 regulations.

The post Château du Lude and its Gardens in the Loir Valley appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

Medieval Baugé is a real find with its ancient Hospital, an Apothecary that has a real Harry Potter feel to it and a château that came into its own in the mid 15th century. It’s in the secret Loir valley (without an ‘e’). Located just north of the more famous Loire valley (with an ‘e’), the area is a real find. It’s lovely, with 140 châteaux, magnificent gardens, a great cycle route, small towns and a crowd-free trip.

Baugé is a pretty place. It’s located just south of a small town called la Flèche and just north east of Angers in the Pays de la Loire region.

Baugé’s important buildings stand in gravel squares dotted with lawns and flower beds, surrounded by narrow streets of medieval and 18^th-century houses. For those after modern comforts medieval Baugé has a great Logis hotel and restaurant as well (details at end).

But first a little history to place medieval Baugé and the secret Loir in the grand scheme of things. (If you want to miss the history bit just scroll down, but it does make a visit to the château and the whole area more interesting.)

A Short Potted History of 1421

The Hundred Years War (1337–1453) between the French and the English is still spluttering on. It’s 1421, just 6 years after the massive defeat of the French at the Battle of Agincourt and the choice of the King of England, Henry V, as King of France. He led the troops at Agincourt and married the daughter of the French Charles VI in 1520.

At the beginning of 1421 Henry was all-powerful. With Caen and Rouen captured, he controlled Normandy. The French Dauphin, Charles VII was disinherited and Henry entered Paris as the new ruler.

A reversal of fortunes as everything changes

On March 22, 1421, everything changed. Henry had returned to England, leaving his younger brother Thomas, Duke of Clarence in control.

After failing to take the vital and formidably protected town of Angers, the Duke was returning to Normandy where the French Dauphin’s troops were gathering. At Beaufort-en-Anjou he heard of a French force stationed just outside Baugé. Against the advice of his generals, he set off with around 1,500 soldiers, leaving the rest of his force in Beaufort under the command of Thomas of Montacute, Count of Salisbury.

Clarence was facing an army of 5,000, made up of French men at arms led by Gilbert Motier de La Fayette and Scottish soldiers led by John Stewart, Earl of Buchan. The Auld Alliance between the Scots and the French had been signed in 1295 and was renewed in 1326. It bound the two kingdoms together in mutual support against the English. Not great news for the hot-headed Duke and his men.

La Bataille du Vieil-Baugé

The Battle of Vieil-Baugé took place some 2 kms west of Baugé on the banks of the River Couasnon. It was a disaster for the rash young Duke of Clarence who led the attack straight into the Scottish men at arms. The English knights on their heavy horses sank into the mud on the left bank of the river, to be picked off by Scottish archers and foot soldiers.

The English troops who fled to the village were trapped and killed in their hundreds. Among them was the Duke of Clarence who was unseated from his horse by John Carmichael of Douglasdale, then killed by Alexander Buchanan. There was nothing else to do but sue for peace.

The English lost over 1054 men; a further 500 were captured. Franco-Scottish losses were minimal.

John, the bastard son of the Duke of Clarence recovered the body of his father. It was sent back to England and buried in Canterbury Cathedral.

Salisbury with an army of around 2000 soldiers plus some survivors from Baugé retreated towards Normandy. The secret Loir valley might be little known today, but it was vital in the all important Hundred Years War.

The battle set the scene for the final years of the epic war. In 1429 Joan of Arc took Orléans.

In 1453, the English were finally defeated. France was about to move on and out of the centuries-old conflict that had its roots in the invasion of England by William the Conqueror in 1066.

Visit the Château in medieval Baugé

In 1454, the old fortified medieval Château de Baugé (which the English had set fire to) passed into the hands of René of Anjou (1409-1480), Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence (and King of Naples). He set about restoring it as a hunting lodge.

Unusually, René actually had a hand in the design of parts of the building; don’t miss the watch tower where the faces of the masons are carved into the stone.

Start with that Battle

Walk into the main entrance for your tickets (and some good shopping). An exhibition off to one side is aimed at children, but it’s a very good introduction to that famous Battle of Vieil-Baugé. You want to know the difference between the French, English and Scottish knights? This is the place to come.

The Baugé château is cleverly laid out. You’re inspired as you walk through rooms designed to take you back to good King René’s time. There’s little left from its medieval beginnings apart from the structure. But still you’re drawn into the very different world of the daily lives of the great and the good.

The Forest and the Hunt

Hunting in the great forests of France was strictly controlled. It was a ritualised pleasure that taught young boys how to handle a horse, travel through a forest looking for prey, work in a group and handle a bow and arrow, a lance, knife, a sword and in the 16^th century a firearm.  All skills that were transferred into the battlefields of Europe.

The Great Knights

Watching this thundering towards you would have put the fear of God into your soul.

Whispering in the Palace

Sit in this room of bare stone walls as the film unfolds, telling the story of the building of the medieval Baugé Château.

René’s Grand Banquet Room

A fireplace dominates one side of an enormous room where tapestries once hung on the massive walls. This was where René exercised – and enjoyed – his power. Here he received his guests, gave judgement and entertained with great feasts. Such a room was the heart of every medieval château.

The Hôtel-Dieu (Hospital) in Medieval Baugé

Most large towns in France had their own Hôtel-Dieu, built for the sick and the homeless. Baugé had an excellent Hôtel-Dieu plus a fascinating apothecary, both originally administered by the Sisters of St Joseph.

You get an idea of the size and scope of the hospital when you first go in, where a large plan identifies the different wings and rooms. There’s the old kitchen, a dining room (very bare for use by the nuns) and a chapter room which was used for meetings and the place where the nuns could spend their very little free time.

The Apothecary

There are two parts to the hospital and you start with the oldest, and vital part, the Apothecary You can only do this with a guide; you’ll see why when you enter the locked Apothecary, one of the most complete and beautiful in France.

