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 *

The great thing about islands is that they are completely surrounded by sea.
With a 360 degree coastline you are never far from a beach and on Oleron, France's 
second largest island, you can find a different spot to yourself every day of the year.

LA HUNE (The Crow's Nest)

Adults Only Accommodation see below

Searching for a truly peaceful seaside holiday where the only roar you'll hear is the sound of the surf crashing on the shore and the only cries from the seagulls overhead?  
Look no further, this is it! 

 

Last of the 2012 availability
Any week you like in month of June - its your choice!
Entire ground floor of seaside villa with pool & beach access available as a holiday rental during selected summer weeks.  Holiday home exchanges possible for other dates.

 

 

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 an 8hr 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 toll-free 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. There is a courtesy coach from La Rochelle airport to the old Port. Ferry service in season from La Rochelle to our nearest port at St Denis for those travelling without a car.

 

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.
Local car hire on island (at Super U) from 5E per day. 

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 taxi service or car hire are both 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 private 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.

 

Scheduled ferry boat:  Port of La Rochelle to Port of St Denis with taxi service (approx 

2km to La Hune.

 

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.

 

Scheduled boat trips:  to ile d'Aix (yet another Napoleonic imprisonment and now museum) and La Rochelle.

 


About Ile d’Oleron

 

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

 

A few years ago we sold our farmhouse in the Vallee de la Course  and moved further south to a stunning little island called Oleron set in the Atlantic on the Southwest coast just off  La Rochelle.   We knew little about it ourselves  until we ‘discovered’ it the year before while on a brief visit to the Charente Maritime.  

 

For me it was love at first sight.  A nostalgic mix of my early childhood years on Florida's  Gulf Coast  (wild and natural it was then) and the old fishing port of St Tropez (pre- BB) and before the rest of the world rushed in her footsteps to change it forever.  This magical island, only 33kms long, has well repaid our impulsive decision to sell up everything  and move here quickly. 

 

Of course, our great haste also had a little to do with the tremendous luck in finding  LA HUNE (the crow's nest) - a  bijoux beach house splendidly perched on the dunes with an 180 degree view out over the Atlantic (next stop New York as the Oleronaise like to tell you) – it was  a dream come true.  

 

Known as the ile lumiere (island of light), we have come to understand why.  The island of Oleron  officially clocks up more sunshine hours each year than the Mediterranean.  Not a day goes by without some sunshine and when it does everything shimmers.   Being on the west coast we also have the bonus of truly spectacular sunsets as the sun goes down on the sea.

 

The island’s western coastline, is called La Cote Sauvage.  Our beach house is located here on the narrow northern tip of the island not far from the historic 18thC  lighthouse of Chassiron.  We are also just a few minutes walk from the start of Les Huttes' sandy beach,  ideal for either wind or body surfing as well as mile after mile of uninterrupted coastal walks.

 

Miles of coastal footpath leading to the Chaisseron Lighthouse

 

This end of the island also reminds me  a lot of Cape Cod or maybe Nantucket.   It’s quiet, but that’s all to the good when the crowds start to arrive on the southern tip near the bridge during the summer weeks.

 

La Cote Sauvage 

 

Many of the island's beaches incorporate shallow locks known as ecluses hand built of rock centuries ago by fishermen who up until 40 years ago were the main inhabitants of the island.  From these rocky pools you may take for your own consumption what you find:  crabs, shrimp, mussels, clams, oysters, and a variety of other small shell fish in season.  A veritable plateau de fruit des mer – I kid you not!

 

East coast with glimpse of Fort Boyard and La Rochelle in the 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 or 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 over 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 best suited to a different type of water sport - from credible surfing and snorkeling to deep sea fishing, sailing or paragliding. 

 

 

 

A lot has changed on Oleron over the past 40 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 famous wine growers in other regions 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 recently 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 it's own medieval port.  Foot passenger-only ferry boats make frequent daily crossings throughout the spring and summer months 

 


On the mainland to the south lies the beautiful and cosmopolitan seaside resort of Royan located on the mouth of the Gironde and gateway to the Medoc wine chateaux only a short car ferry ride away.  
But back on Oleron the preferred mode of travel is the cycle. 

 

 

Crisscrossing 33 flat kms is a network of dedicated off-road trails taking you along the coastline, through pine forests, quaint hollyhock filled  villages , past inland oyster farms (where you can stop for a degustation and a glass of local wine), marshlands with salt basins still mined in the traditional way with donkeys and vineyards selling the island's produce and their version of Pineau
 
This tasty drink blended from locally grown grapes and Cognac is served over cracked ice and is the  islanders' favoured choice of the evening aperitif.   The Cognac region itself is just inland across the bridge to the mainland in France.

