ILE D’OLERON

Located off the beautiful southwest Atlantic coast near La Rochelle and renowned for 3 things: sunshine, oysters and its restorative sea air.

 

* More annually recorded sunshine hours than the Med *

 La Hune Sleeps 4
HOLIDAY HOME EXCHANGE ONLY

Exclusively for Adults!  Private pool!  Direct access to beach!
  

Charming self-contained 2 bedroom apartment comprising entire ground floor of 
architect's own seaside villa

Stunning location on dunes of the Cote Sauvage with panoramic sea views.

(see below) 

 

  Capacité 4 en 2 chambres.     Adultes exclusivement!

Gite de charme composé de l'ensemble du rez-de-chaussée  
d'un villa de architecte  propriétaire *  Présentation exceptionnelle

 Bord de mer * Piscine chauffée privée * L'accès à la plage par les dunes.  

Superbe emplacement sur la Côte Sauvage avec vue panoramique magnifique de la mer.

                                                                              (voir ci-dessous)

L'anglais et le francais parle. 

OR

 

POPPY COTTAGE FOR RENT
2 BEDROOM - SLEEPS 6
Quiet location 50m sea

Available for rental during month of August only. Children welcome.
(See photo below or contact Marie for more photos and full details)


 

 

Where it is and how do I get here

* UK flights from 1h 10min - 9 hr drive from Calais *

 

Car:  Ile D’Oleron (the island of light) is located in the region of the Charente Maritime 2 hrs north of Bordeaux and about a 9 hr drive from Calais or 4½ hrs from St Malo. The island is connected to the mainland at Marennes (famous for its oysters) by a 3 km bridge. 

 

Flights:  There is now a choice of cheap flights to La Rochelle airport from the UK and most flights are just over an hour long.  The tiny airport is serviced by Ryan Air from Stanstead and Dublin, by Flybe from Southampton, Birmingham and Manchester and most recently from London/Gatwick by Easy Jet and Edinburgh with Jet.2.com

 

Car rental: All the usual international hire companies are represented at La Rochelle AirportExample: rates for a week's car hire with Hertz made through Ryan Air start at £130. Following the curve of the coastline it’s a little over an hour’s drive south to the bridge that now connects the island to the mainland. 

On route stop:  If you would like to break your journey with an overnight stop (or why not a mini-break?) we can highly recommend Les Bournais near Chinon in the Loire Valley. This totally enchanting B&B is conveniently placed only a few miles from the A10 autoroute and is the kind of place you always hope to find but somehow never do.

 

The welcome from your English speaking hosts, Phillipe and Florence Martinez, is warm and genuine.  They offer 4 very comfortable bedrooms which have been converted from a row of stables on their old farm. All have been individually decorated with great style and care by Florence who also runs decorative painting courses from a barn on the grounds.

 

There are local restaurants nearby but if you are lucky enough to be there on a Tuesday, Friday or Saturday I would seriously recommend that you take advantage of the copious and delicious family meal offered at only 20E for 4 courses including the aperitif, wine and after dinner drinks.  Dinner is served in the farmhouse kitchen around a large table and is shared with your hosts (who obviously enjoy entertaining) and your fellow travelers.

Charmed by your hosts and filled to the brim with good food and wine you can look forward to a very convivial evening which is sure to become a highlight of your trip.

An equally generous breakfast is served in the farmhouse kitchen on the following morning - if you can manage it!

 

We would be happy to assist you in booking your stop or you can make your own arrangements direct by telephoning them on 00332 47952961 or reserve online through their website.

Visit their website on www.lesbournais.net



 

 

Don’t or don’t want to drive?

 

If you don’t drive or would rather not we can arrange for you to be collected from La Rochelle.

 

By car:   we can arrange for you to be met and collected personally at La Rochelle airport by the wonderfully charming, Michel, and driven to Oleron by private car. Once on the island cycle hire, taxi service and car hire are all easily accessible.

 

By train: the TGV (fast train) from Paris to La Rochelle is under a 3 hr journey and now with the new fast link services from England (by Eurostar change at Lille) the whole journey should be achievable in under 6 hrs.  So if you prefer trains to planes, its no problem, we would be just as happy to collect you from the train station in the heart of La Rochelle.

