48 hours on the island of Oléron

Nouvelle-Aquitaine/2023

The possibility of an island... You can choose Belle-Île, the romantic Breton, or Noirmoutier, the gentle, family-friendly Vendée, or Ré, opposite La Rochelle, chic and bohemian. And then, a little further south, there's Oléron, the wildest and most iodized.

Like all its cousins, Oléron has its own identity and exclusive followers, who come from generation to generation, and are pleased to note that the island hasn't changed that much in fifty years. Oléron is Ré without rue Saint-Honoré, a magnificent moor studded with proud villages of white houses, salt marshes and oyster producers. And wide beaches battered by the Galerne wind, where, on summer evenings, mussels are cooked over coals (the mollusks are placed vertically and covered with pine needles, which are then set alight). Two days won't be enough for the essential themes: visits to oyster beds, salt producers, village life, enhanced by bike rides - the development of bike paths has improved a lot in recent times - and, for the connoisseurs, fishing on foot: at Bellevue for shrimp, at Saint-Trojan for clams, and on the Plage des Normands for crab at high tide. Once you've crossed the inlet via the viaduct, the best way to get acquainted is to head for Château-d'Oléron. The atmosphere, the cohesion and the picturesque character of the area are all totally Oleronian, starting as soon as you arrive with the painted huts and their surprisingly cheerful chromatic parade. You'll see these huts dotted along the coast, which it's a good idea to continue towards Boyardville, passing through Les Allards - a must-see stop at Mamelou - and Fort Royer, an oyster-farming site in a nature reserve that can be reached on foot, a succession of huts in a remarkable, preserved site, with an exceptional plant heritage and home to thousands of birds. Boyardville is also the starting point for a boat trip to Ile d'Aix and around the famous Fort Boyard. To explore the wilder north of the island, visit Saint-Georges-d'Oléron with its beautiful church, La Brée with its long beach, Saint-Denis and, at the tip, the Chassiron lighthouse, a tourist attraction with garden, museum and panorama. On the west coast of the island, La Cotinière is the best-known fishing port in this part of the Atlantic. Top Parisian chefs pride themselves on using "fish from La Cotinière", a guarantee of quality thanks to the expertise of local fishermen. Over the years, La Cotinière has also become a very lively resort, with some of the most popular beaches to the south, but so vast that you never step on your neighbor's towel: La Remigeasse, the beach of the Hotel du Grand Large, Le Treuil and Vertbois. Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron, the capital in the center of the island, is the hub of all pleasures, with its stores, architecture, terraces and nightlife. A beer, a cocktail, a concert at the Bus Stop, for example, after dining at Sillage, the new restaurant to know. But don't forget to get up early the next morning to experience the highlights: breakfast facing the sea is a pleasure that you can extend with a visit to the Saint-Pierre market, a thalasso treatment at Saint-Trojan and a ride on the little train, a visit to the winegrowers (Mage, Pradère, Vincent...) and the pretty port of Les Salines, a site classified as a "nature reserve", and always lots and lots of oysters... M. E.