You’re going back into a world that where medicines were made from plants – and bits of animals. It all felt a bit Harry Potterish though I couldn’t find mandrakes among the pots, glass bottles and boxes that line the walls from floor to ceiling. But I bet they were lurking somewhere in this chamber of secret medicine. Never mind, plenty of other unusual ingredients were there: blood of dragons, crayfish eyes, goat liver, roots, leaves and flowers that kept our ancestors alive.

The Hôtel-Dieu visit

The first thing you see is a long gallery housing beds ranged along the two sides. The ceiling has been lowered; back in its day it was much higher. Even then it was known that good ventilation would help prevent the spread of diseases.

A written guide in English takes you back to the past as you walk along the room once full of the sick and dying. The hospital was ahead of its time in its organisation and realisation of basic nursing. The nursing sister took the name, age and place of birth of each new patient. Their feet were washed and they were given bed linen, slippers, dressing gowns and in winter the all-important nightcap.

There’s a section about the medical practices of the time which makes you thankful to live in the 21^st century.

Patients could watch the services in the chapel beyond. The sisters were there to look after the spiritual wellbeing of their charges as much as their physical states.

The sisters of St Joseph still exist today with the first French colony abroad established in Montreal in 1641. Today there are communities in 15 countries operating hospitals and schools.

A later Apothecary

There’s also another apothecary which intrigued me as it’s connected to my local Auvergne town of Le Puy-en-Velay.

The later 19th-century apothecary was established when science was taking over, substituting new products for the old plant- and animal-based medicines. In 1901 Antonin Merle (1872-1918) bought the beautiful oak cabinets, made in the second half of the 19th century, from another pharmacy in the small village of Arlanc. Merle opened his apothecary in rue Pannessac in Le Puy-en-Velay and for 3 generations the family served the local community.

If you’re visiting Baugé, make a diversion to see the delightful Château de Bazouges with its family history and lovely gardens.

Where to stay and/or eat in medieval Baugé

The family owned and run Logis Hôtel, Ô Prestige in the centre of town. It’s particularly known for its excellent restaurant. If you’re there for lunch, try the 3-course Gourmande menu at €33.

More about the area

Baugé Tourist Office covers the town and the local area.

Vallée du Loir Tourisme covers the whole of the region.

If you’re here, check out the Château du Lude. It has a fascinating history and great gardens.

How to get there

We took the DFDS ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe. It was a 321 km/200 mile drive taking around 3 hrs 5 mins. Baugé is in the Sarthe department in the Pays de la Loire region.

More about Ferries to France from the UK.

We were on a self-driving press trip organised by the Vallée du Loir tourist office. The trip also took in Le Mans, slightly to the north east of the Château de Bazouges.

What to see in the region and the surrounding countryside

Also check out the Region’s Atlantic Loire Valley Tourism website

If you want to see the Loir’s famous cousin, here’s a guide to the complete Loire Valley Tour

Read more about travel to France at the time of Covid-19 regulations.

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The Château de Bazouges is a delightful castle that stands peacefully beside the secret Loir river. It’s just one of the 140 châteaux along this little known part of France where you can avoid the crowds and take the journey at your own pace.

The Loir Valley really is a secret to be discovered. The little known cousin of the mighty Loire River is a place for slow wanderings, taking small roads to quiet towns and villages, and coming across small gems like the Château de Bazouges.

Château de Bazouges

The 1900s might have been the Belle Epoque and a time of conspicuous consumption but away from the big cities, grand, often crumbling châteaux were proving too expensive for their owners to keep up. It was time for a huge change of ownership from the landowners who had managed to survive the French Revolution, clinging onto their old châteaux and manor houses, to a newly influential and wealthy class.

New owners take over

Today the Château de Bazouges is owned by the family of Gilles Serrand who runs it with his daughter Charlotte Lorge.

In 1910, Adrien Mithouard (1854-1919), co-founder of the literary revue L’Occident was an influential figure in Paris, an essayist, poet, publisher and politician. He looked at two châteaux to buy at roughly the same price. They were the Château de Bazouges-sur-Loir and…Azay-le-Rideau in the Loire Valley between Tours and Saumur. Does Gilles regret his grandfather’s choice? “Too many rooms” he laughs at the idea of owning the latter.

We met the family on a warm August late afternoon when the sun sparkled on the Loir river. Their love of the château was palpable and their concerns about the huge upkeep obvious (just look at the rooves of châteaux you visit – often the most expensive item).

The Visit

The family took us on the route visitors follow. You start with its 15^th-century beginnings when the château played its part in the defence of France against the English in the 100 Years War. The secret Loir valley was an important battleground.

Walk into the entrance where the huge imposing space is now empty of gates, the drawbridge and other contraptions of previous turbulent centuries. To one side there’s a small chapel. You come out into the courtyard then go into the château itself.

The medieval rooms are sturdy, the former Guard room with its massive fireplace and tapestry on one of the walls a reminder of the past.

Then you see the abrupt change from medieval to the 18th century. Walk through a doorway: on one side of the thick wall it’s rough stone and plaster; on the other the delightful rooms are covered with gracious panelling painted in the pastel colours that were oh-so chic in the 18^th-century.

These were the rooms where Adrien Mithouard entertained the writers and artists of the day. And these are the rooms still used by the family when the visitors have departed. The former owners are still there, at least in the form of a sculpture of Mithouard and a copy of a portrait of his wife by Renoir who became friends of the couple in the early 1890s.

Up into the roof

We climbed up wooden steps into the huge roof space of the main tower, then outside and along the narrow battlements where for centuries graffiti has been scratched into the walls. Don’t look down through the iron grills to the ground if you have no head for heights. However if you do, imagine the lot of attackers trying to scale the walls and getting vats of boiling oil, stones and anything the defenders could find (like the contents of chamber pots) raining down on them.

Stories from the Château

There were plenty of stories to hear…about the screen depicting members of the family that was instantly classified as a Monument Historique by the official who had come to assess the château’s suitability for the classification. It’s by Georges de Traz (1881-1980) and is quite charming.  

…About how the family hope to make the château into an arts centre, which could partly be funded by film companies. However, the best chance for that was lost some years ago when Roger Vadim came to see the château for a film starring…Brigitte Bardot. Gilles Serrand’s grandmother, a formidable lady who saw off the Nazis in the area, was horrified at the inclusion of the actress and the idea was dropped.