 

By boat:  Alternatively, if the tide is right it may be possible for you to sail from La Rochelle direct to the port of St Denis on Oleron by private boat.  It's only a very short ride by airport courtesy coach or by taxi from the airport to the port of La Rochelle where Michel will be waiting to welcome you onboard. As part of his service he will throw in a tour of ile d’Aix and Fort Boyard on route.

 

Boat trips around the island can also be arranged through Michel.  The day trip includes a tour around Fort Boyard, the famous 18thC lighthouse of Chassiron and a stop over on Ile d'Aix. If you like, Michel will accompany you on a walking tour of this miniscule picture postcard island celebrated for its white washed cottages adorned with every possible colour of hollyhock.  Lunch can be a picnic on the beach or taken at one of the portside restaurants featuring dishes of locally caught seafood and oysters. If you fancy trying your hand at catching your own just have a word with your skipper.

 


Bordeaux Wine Tours - personally designed to reflect your interests and budget.
www.winetours-bordeaux.com

 

Place yourself in the expert hands of wine guide and lecturer Maxine Colas and allow her to guide you through tastings in the cellars of some of Bordeaux's most celebrated chateaux.

English born Maxine who has lived in the region for almost 20 years has studied her craft at both Bordeaux University's Oenology dept and at the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce from whom she has earned a diploma at the Institute of Wines & Spirits. She holds posts as a lecturer at the CIVB and with the Bordeaux Saveurs Wine School specializing in tasting initiation as well as advanced levels.

 

Her individually planned and personally accompanied 5 day tours include accommodation at a comfortable 3* hotel in the heart of Bordeaux's historic city centre and carefully chosen gourmet lunches complemented by her choice of appropriately selected wines. Her tailor-made itineraries also include a 6 day Wine, History and Gastronomy tour. This tour created for lovers of good food as much as fine wine combines an informative, entertaining and tasty mix of shopping and sight seeing amidst Bordeaux's acclaimed architecture, visits to local country markets, private tastings at specialist wine and cheese shops , a boat ride to an oyster farm on the famous Archachon basin, cookery classes hosted by local celebrity chefs and finally the chance to work it all off on a ½ day bike ride along the Entre-Deux Mers cycle track.

 

Convivial and knowledgeable, Maxine will make the memory of your visit to the Bordeaux region one to cherish for many years to come.

 


 

 

About Ile d’Oleron

 

 

 

Some of you may already know me if you’ve stayed before at one of the Accessible France cottages in the Pas de Calais where for 14 years we had a holiday home of our own.

 

On my husband’s recent retirement, we sold our home there and relocated to a stunning little island called Oleron set in the Atlantic on the southwest coast just off  La Rochelle.  We knew little of it ourselves until we ‘discovered’ it the year before while on a brief visit and had the incredible good fortune  to find and buy our present home.

 

For me it was love at first sight.  A nostalgic mix of my childhood years on the Gulf Coast of Florida (wild and natural then) and 1960’s St Tropez (hip and laid back as it was then) this magical island of only 33kms has well repaid our rash decision to sell up everything quickly and move here. 

 

Of course, our haste also had a little to do with the amazing luck of finding a  bijoux fisherman’s cottage splendidly perched on a dune with panoramic views of the Atlantic (next stop New York as the Oleronaise like to tell you) – it was like a dream come true.  

 

 

 Known as the ile lumiere (island of light or Sunshine Island), we have come to understand why.  Not a day goes by without some sunshine and when it does everything shimmers.  Being on the west coast of the island we also have the added bonus of spectacular sunsets as the sun goes down in the sea.

 

The island’s western coastline, is called La Cote Sauvage.  We are located here at the northern tip not far from the historic 18thC lighthouse of Chassiron and just a few minutes walk from the start of the sandy beach of Les Huttes,  ideal for wind and body surfing.

 

 

 Up here the island looks a lot like Cape Cod or maybe Nantucket.   It’s quiet, but that’s all to the good when the crowds start to arrive on the southern end of the island during the summer weeks.

