Vendee Area

[Mickydripin]

 

Hi motorhomers I have been in the Vendee area in mid west France for almost three months now and I have not seen many British motorhomes here in fact I have not seen any.

 

As I am a novice motorhomer I do not know much of other areas of France so what do you think are other areas more interesting or nicer to visit.

 

The area that I am in is called Les Sables D`Olonne and is littered with loads of places to Visit with loads of lovely beaches and a great coastline with good parking in the pine forests where the French can be seen in there scores picknicking

You may think it is a long way to travel as from Caen to Les Sables it is about 280 mile the Journey is mostley dual carragways but I am sure the experianced of you may know some good places to stop at that I pass through and missed.

Rennes and Nantes are on my way down but I have not stopped there does any one know what these towns are like I will have to stop there sometime.

I am sure that the coast from Noirmoutier down to La rochelle would make a nice two,three, or four weeks trip down and would be very rewarding.

But what do I know as there are no Brits comming to this area there must be somthing that I am missing.

 

Mike

 

[bolero boy]

Mickydripin - 2011-08-11 1:53 PMBut what do I know as there are no Brits comming to this area there must be somthing that I am missing. Mike

Well, Mike - you missed us! In fairness we have been back a few weeks now after 10 weeks in the Vendee, particularly down on the Ile de Re and the Ile d'Oleron. You're right, though - this is a beautiful part of France which we adore. 

[mondo]

Yep I'll go along with the what the previous 2 posters have put...we did the Vendee for a couple of years..all along the coast from Les Sable de Lonne the Il de Re and the Il de Oleron and inland from the coast too..Out of all of it the Il de Re has to be my favourite place the scenery is great the people are great too and lots of nice places to stay...we will be back there next year

[malc d]

I too have been to the Vendee many times and there are usually quite a few Brits around. Maybe there are not so many crossing the channel this year.

 

We have normally travelled a lot further south than that in France, for the better chance of good weather, but last September we cut costs by going the shorter trip down to the Vendee and thoroughly enjoyed it, although it was not as hot as 'down south'

 

Nice area though - and I'm sure we will be back ( but definitely NOT in high season !)

 

 

;-)

[Basil]

Was there at the end of June, La Rochelle, Rochforte, Ilse de Rai are very nice but typically expensive. The Aire at La Rochelle is good, it does charge but the 24 hour fee includes park and ride tickets into La Rochelle though it is not to onerous a walk anyway.

 

Whilst in the Vendee if you can try to visit Puy de Feu see

 

http://www.puydufou.com/en

 

well worth it especially if you take in the Cinescene, which is only put on a limited number of times through the season that finishes September, as well.

Have to say there were plenty of UK vehicles there when we were there, possibly most avoiding that area at the moment as now is the time that a lot of the French take their holidays and so head for the coast

 

Bas

[Keith T]

Love the Vendee area, so many lovely places,claims to be the sunniest part of France after the Riviera, I think. We were at Sables d'Olonne over Easter, also St Gilles Croix de Vie, and excellent weather. Have visited most of the places along the coast, and Noirmoutier is great with an exc Aire,I seem to remember. Ile de Re also exc, though an expensive toll bridge, which rather than just for a day, entices us to stay several nights at St Martin.

Usually quite a few Brits around, though it may well be the costs and bad Euro rate are having their effect this year.

We've had two trips so far this year, and go again in another weeks time,so all told will have had probably some 14 weeks all told - but so far have stayed off the 'peage' autoroutes, and saved quite a lot of euros, and seen some really lovely places. Fortunately our Tomtom Satnav has an option to avoid pay tolls, so easy to find your way on the cheaper but still good routes.

[tugga]

Love the Vendee, especially St Gilles and Les Sables De Lone. Love Puy du Fou, especially the birds.

We stayed at a site called Le Pin Parasole, lovely big pitches should you need a site rather than an Aire.

[Gwendolyn]

Would endorse the suggestions for the Île de Noirmoutier, Île de Ré and Île d'Oleron [latter 2 admittedly in the Charente Maritime but nearby!] Quite magical. Always planned to visit the Île d’Yeu and Île d’Aix [the latter also in Charente Martime] – but not made it yet.

 

But inland, how about the Marais Poitevin, part of which is in the Vendée? A ‘mysterious’ area. We hired a boat - flat bottomed - and paddled around the canals. Not called the Venise Vert for nothing - hard blooming work paddling through the duckweed, under the overhanging trees, if you are not young and fit. Fun though!!!! [but you can join a boat trip with someone else doing the hard work!]

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Mickydripin - 2011-08-11 1:53 PM

 

...Rennes and Nantes are on my way down but I have not stopped there does any one know what these towns are like I will have to stop there sometime...

 

I avoid like the plague taking our motorhome into large cities. If we do want to explore a city (actually that should read "If my wife wants to explore a city!"), we park the motorhome well outside the centre near a public transport route.

 

We've never explored Rennes, but - if we were going to - this campsite would be where we'd choose to stay. It's on a bus route and is recommended in the CC Touring Handbook.

 

http://www.camping-rennes.com/

 

Regarding Nantes, years ago we stayed at this campsite (which was then called "Camping Le Petit Port")

 

http://www.nantes-camping.fr/

 

There's a tram-way that runs outside the campsite's entrance-gate.

 

Caen has an attractive centre, with plenty of ancient monuments, museums, shops, eateries, etc, plus a a tram-way system that's signposted off the ring-road.

[rupert123]

The oiginal post asked any better places to visit, well I reckon pretty much anywhere in France. To me the Vendee area is pretty boring, places like the Il de Re, which have been raved over, well we must all be pretty differant I guess because the place is dead flat, nothing of any scenic value, every house seems to have been built by the same bloke and only one town worth a visit and even that you can do in a couple of hours. As to better places I could fill a page, for example, anywhere in the alps from Chamonix down to the Med, most of Provence, Dordogne, Tarn, Pyrenees, Loire, Central Massif, Alsace, etc, etc. We are all differant and like differant stuff but to me the Vendee ranks along side Brittany and Normandy, OK for a few days or passing through on the way to somewhere better.

[Keith T]

Eash to his own.................we love the Vendee and pretty much alwasy get excellent weather,plus it's not overcrowded. Brittany, how can you say thats a place just to 'pass though'...it's really lovely, lots of places to see,and Normandy, well,we've only just stareted explring it since moving to teh South East of UK, and find it incredibly intersting adn scenery much better than nwe expected. OK weather much as ours, but that;s no bad thing.

We like other areas, and indeed i wuld sya that there is NO part of France we actively dislike. Thats the beauty of motorhoming, you can travel where you like and go somewhere different each time, and if you wish - like us quite often - simply follow the sun.

[Mike88]

I was in the Vendee in early July. It didn't stop raining and wished we had spent longer in Spain. The weather down that coast is notoriously changeable. Its a great area to visit when the weather is good.