The Gardens

Outside, the more formal Italianate garden takes you past arbours, under arches and along straight walks of green grass shaded by rows of tall trees. A huge weeping willow, a perfect hiding place for children, punctures the formality.

The visit doesn’t take long; this is a small castle. But do try to see the Château de Bazouges in the secret and lovely Loir valley; it’s well worth it.

How to get there

We took the DFDS ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe. It was a 321 km/200 mile drive taking around 3 hrs 5 mins. The Château de Bazouges is in the Sarthe department in the Pays de la Loire region.

More about Ferries to France from the UK.

We were on a self-driving press trip organised by the Vallée du Loir tourist office. The trip also took in Le Mans, slightly to the north east of the Château de Bazouges.

Attractions to see nearby

A short drive takes you to glorious medieval Baugé. It has a château which shows the life of the nobles of the past, an apothecary straight out of Harry Potter and an intriguing piece of industrial architecture – a massive old turntable and sheds for the trains and carriages on the Paris to Bordeaux route.

Garden lovers should make a visit to the Château du Lude for its formal gardens sitting peacefully on the banks of the Loir River.

Also check out the Region’s Atlantic Loire Valley Tourism website

If you want to see the Loir’s famous cousin, here’s a guide to the complete Loire Valley Tour

Read more about travel to France at the time of Covid-19 regulations

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On Sunday November 8th, 2020 at 13.02, 33 boats set off from Les Sables d’Olonne on the French Atlantic coast in the Vendée department. They’re taking part in the Vendée Globe 2020, the most challenging, round-the-world non-stop race without assistance for single-handed sailors.

The race was started as ‘The Globe Challenge’ in 1989 by French yachtsman Philippe Jeantot. He planned this new race as the ultimate challenge for single-handed sailors. It runs every 4 years and is organised by IMOCA (International Monohull Open Class Association).

Regular Vendée Globe 2020 updates

I am updating the race regularly. So much is happening, with boats being damaged and some having to abandon. It’s an exciting race, so check out the latest updates here.

The Route

The course is a circumnavigation of the globe, following the historic clipper route. From Les Sables d’Olonne, the boats hammer down the Atlantic Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope. They then go around Antarctica, past Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn and head back to Les Sables d’Olonne.

On November 3rd, the Antarctic Exclusion Zone was announced. It’s calculated by CLS (Collecte Localization Satellites) which monitors the movement of ice in the Antarctic zone, the Indian Ocean in the Pacific Ocean. Now that’s been established, the course distance is 24,296 nautical miles/44,996 kms (around 28,000 miles) through the most dangerous seas on earth.

In 2016-17 the course distance was 24,394 miles.

Out of 167 sailors who have taken part in all the races only 89 have finished.

The Vendée Globe 2020 Skippers

This, the 9^th edition, is the largest ever with 33 solo sailors taking part. While the majority of skippers are French, this year there are ten non-French skippers. They come from Great Britain (1 man and 3 women); Germany, Spain Switzerland, Italy, Japan and Finland (for the first time).

A record number of women are taking part: six women from France and Great Britain. Only six women have competed in the race before this one, so that is a great step forward. Why not? It’s a sport where men and women compete equally.

There are 18 rookies competing in the race for the first time which is another record.

Some of the skippers have raced the Vendée Globe before. Britain’s Alex Thomson is competing for the fifth time; Jérémie Beyou for the fourth; several others for the third, and second.

The youngest competitor is 27-year old Swiss Alan Roura. The oldest entrant at 61 years old, Jean Le Cam is attempting his fifth race this year.

Damien Seguin is a paralympic sailor, having been born without his left hand.

The current record dates back to 2016-17 and is held by the Breton Armel Le Cléach, who completed the 24,000 nautical miles (over 44,400 kilometres) in 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds, after an interminable battle with the Briton Alex Thomson, who secured the second spot. Thomson is the reigning runner-up, having taken 74 days 19 hours and 35 minutes in 2016-17.

He is one of the top favorites to win the race. This year, due to technical changes in boat design, he reckons that a new record will be between 59 and 79 days depending on the weather.

Track them all on this official Vendée Globe map.

The Challenges of the Race

Winning the Vendée Globe is about a whole mix of things. A fast, reliable boat, skill and of course, luck. It’s an extraordinary test of endurance as well as skippers go beyond what they thought they were capable of.

The Vendée Globe is a race, but also a personal adventure.

As Miranda Merron said: ‘I know the Big South. I don’t know if that’s a plus or a minus. We are spoiled when we are at sea alone. We are reduced to being just ourselves alone with the sea and the sky. I tell myself that I am so very lucky to live this for three months.’

The Boats

Don’t think of them as just ‘boats’. The IMOCA class boats are racing machines, challenging technology and improving all the time. On the main website of the Vendée Globe, the details of each boat come immediately below the skippers. Some boats have appeared before in the Vendée Globe, been bought by new skippers, adapted and improved.

Alex Thomson has Hugo Boss behind him and this year the team has designed an extraordinarily complicated boat with a fully closed cockpit and short deck. And it’s very fast indeed.

Foils that make the boat fly

The latest generation of these 60-foot carbon monohulls have foils fitted. A foil is a wing immersed in the water helping speed up the boat. Like the wing of an airplane, the foil lifts the sailboat out of the water, reducing drag. They were introduced in the last race.

But now the foils are much bigger, three times the size of the 2016 race ‘chicken wing’ foils enabling the hulls to ‘fly’ in as little as 12 knots of wind.

Top speeds of these 7.5 tonne yachts can reach 35 knots which means that daily 24 hour averages are expected to top 600 nautical miles.

This year 19 of the 33 boats are fitted with these ‘underwater wings’ while seven of them are the very latest 2020 generation boats. They’re very impressive, but the extra physical toll on the sailors is considerable.  

Armel Le Cléach: “At these speeds, the boats are transmitting big slams and shocks and the skippers have to adapt to this extreme level of discomfort”.

For a great website on the technical aspects of the boat, check out Mech Traveller’s post.

