So you've taken the
caravan to France on several occasions, enjoying the beauty and
atmosphere of regions as varied as Normandy and Provence with
much in between. Where to go next holiday? Somewhere different,
yet still French.
Sound familiar? This was the situation that we found ourselves in
at the beginning of our last holiday. Our two children had been
with us to see many parts of France, and we had ventured into
most of the neighbouring countries too. Now, with the children
doing their own thing, we set off on holiday with no clear
destination in mind. Except that it should be France.
Leaving the ferry behind us at Caen we travelled through familiar
countryside, passing Alençon and Le Mans until stopping at
Aizenay where we spent a few nights at Camping La Foret. This was
a good base for a short stay, with easy access to the coast at
Les Sables d'Olonne (beautiful sandy beaches) as well as
several other interesting towns. At one - Coex - we toured an
unusual garden planted with a wide range of plants and flowers
selected for their scent. We were looking, though, for a base for
a longer stay and so decided to move on. Heading towards La
Rochelle we stumbled on an outstanding and interesting display at
a motorway service area at Aire de la Vendée on the A83
péage. This included a museum and theatre, all providing
information about the area to the north-east of La Rochelle in
the region known as the Marais Poitevin. Intrigued by what we had
seen we headed for Coulon, alongside the River Sèvre, and
there established ourselves at Camping La Venise Verte.
This is an excellent site. A high tech security system admits
only vehicles with recognised number plates after the initial
booking in, spacious pitches all include electricity and water,
and good all round facilities include pool and meals, either in a
pleasant restaurant or to take back to your caravan. The town of
Coulon is a gentle stroll away beside the water, and there are a
number of walks that can be followed from the campsite
itself.
The Marais Poitevin is a large area of reclaimed land, or
marshes, stretching westward towards the sea at the Bay of
Aiguillon. In some ways it could be likened to the Norfolk Fens,
an area where dry land is criss-crossed by innumerable man-made
canals and streams from the very small to those large enough to
cope with small pleasure boats. Many years ago the waterways were
an important part of the life of the region and were used in
place of roads to transport goods, people, and animals. The
smaller streams provide irrigation and, throughout the region,
there are a large number of locks and sluices that were installed
long ago to control the flow not just along the main arteries,
but also into the irrigated agricultural areas. We visited a
combined lock and sluice at Le Marais Pin close to Coulon and
this illustrated well how the system works.
Today much of the old way of life has started to disappear, but
the waterways remain to provide a beautiful means for the visitor
to travel through the towns and villages of the region. The water
is slow moving and, at the time that we were there, large areas
were covered in duckweed giving an even greener overall
appearance.
Great care has been taken to ensure that the canals and streams
are maintained with the visitor in mind. On a number of occasions
we found enchanting houses dotted along the edge of the water,
looking as if they had been there for many years and presumably
still lived in. One stretch of the River Sèvre close to
Coulon was especially attractive with houses that could be seen
from a road running alongside the river. One of these houses,
'The Blue House', featured on several postcards locally
and was a stopping place for coaches to photograph across the
water. Coulon itself is an attractive, small town claiming to be
the capital of the Marais Poitevin. The River Sèvre runs
close to the centre and along its banks there are several points
from which the visitor can hire a barquette a flat-bottomed boat
that can be paddled together (if required) with a guide. The
principal attraction of the guide is that he (or she) will not
only show you where to go in the myriad of waterways nearby, but
will also undertake all the paddling! We found that an hour
moving slowly along the narrow waterways was very relaxing. The
route passes through areas of reclaimed land that are still used
to support cattle, or to provide wood, and the barquette drifts
slowly through dappled sunlight coming through the trees overhead
with the sound of water lapping at the side.
Many of the other towns nearby are situated on the water. From
nearby Damvix we took a trip on a larger boat, offering a river
and canal cruise that lasted all day. An excellent lunch was
served as we moved slowly through locks that were used once as an
essential part of the local economy but which now see mostly
tourist traffic. The wide selection of meals available on the
boat included a local favourite Mojettes avec Jambon (beans with
ham).
At Arcais or at La Garette, two small villages each a few miles
from Coulon, it is possible to understand the way in which the
water was an essential part of life in the past. Buildings have
been kept much as they were then, even though lived in today.
Standing at the edge of the water one can imagine the barquettes
being paddled along, slowly carrying all the materials into and
from the village in a time when there were no other roads.
A few years ago we began to take bikes with us on holiday, and
the Marais Poitevin is an excellent area in which to cycle.
Across the region a number of well-signed routes and paths have
been laid out for both walkers and cyclists, with much of the
path well away from the roads. For those without bikes of their
own it is possible to rent them at many of the towns, and large
scale maps available at local shops allow the planning of a route
in advance. We pedalled slowly along a combination of tracks
through wooded areas or close to the water enjoying in particular
the quiet ride along the riverside towpath from Damvix, retracing
the route we had taken a few days earlier by cruise boat.
Whilst the region has much to offer within its own area it is
also a good base from which to visit other interesting places
nearby. La Rochelle, a busy but long established naval town, is
around an hour away on the Atlantic coast. An attractive harbour
offers a scenic backdrop to an 'old town' area that has
very good shopping and numerous restaurants, many offering local
seafood. A short trip on a 'water bus' across the harbour
from the centre takes you to an enormous marina at Les Minimes,
said to be the largest on the French Atlantic coast, and bustling
with visitors who have arrived on boats from France and
elsewhere.
Alternatively, north of La Rochelle is the area where the Marais
Poitevin reaches the sea. Charron is a village close to the shore
and a base for one of the largest mussel farms (moules bouchot).
Here local fisherman harvest mussels that are 'farmed' on
a network of oak stakes roughly six feet high driven into the
shallow sea bed. Infant mussels are hatched on ropes that are
later coiled around the stakes to enable the shellfish to grow.
Mussels are harvested daily, and Charron claims to produce around
1,000 tonnes a year!
We stayed at La Venise Verte much longer than we had
expected originally, and were sorry when the time came to leave. This is an
excellent area to spend a week or so, with or without children - strongly
recommended!
© GDS 2001