 

La cote sauvage

 

Many of the beaches incorporate shallow locks or ecluses hand built of rock centuries ago by fishermen who up until 30 years ago were the main inhabitants of the island.  From these rocks you may take for your own consumption what you find:  crabs, shrimp, mussels, clams, oysters, and a variety of other small shell fish.  A veritable plateau de fruit des mer – I kid you not!

 

East coast with view of Fort Boyard in distance

On the nearby eastern side of the island, facing Ile de Re, La Rochelle and Fort Boyard the sea is calmer.  The wide, sandy beaches  slope gently into the sea making them ideal for young children and for those who prefer a gentle float to riding the waves.  There are facilities and snack bars and all have surveyed and guarded sections.  Not surprisingly blue flags fly at nearly all the beaches.

 

 

Ile D’Oleron is a haven of natural sandy beaches lapped by the waves of the Atlantic and warmed by the Gulf Stream.  Being an island, each beach has a different aspect and is therefore best suited to different types of water sport - from credible surfing and snorkeling to deep sea fishing, sailing or paragliding. 

 

 

 

A lot has changed on Oleron over the past 30 years.  In the 1970's the old ferry boats were scrapped and a smart new bridge, the Viaduct,  was built spanning over the valuable oyster farms that surround the island and attaching it to the mainland at Marennes -  The oyster capital of France.  Here the tiny producers guard their reputations as zealously as the famous wine growers in the rest of France or The Continent as the Oleronaise prefer to call it.

 

Of course plenty of fishing still goes on – La Cotiniere is the most intact of the pretty fishing ports dotted around the coastline.  Others have transformed themselves into smart marinas with adjoining shops and restaurants. 

 

 

The island’s small white washed villages largely retain their character but have evolved to provide the commerce required by today’s visitors.   The tiny capital of St Pierre is one of the gems.  Le Chateau with it's star-shaped citadel and thriving artist’s colony that sets up shop near the port during the summer months in colourful, painted cabins is another.   Large supermarket chains and a variety of other essential shops now line the main road that cuts through the centre of the island and sit cheek by jowl with countless cycle, boating and surfing shops.   

 

Life on the island tends to be low key.  It  has a kind of barefoot, beachcomber informality but you would be wrong to translate that as ‘roughing it’.  Ile d’Oleron like Le Touquet and our neighbouring islands of Re and Aix, is a treasured haunt of the  Parisians and that means good food, fashionable shops and lots of creature comfort.  As well as owning second homes here many of them also run seasonal businesses returning every Spring with the warm weather to re-open their shops and restaurants.  Outside of the French community Ile d’Oleron is relatively unknown but the actor Johnny Depp was spotted secretly holidaying on the better known Ile de Re last summer so – can it be long?

 

At the port of Boyardville on the east coast you will have a splendid view of (the) Fort Boyard which you can visit by scheduled boat along with the islands of Re and Aix and of course the stunning town of La Rochelle with its own medieval port. 

 

 

 To the south the beautiful and cosmopolitan seaside resort of Royan on the mouth of the Gironde and gateway to the Medoc wine chateaux is only an hour’s car ride but here on Oleron the preferred mode of travel is the cycle. 

 

 

Crisscrossing its 33 flat kms is a network of dedicated off-road trails taking you along the coastline or through quaint, hollyhock adorned  villages , past inland oyster farms where you can stop for a degustation, salt basins still mined in the traditional way with donkeys and vineyards selling local wines.  A very tasty drink called Pineau, blended from local grapes and Cognac, served over cracked ice, is the islander's favoured choice for the evening aperitif.   The Cognac region itself is just across on the mainland in France as the locals think of it.

 

Ile d'Oleron is truly a paradise for those seeking unlimited sun and sand in peaceful and completely  natural surroundings – the island is shortly to be re-classified as a conversation area protected by the National Forestry Commission. 