Here’s a video on the remarkable advances made over the years. It’s in French but with subtitles and conveys the passion of the innovators.

Previous Vendée Globe Races

The race presents real challenges as the severe wind and wave conditions in the Southern Ocean take their toll. Racing at night at high speeds adds another dimension. Skippers have to snatch a few hours’ sleep when they can. Many of the entrants of each race are forced to retire. They lose masts, suffer keel problems; or are disabled in some way; in the 2004-5 race, Sébastien Josse hit an iceberg head-on.

Some skippers leave the race to rescue their fellow sailors; some skippers do not return. In 1992 British sailor Nigel Burgess was found drowned off Cape Finistere; in the 1996 race, Canadian Gerry Roufs was lost at sea. It led to a tightening up of safety measures for the 2000 race.

Great Britain and the Great Ellen MacArthur

The 2000-01 Vendée Globe was particularly exciting for Great Britain. At 24 years-old Ellen MacArthur was the youngest entrant ever on her custom-built boat Kingfisher. She was up with the leaders when she was diverted to find Yves Parlier who had lost contact. She found him safely and then rejoined the race in fourth place.

By the mid-Atlantic point, MacArthur had caught up with the leader Michel Desjoyeaux, 600 miles ahead of everyone else. But she hit a semi-submerged container and had to make repairs.

Desjoyeaux won the race in 93 days, 3 hours and 57 seconds. He’s the only sailor to win the race twice, the second time being the 2008-09 race. Ellen MacArthur came second at 94 days, 4 hours and 57 seconds.

On 7 February 2005 she broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe, a feat which gained her international renown.

OSCAR and Safety Measures in the 2000/01 Race

18 of the 33 boats are using OSCAR. It’s a system design to detect hazards that won’t show up on normal radar, AIS or sonar devices. As 10,000 to 15,000 containers are lost off cargo ships every year it’s a very welcome addition. And don’t forget the whales, trees, flotsam and jetsam that a boat can hit. Icebergs are now out with the advanced knowledge of the Antarctic Exclusion Zone but ocean racing remains pretty hazardous.

OSCAR is fixed to the top of the mast or signal mast, scanning the surrounding seas via two thermal cameras and a day camera. It works day and night, weighs just 750 grams and is tiny: 144 x 114 x 96 mms, able to fit into one hand.

From this it sends video footage to the processing unit in the boat which analyses the information in real time via algorithms that then show up alerts on a navigation APP. The APP can be installed on a tablet or the on-board computer and displays the floating objects.

It can also be linked to the auto pilot which will automatically steer the boat away from the object.

It’s been designed by Raphaël Biancale, a charming, shock-headed and immensely enthusiastic Franco-German automative engineer. His father bought an ocean-going boat in 2013, so he took it out on a 6-month sailing trip. He was a novice and found night time sailing constantly worrying. He looked around for a system that would let him navigate at night. Nothing there. He was working on developing the technology for the car industry and driverless cars. Why not transfer that to boating? Voilà!

The Calm before the Storm

The boats are here and they’re all safe and sound. Many of the skippers have already isolated due to covid-19 though they only have to do this officially from November 1st.

The Vendée Globe Village

Every year a special start village is set up in Les Sables d’Olonne. Anybody can access it, but you do need to register first on the site.

It gives you everything you need to know about the race around seven topics. Big screen projections, videos, maritime sound effects show you the skippers, the race and its history. You can see what life is like on board an IMOCA – hard work, little sleep and endless decisions to make.

Partners and sponsors of the race have their own stands and there’s an official shop full of tempting merchandise. The VOG Bar, open from 7pm daily, overlooks the race pontoon. Here’s the place to chat to other enthusiasts, all involved in the great business of ocean racing.

The Globe ‘Caffe’ area becomes the radio reports centre from November 9. It hosts a Live broadcast show every day at 12.30pm French time, 13.30 international time. The shows are open to the public.

Outside you can walk along the Quai de la Gravière and go on board an Imoca.

This part is as much to do with the Vendée department as the race itself. The Tourist Office area has a lot of information, covering what else you can see and do in this part of France.

There’s also a Vendée cooking area for those after local specialities and products.

Boulevard Vertime and Allée du Frère Maximin has stands from the sponsors, food trucks for snacks and a giant zip-line to try.

This year’s Vendée Globe is all about the need to protect the oceans. You’ll find a lot aimed at young people in one area, and also an exhibition about protecting the oceans in conjunction with UNESCO, the Principality of Monaco and skippers in the IMOCA class.

It was scheduled to run from October 17 to November 8, 2020. But sadly due to the coronavirus lockdown in France, it closed on November 1st, 2020.

The start will also be different with no crowds to cheer the skippers and their boats on.

From mid-January, when the winner is expected to arrive, a giant screen will be installed on the Vendée Globe esplanade. It’ll be a great moment.

The Start

The boats set off in four minute intervals from 13.02pm from the pontoon. First out was Armel Tripon in L’Occitane en Provence. The order was drawn randomly before they pulled up to the pontoon.

Out of Les Sables, it takes a couple of hours to get them all to the official start line, and the timing varies each year. The four crew members helping them get out there have to get off the boat onto the ribs following. A last quick embrace, a good luck and the skippers are alone.

If any boat crosses the start line prematurely, they are not sent back to start again (too dangerous), but they are given a five-hour penalty.

If a boat has to return because of a fault/damage, they have to wait until the tide turns and they can get back to Les Sables for repairs and their new start.

They sail in south east winds and good conditions with 12 to 15 knots of wind. The first front is on the Bay of Biscay which they pass through at night.

The boats fitted with foilers have the best chance, but just after the start they are told to go on a particular course that will give the non-foilers an advantage in wind speed. Then it’s out into the Atlantic and they are racing!

This year’s Vendée Globe promises to be the most exciting yet. So good luck to all the skippers (but I have to say, particularly the British ones).

Check the official Vendée Globe website

Les Sables d’Olonne Tourist Office

Vendée Tourisme

More about the Region in and around Les Sables d’Olonne

Guide to the glorious Vendée department

The French Atlantic Coast

Visit delightful Ile de Ré

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The Vendée is glorious. The air from the Atlantic sweeps in along a coastal landscape where long sandy beaches are backed by sand dunes. Estuaries provide sanctuaries for all kinds of birds; small coves invite you to dig in the sand for clams and cockles and the ocean invites you to take a yacht out into the blue and beyond.

The protected coastline of the Côte Lumière (Luminous Coast) stretches 155 miles/250 kms along the shore. Of that coast 86 miles/140 kms make up the Vendée beaches. Out to sea, the island of Ile d’Yeu is wild and rocky, while Noirmoutier takes you back to a gentler past.

The Vendée has always felt far from Paris and a centralised government. In 1793 small towns and villages resisted the Revolution, an uprising that was put down with extreme brutality.

The strange and peaceful marshy Marais Poitevin is the second largest wetland area in France after the Camargue in the south of France.

The Vendée is well known to the French, but less so by foreign visitors. If you haven’t been there, you’re really missing out. It’s a seductive part of France to visit.

First Things First: Where is the Vendée?

The Vendée is the southernmost department of the Pays de la Loire region.

Butting up to Brittany, the Vendée stretches from south of the Loire where Nantes is the last major city before the river flows into the Atlantic to just north of Ile de Ré in Charente-Maritime.

Explore the Vendée Coast

The Islands

Noirmoutier

Ȋle de Ré is the chic choice along this part of the Atlantic coast, particularly for Parisians. Ȋle de Noirmoutier has everything its sophisticated neighbour does, but it’s much more low key.

Get to Noirmoutier either by the Passage du Gois, a causeway that connects to the mainland at low tide, or by the long bridge (toll free).

Here you’re in a world of buckets and spades where locals foraging for cockles, mussels and razor clams. Sand dunes are backed by forests of oaks and fragrant maritime pines. Cycle paths that take you into the middle of the island where artisan salt makers practice their craft.

Noirmoutier does have a chic side. La Plage des Dames has painted wooden beach huts and beachfront restaurants. Just behind the beach there’s a shady wood. It’s a lovely spot which the Impressionist artist Renoir painted in 1892.

Noirmoutier became fashionable during the Belle Epoque between 1880 and 1914. Rich outsiders came here to build spacious, elegant villas among the trees and enjoy the new bains de mer sport. Even today the island seems caught in the 19^th century.

It has one more claim to fame. The island produces a great regional food: the best potatoes in the world, according to potato experts. They are also the most expensive.

Ȋle d’Yeu

Further south, Ȋle d’Yeu lies 10 miles/17 kms off the coast. Once the major tuna fishing port on the Atlantic coast, today it’s still an active fishing port. So if you’re eating here, order monkfish, sole, turbot, sea bream or shellfish. It’s wilder than Noirmoutier and accessible by ferry only. There’s a great walk along the unspoilt Côte Sauvage along the GR80 footpath.

Coastal Towns along the Vendée Coast

Little resorts, coastal towns and fishing ports are dotted along the coast. They offer sports from sailing to sand yachting or horse riding along the sands. In Saint-Jean-de-Monts try the Thalasso spas.

In Saint Gilles Croix de Vie visit the great sardine canning factory, La Perle des Dieux.  (Believe me, it’s fascinating). If you don’t do that, buy sardines from the food truck Le Banc des Sardines.

Then wander around the Quartier du Maroc, a section of fishermens’ cottages built by Moroccan sailors in the 16^th century.

The best known coastal town is Les Sables d’Olonne which has been delighting holiday makers since 1866 when the railways first brought people from Nantes and Paris to the Atlantic coast.

It’s a great yachting town, partly because of its boat builders and partly due to Its impressive yachting marina.

This is the starting point for the world’s greatest solo, unassisted, round-the-world-race held every four years. The last Vendée Globe, aka the Everest of the Seas, set out from here on November 8, 2020 at 13.02. The world watched as the 33 skippers battled their way through dangerous and icy seas for over three months.

Here’s a full guide to the Vendée Globe with some videos to take you out into the ocean, plus facts about the race, boats, skippers and more.

In September 2022 another race set out from Les Sables-d’Olonne, the Golden Globe round the world solo race. As of February 2023 it’s still on course. If that seems a long time, it’s because all the boats are pre 1968 with technology from that era (i.e. very little). Read about its progress with the news and updates here.

For a really good description of Les Sables d’Olonne, read Maigret’s Holiday by Georges Simenon and follow the detective as he walks the streets and pauses in cafes for coffee or a glass of white wine.

Towns and Cities

Fontenay-le-Comte

On the south east border, Fontenay-le-Comte was the capital of the Vendée until 1804. Its streets are full of delightful streets of old houses, overlooked by the Château de Terre-Neuve.

Built in 1580 for the soldier-poet Nicolas Rapin, friend of French Kings, this Renaissance building became the centre of 17th-century intellectual and artistic life.

La Roche sur Yon

Fontenay’s loss was La Roche sur Yon’s gain. In 1804, Napoleon chose the town as the department’s capital. Largely destroyed during the Vendée Wars (though there is one 16^th-century Renaissance house left), it was renamed Napoléonville and a new population was shipped in to kick start the new capital.

The town was rebuilt in a pentagon shape around the main Place Napoléon. It’s quite a change from the normal French main square. The huge space has four natural pools where animals made of wood and steel poke out from the water.

Luçon

The attractive town of Luçon is dominated by its cathedral and its 85-metre high spire. It’s thanks to Luçon’s most illustrious resident, Bishop Armand Jean du Plessis, appointed in 1607. He was part of the Richelieu family and as Cardinal Richelieu, became one of the most powerful men in France as State Adviser to Louis XIII.

He may not have liked his bishopric, but he transformed the town, rebuilding churches, the cathedral and his palace. He also founded a college and hospital. In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, the town was rebuilt in pseudo-medieval style and it’s those streets that are the most attractive.

Richelieu also ensured the rise of absolute monarchy after the remaining Hugenot rebels against the catholic church and the king were defeated at the siege of La Rochelle in 1628.