 

 

Since settling here I have been hoping to find rental accommodation of a similar standard to that which we offer in the Pas de Calais.  My hope is to introduce and share with you my newly found ‘island paradise’ as I did so many years ago with the then little known Vallee de la Course.  But life goes on at an easy pace here so at the end of my third year  I can  offer ONLY two:  my own LA HUNE and POPPY,a two bedroom cottage sleeping 6.

 


La Hune (The Crow's Nest)

Les Huttes Plage

ILE D’OLERON    

Sleeps 4

 HOLIDAY HOME SWAP ONLY!  NOT AVAILABLE AS RENTAL

Charming  2 bedroom self-contained apartment 
on ground floor 
of seaside villa

    

Adult accommodation ONLY.  We regret we are unable to accept children.

 

      Adult parties searching for a holiday in peace, quiet and comfort in a stunning location? 

You have found it!

If you have a holiday home in mainland Europe and would like to exchange it for a
1 or 2 week stay (non-simultaneous OK) or a short break then we would like to hear from you.

____________________________
 

If looking for a holiday rental please see POPPY below.

 

 

The self-contained  2 bedroom apartment is located on the ground floor of our villa with direct access to the pool deck, garden and beach.  

Celebrated for its abundance of sunshine, clean air and mild climate the island of Oleron has long been a destination for those seeking its restorative powers or by those who simply have an affinity with nature.

 La Hune is  situated at the northern end of the island near the historic 
18
th century Chassiron lighthouse. 

 

 

The house is built on the dunes of the cote sauvage with extensive views out over the Atlantic and les Huttes Plage below. 

There is excellent surfing, snorkeling and sailing along miles of sandy beaches. 

 



Surfs up!  


Spectacular sunsets included free of charge.

There is shared use of the heated swimming pool (9.5 x4.5m) if we are also in residence otherwise you will have it all to yourself.



Guests have a private entry and front and back, their own bathroom, WC, 2 double bedrooms, kitchen and separate sitting room with English or French satellite TV. 


A fully equipped kitchen/dining room opens directly onto the swimming pool deck and garden with private BBQ area.  

 


Kitchen/diner

                                                                  Our extended back yard

Shell fish gathering, known as peche au pied,  (Oleron is famous for its oysters) is at the foot of the dune right at the back of the garden or you can cast your line for sea bass 

 

This stylish and  comfortably appointed accommodation would suit those looking for a relaxing holiday full of sun, sea, good food and fresh fish all wrapped up in 
natural 
unspoiled surroundings.

Cycles are included in the rental for those who would like to take advantage of the island’s 
vast network of off road tracks.

 

Oleron boasts a network of 33kms of dedicated cycle and walking trails (coastline, countryside,  forests & villages) and is truly a paradise for anyone who  enjoys off road cycling through varied and completely natural surroundings – a large part of the island is classified as a conversation area and protected by the National Forestry Commission.  

 

 

There is an excellent daily street market at St Denis (about a mile by car or off road cycle trails) where you can buy everything from freshly caught fish to your morning croissants. Hypermarkets and major shopping are well catered for at St Pierre, the island’s capital, only a 10 minute drive.
 

                     OLERON juste en face de NEW YORK

The locals will tell you that Oleron lies (as the seagull flies) approx 4000kms directly across from New York City -.starting just the other side of our garden gate! 

If this sounds like your kind of holiday please take a closer look at the rest of the island above or contact me for more details. Please note that La Hune is not available as a rental.  If you wish to rent please see POPPY below.

  

IF you have a second home on mainland europe (or could possibly be your main home) and would be interested in a Holiday Home Exchange please contact me to discuss it further.
Available for a Holiday Home Swap ONLYon selected weeks by arrangement..  

 English & French spoken.    Sorry, no pets.

__________________________________________________________________________
POPPY sleeps 6

If you are looking for a holiday rental on ile d'Oleron please phone me for more photos and details of POPPY - a bright and cheery little 2 bedroom cottage just across the road from my own.  The cottage sleeps 6 comfortably in 2 bedrooms (3 double beds), has a flower filled garden with BBQ patio and welcomes children of all ages.

 

But hurry - Poppy is available for a maximum of 
3 weeks during the month of August only.

_________________________________________

 

 

 

Tariff:  750E per week

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