Inland Villages

The Vendée is full of charming little villages, many of them Petites Cités de Caractère (Small Cities of Character). The citation is given to small towns and villages with a remarkable architectural and landscape heritage. Never mind the qualifications, they are lovely places to visit.

Mallièvre is an old weaving village built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Sèvre Nantaise river.

Mouchamps has a church which stands on the site of the old medieval chapel of the castle; Vouvant on a bend in the river Mère has a church that dates back to the 11^th century, an old fortress and a tower built in 1242.

Nieul-sur-l’Autise has old abbey buildings and Romanesque cloisters which are the last remaining intact in Europe.

Renaissance houses and a 17^th-century covered market attract visitors to Foussais-Payré.

Gardens in the Vendée

The formidable keep of the old castle dominates Bazoges-en-Pareds. Furniture decorates the five floors of the keep, but the main attraction here is the superb view of the surrounding countryside, and more to the point, the medieval gardens spread out below you. Old species of roses, aromatic plants and herbs, medicinal plants, fruits and vegetables grow in strict ranks of beds.

For a complete contrast, visit the village of Thiré in the south of the Vendée. Le Bâtiment is an old 17^th-century manor house bought by William Christie. He’s the Franco-American conductor and baroque music specialist who founded the ensemble Les Arts Florissants and who has presented operas at Glyndebourne since 1996. His garden is extraordinary, inspired by the grand French and Italian gardens of the Renaissance. Each year, usually in June, there’s a stunning music festival.

A Little History of the Vendée War

Bear with me on this one; it will explain a lot of what you’ll see in the Vendée, particularly statues and monuments to people you won’t have heard of but who were the heroes.

The Vendée war was short lived but was particularly brutal as conflicts within a country tend to be.

In 1793 an uprising began, initially against taxes penalizing the rural community, becoming a more general protest supported by the catholic church. The Vendeans were fighting against the increasingly repressive Revolutionary government in Paris and mass conscription for a European war that seemed a million miles away from the Vendée.

Quick to act, the Revolutionary government sent 45,000 troops to the region. Reprisals were swift as the colonnes infernales (‘infernal columns’) of General Louis Marie Turreau massacred tens of thousands of Vendean civilians.

A scorched earth policy followed: crops were burnt, cattle killed and whole villages razed to the ground.

A treaty largely stopped the main uprising but intermittent fighting went on until 1799, and beyond.

In 1815 during Napoleon’s 100 days of freedom, Vendean loyalty to Louis XVIII presented Napoleon with a major problem and he was forced to send 10,000 troops to put the rebellion down.

Witness Vendée History

See the whole span of Vendée history at L’Historial de la Vendée. This modern museum covers the Vendée from prehistory through the Vendée war to the 20^th century.

L’Historial is located just outside Les Lucs-sur-Bourgogne, the village where 564 people were massacred in 1794 by the infernal columns. All their names are inscribed on plates in the Chapel of Petit Luc, just a few minutes away from the museum. It was built on the site of the church destroyed during the massacre.

A five-minute walk from L’Historial takes you to the small, modest memorial to the massacre. Hidden in the trees, it was inaugurated in 1993 by Alexandre Solzhenitsyn.

Live the Vendée War

A 20-minute drive from L’Historial brings you to Les Brouzils and the Refuge de Grasla. It shows how the population fleeing the war fared in the forest in the winter of 1794 (though you’ll need to understand French).

In July, there’s a re-enactment of that time, something the French are particularly good at. It takes place in the evenings over a weekend and is well worth seeing.

Where the Vendée War Ended

The Logis de la Chabotterie is both beautiful and important for the history of the Vendée. The Royalist leader, the splendidly named François-Athanase Charette de la Contrie Charette was arrested here in March 1796, bringing to an end the war. He was shot in Nantes six days later. A hero of the American War of Independence, he had returned to lead the Vendean army.

Step into the past in this fortified manor house where rooms look as if the owner has just stepped out for a few minutes. A table is laid for a meal; a draughts board is open for a game; a half-drunk glass of wine stands on a table beside an embroidered chair.  

Spectacle and Outdoor Theatre at Le Puy du Fou

Le Puy du Fou is not well known to foreign visitors, but it’s spectacular. This major theme park (with a difference) offers a swash-buckling interpretation of history; a chance to dream of living in the past when life was good. (We all know it was nasty, brutish and short but we have to let our dreams rip now and then.)

You wander around a medieval village, forts and châteaux. That’s just the start.

Daily shows take you from Le Signe du Triomphe in the Gallo-Roman Stadium, a replica of the Roman Coliseum, to a falconry show where the big birds of prey swoop down from the arms of the falconers above you on the ramparts. Or how about Viking boats on a lake? Or the jousting competition where you sit just feet from the knights as they charge at each other?

For a great piece of theatre centred around the Vendée war, book for Le Dernier Panache. It follows the fate of the leader, François-Athanase Charette de la Contrie Charette (see above).

The night time spectacle is particularly seductive. Les Noces de Feu (Nights of Fire) set to music, brings the underworld beneath the lake up to the surface. It’s really something, so get a special package and stay the night in the Park so you can see it.

Stay at Puy du Fou

Puy du Fou also has some of the best themed hotels in the world. Try the Roman Villa or stay militant in one of the Field of the Cloth of Gold pavilions. Choose a red and gold marquee for the English King Henry VIII or a blue and gold one for the French King François if you’re on the French side. The latest hotel is Le Grand Siècle, a reimagining of Louis XIV’s private château. It opened in the summer of 2020.

Into the Countryside

Le Marais Breton-Vendéen

The coastal marshland of Le Marais Breton-Vendéen stretches south from Saint Jean de Mont down the coastline to St Gilles Croix de Vie. Here you’ll see bourrines, the traditional marshlander’s houses made of straw and mud hunkering down under their thatched rooves, windmills and boatmen in flat-bottomed boats on the canals.

The small town of Challans, capital of the Marais Breton celebrates the past for four Thursdays in July in an old-time festival. They shut the town to traffic and your only means of transport is by horse and cart. Stalls fill the street selling traditional goods and local produce; there are forgotten games to play, folk dances and street theatre to watch. And this being France, it’s all done in costume.

Le Marais Poitevin

The Marais Poitevin is the second largest wetland area in France after the Camargue, and the fifth largest in Europe. It’s an extraordinary part of France, this marshy world covering 198,000 acres of rivers, networks of dykes controlling the slow moving waterways and roads and tracks beside them.

Migratory birds wheel in the sky above you; otters pop up from the waterways; dappled light filters through the trees; wild flowers grow in the green marshland. There are paths to cycle along and ruined churches to discover in the hidden marshes.

The most beautiful part is the Marais Mouillé or Wet Marsh. Known as the Green Venice, this is the place for a boat trip through the quiet waters but only in the summer. In winter it becomes a flood zone.

The Bay d’Aiguillon is an area of huge mudflats with salt meadows that are covered daily by the incoming tides. Bird lovers can climb the observatory towers to look out for the astonishing number of migratory birds (over 330 at the last count).

The beaches are long sweeps of sand backed by dunes, perfect for family holidays. Walk along the Veillon dune and the Pointe du Payré in Talmont Saint Hilaire. It starts in the green forest of Jard and finishes by the sea.

Shopping in the Vendée

Check out local markets for fresh produce and traditional crafts. This list is for 2019, but markets are so much a part of local life in France that they hardly change over the years.

Sallertaine is a small town on the coast in the Marais. Once an island cut off from the main coastline, today it’s a vibrant community of artisans.

L’Ile aux Artisans has a variety of craftspeople from leather workers to fashion designers, from woodworkers to glass blowers. On four Mondays in July/August, the boutiques remain open to 11pm, and the streets fill with musicians and performers.

And for sightseeing, Sallertaine boasts the oldest working windmill in France. The sails of Le Moulin de Rairé have been turning since 1555.

Food of the Vendée

You’re by the sea, so expect the freshest of seafood from monkfish to red mullet, bass to blue lobster and of course Atlantic oysters.

The white bean (Mogette de Vendée) makes an appearance in the countryside. Try it buttered and flavoured with garlic on toast for a snack, or used extensively with meat.

Noirmoutier potatoes are famous. They’re also the most expensive in the world. These ‘bonnottes’ are only grown on the island, getting their distinct taste from the seaweed used to fertilise the fields. Planted at Candlemas (Feb 2, 40 days after Christmas), the small potatoes are harvested in May.

Salt Production

Salt production is big in the Vendée. Once a dying art, today many young artisan makers have learnt the skill and are producing very good (but necessarily expensive) sea salt.

Join La Route du Sel from Sallertaine for a route that you can cycle, walk, or canoe along taking you through the countryside and past the salt works.

More about Food in France

And there’s much more…like

Sport in the Vendée

Two towns are known for their surfing: Les Sables d’Olonne and Longeville sur Mer. But if it’s water sports you’re after, the Vendée has it all from kitesurfing…

To sailing…

Or just playing on the beach

Then there’s cycling…You can cycle the 200 kms (124 miles) along the coast. It’s just one part of the Vélodyssée route from Brittany to the Spanish border (1200 kms/745 miles). And that in turn is part of the ambitious Eurovéloute 1 which takes you from Norway all the way to Portugal.

More about the whole Atlantic Coast

Departments of France
Regions of France

The post The Glorious Vendée Department on the French Atlantic Coast appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

The French Atlantic coast is magnificent, sweeping down the west side of France from Brittany to the Basque country and the Pyrenees on the Spanish border. It takes in the old regions of Pays de la Loire, Poitou-Charente and Aquitaine.

To the east, the boundary of the French Atlantic coast is marked by the pretty departments of the Loir-et-Cher and the Indre-et-Loire, the glorious Limousin countryside, rich Périgord and Gascony; to the west, the expanse of the Atlantic ocean.

What does the French Atlantic Coast offer?

Just about everything.

This is the place for some of the best surfing in Europe; for miles of golden sandy beaches and dunes on the Côte d’Argent south of Bordeaux.

It has glorious islands from beautiful Noirmoutier to chic Ile de Ré and tiny Ile d’Aix with its Napoleonic history.  

Cities offer perfect short breaks from Nantes to Bordeaux. La Rochelle, Rochefort and Biarritz are all irresistible.

And for rolling countryside there’s the Marais Poitevin.

For cyclists there’s the Vélodyssée, the cycle route that covers over 745 miles (1,200 kms) from Brittany down the Atlantic coast to Spain. And every water sport under the sun is there for the taking.

Pays de la Loire

In the northerly Pays de la Loire, the departments of Loire-Atlantique and Vendée lie beside the French Atlantic coast.

Just off the coastline, its balmy climate has earned Ile de Noirmoutier the nickname of the Island of Mimosas.

Nantes is the capital of both the Pays de la Loire region and the Loire-Atlantique department. It’s a wonderful city known for the former castle of the Dukes of Brittany, its strange machines, its renovated industrial districts and its young population. It’s one of the great towns and cities along the whole Loire Valley.

The mighty Loire River is on the last part of its 630 mile/1,013 km journey here. Starting in the Auvergne, it eventually flows through Nantes and into the Atlantic at St-Nazaire.

The Vendée

The Vendée department of the Pays de la Loire region, is known for 161 miles/250 kms of protected coastline and 87 miles/140 kms of beaches.

There are some spectacular islands to explore: just south west of Nantes, the Ile d’Yeu, the ‘Corsica of the Atlantic’, is one of France’s most important tuna fishing islands. The east side faces the French coast; the other, wild side is well worth exploring for its cliffs and small inlets looking out over the Atlantic.

Les Sables d’Olonne, once the most important cod fishing port in France, is now a yachting town.

It’s best known as the port where the famous Vendée Globe starts and finishes. The extremely tough round-the-world solo yachting race takes place every 4 years. The last one began in 2020 and finished in spring 2021.

On the borders of the Vendée, Deux-Sèvres and the Charente-Maritime departments, the marshy flatlands of the Marais Poitevin are quite extraordinary.  The area is ideal for walks on well-marked paths, through the Marais Mouillé or Wet Marsh.

The area is known as the La Venise Verte, or the Green Venice, its twisting little streams and canals, constructed by the ever ingenious Dutch in the 17^th century, snake through the forests, accessed by boats.

Just inland and between Cholet and La Roche-sur-Yon, the Puy du Fou, as Michelin says, is worth the detour. It’s my favorite historical theme park of any in the world with spectacular shows and great hotels that range from a Roman villa to the Field of the Cloth of Gold grand pavilions. It’s a must-see on any visit to the region.

More about the glorious Vendée.

Vendée Tourist Information

Poitou Charente/Charente Maritime

Sweeping further south, this is another region of seashore and sandy beaches. Now part of Nouvelle Aquitaine, and with an important history, it’s relatively undiscovered.

Island living

In the north the pretty island of Ile de Ré is the summer playground of chic Parisians. It’s a delightful island with fortifications in the capital, St-Martin, oyster and salt beds, a network, of paths to walk and cycle along. Markets to shop in, and remarkably good places to stay and eat.

Here is guest writer Fiona Quinn’s personal take on Ile de Ré.

Just off the coast between La Rochelle and Rochefort lies my favorite – Ile d’Aix. This tiny, traffic-free island was Napoleon’s last French residence, before the dastardly English played their final successful trick on him. They packed him off to Portsmouth then sent him on his way to Saint Helena where he ended his days.

Île d’Oléron is one of the bigger islands on the coast, joined to the mainland by a bridge. Eat oysters and visit La Citadelle, the waterfront fortress in Le Château d’Oléron. Walk through the pine forests and dunes and visit the small fishing ports.

If you haven’t heard of either of the islands, you might have heard of the TV Series Fort Boyard. It was filmed at the fort, half way between Ile d’Aix and Ile d’Oléron. Boat trips take you up close, but you can’t get onto the island (unless you’re a tv star).

French Atlantic Coast Cities

La Rochelle

Along the coast, the maritime city of La Rochelle, called the ‘White City’ from its pale limestone buildings reflected in the sea, was once one of the most important ports of France. Its Vieux Port (Old Harbour) is dominated by twin towers at the entrance dating back to the 14^th century. Strategically based along the French Atlantic coast, along with Rochefort, La Rochelle port was ideal for transatlantic sailings.

Today it’s a top vacation spot, surrounded by some great beaches, ideal for families. Don’t miss the Musée du Nouveau Monde (Museum of the New World), showing the close links between La Rochelle and North America.
La Rochelle Tourist Office

Rochefort

Just south of La Rochelle, Rochefort was another significant maritime center, with a huge Arsenal building war ships to defend France against their ancient and persistent enemy, the English.

It was from here that L’Hermione sailed. Built in 1780, the Marquis of Lafayette took command of the ship and sailed her across the Atlantic to help the Americans in the Revolutionary War against the English. A replica has now been built which sails to different parts of the world each year. It’s a wonderful sight to see her, flags flying, out at sea.

She lives in Rochefort and when not sailing you can visit her. Well worth it.
Rochefort Tourist Office

Aquitaine

Aquitaine runs south from Poitou-Charentes to north of the Pyrenees. 

Bordeaux

Bordeaux in the Gironde is the regional capital, the centre of the region’s famous wine industry, an important French city, and one of Europe’s foremost ports. A great trade center from Roman times, it’s best known for the famous Bordeaux wines and spirits.

This wonderful city has reinvented itself with top attractions, museums, great shopping, hotels and restaurants. Now just over 2 hours 30 minutes by TGV from Paris, it’s become a favorite short break destination.
Bordeaux Tourist Office

Gironde

The mighty Gironde river flows north of this beautiful department west of Bordeaux until it empties into the Atlantic. The Gironde estuary produces world-famous wines like Médoc, Haut- Médoc, Pauillac, Margeaux and St-Julien.

Arcachon Bay

South of the Gironde the Bay of Arcachon produces the finest oysters, earning its place as foremost in the regional food of France. The glorious coast line, an enormously long stretch of sandy beaches, is famous for its nudist and naturist resorts like Montalivet where the international naturist movement started, as well as its family beaches. 

Inland the immense pine forests of Les Landes stretch along the French Atlantic coast down to the Dune du Pilat, the highest sand dune in Europe.

The huge protected Parc Naturel Regional des Landes de Gascogne is an area of pine forest, wetland and coastline takes in the whole of Les Landes from Arcachon Bay. It’s a vast triangular plain, originally an inland sea that became covered in forest in the 19^th century.

The Pyrenees

So you come down to the southernmost region of the Atlantic coast, the Pyrenees and Basque country.

Many people flock here for the surfing, some of the best in the world. The coast is a mix of rocky inlets and long sloping sandy beaches bringing the surf of the Atlantic pounding onto the land.

Biarritz

Biarritz is the capital of the area, once the most glamorous city in France and for long the most famous, or infamous, city on the French Atlantic coast. It suffered in the 1960s when the fashionable abandoned the west coast for the Riviera. Its resurgence has made Biarritz a lively, cosmopolitan city with a famous Casino, great restaurants and interesting museums including the Musée de la Mer, one of the great aquarium collections of Europe.
Biarritz Tourist Office

St-Jean-de-Luz

And so to the southernmost part of this journey down the Atlantic coast. St-Jean-de-Luz is a charming town with a lovely old quarter. It’s the only natural harbor between Arcachon and Spain and a major port with whaling and cod-fishing fleets.

It’s in the heart of the Pays Basque, the region shared with Spain. You can’t miss the language of Euskera with most signs in the two languages.

St-Jean-de-Luz Tourist Office

And so we come to the end of the journey down the French Atlantic Coast. It’s one of my favorite parts of France with a beauty that sets it apart. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Getting to the French Atlantic Coast

Brittany Ferries runs from Portsmouth to St Malo in Brittany. From here to Nantes it’s a 177 kms/109 mile drive taking around 2 hrs 30 mins. Check out the information on Ferries to France from the UK.

The post The French Atlantic Coast appeared first on Mary Anne's France.