 

ILE d'OLERON is truly a paradise for those seeking unlimited sun and sand in peaceful, completely  natural surroundings.  Surprised first time visitors often exclaim they didn't  think  beaches such as these still existed today on France's over-populated coastlines (another reason why the French have contrived to kept Oleron to themselves).   

The island has now been reclassified as a Conversation Area protecting officially protecting it's forests and countryside as well as future urban development.
 

 

 

Since settling here I had hoped to find other holiday accommodation of a standard similar to that which we offer in the Pas de Calais.  My hope was to introduce and share with you our newly discovered ‘island paradise’ as I did so many years ago with the then little known Vallee de la Course.   But on Oleron the livin' is easy and time goes by    so at the end of my 5th year I can still only offer one:  my own LA HUNE

                                                                          sleeping 2 - 4 adults.

 


 

Available for 1 week in June 2012

 

La Hune (The Crow's Nest) is not family accommodation

 Adults Only  *  Sorry No Children 
 

Charming self-contained 2 bedroom apartment sleeping 2-4 comprising entire ground floor 
of architect's own villa

Stunning location on dunes of the Cote Sauvage with panoramic ocean views

 

Final week remaining until 2013:

                                     Any week you like in month of June only
                                                ***
Sleeping 2 £995 for 7 nights 

                                                                 (full details below)

 

________________________________________

 Available as a Holiday Rental  
for any week you like during the month of June

La Hune (The Crow's Nest)

Les Huttes Plage

ILE D’OLERON    

Sleeps 2 adults
 * private pool * walk to beach * panoramic views of coastline from garden *

 

 


The
2 bedroom apartment (one with a large, comfortable sofa bed) is located on the ground floor of the villa and is completely self contained with it's own entry and direct access to the pool deck, garden and beach below

 

Treasured by the French for its abundance of sunshine, clean air and mild climate the island of Oleron has long been the destination of those in the know 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 and it's awarding winning gardens

 

 

Our beach house is located on the dunes of the 'Cote Sauvage' with extensive views 
of the coastline, the Atlantic ocean and Les Huttes Plage.

 

 

 

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

Les Huttes Plage below

 



Surfs up!  


Spectacular Atlantic sunsets from the garden included free of charge.

There is use of the swimming pool (9.5 x4.5m)  and full access 
to the garden, summer kitchen and its facilities.



Guests have a private front and back entry, their own bathroom, WC, 2 double bedrooms  
(one
of which can
double as a 2nd sitting room), kitchen and separate TV room with English or French satellite TV. 


The  apartment's beautifully  equipped kitchen/dining room opens directly onto the swimming pool deck and garden with summer kitchen & BBQ pavilion.  

 


Kitchen/diner

  View from the dunes at the back of our 'extended garden'

Oleron is celebrated for it's fish.  Shell fish gathering, known as peche au pied can be found right at the foot of the dunes at the back of our 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, an amazing  array of local seafood and good restaurants all wrapped up in completely natural  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 33km network of dedicated cycle and walking trails (crossing coastline, salt marshlands, vineyards, pine forests & villages) and is truly a paradise for anyone who enjoys safe off road cycling through completely natural surroundings.  The entire island has now been 
officially classified a CONSERVATION AREA by the Ministry of the Environment and is protected by the National Forestry Commission - including the dunes at the rear of our garden.
 

   
There is an excellent daily street market at St Denis (about a mile by car or cycle trails) where you can buy everything from your morning croissants to freshly caught fish (and of course oysters!)  Hypermarkets and major shopping are  only a 10 minute drive away at St Pierre, the island's bijou little capital.
 

                     OLERON juste en face de NEW YORK

Our locals will tell you that the island of Oleron lies (as the seagull flies) about 4000kms from the island of Manhattan - starting just the other side of our garden gate! 

If this sounds like your kind of holiday please scroll above and take a closer look at the rest of the island or contact me for more details.

 

2012 HOLIDAY RENTAL SEASON

La Hune sleeping 2-4 ADULTS available normally as a holiday rental 
during the month of August
is now fully booked.

***   
 The last week remaining for 2012

choose any week you like during the month of June.
***  


                                                          
                

     ***Please note:  LA HUNE is accommodation for grown-ups. 
Sorry, but we are unable to accept children at this property 

regardless of size, age or temperament. 
Please do not ask us to make an exception.

 
    For further details or advice please phone Marie in Oleron on 
00335 46366625 

 

 English & French spoken.  Pool, Cycles, Electricity, Water inclusive Linen hire.  End of stay clean 35/45E Non-smokers.  Sorry, no wheelchair access or special facilities for handicapped at this property.

 

 

 La Hune is also available as a Holiday Home Exchange:

If you have a second home in mainland Europe (or could be your main home) and would 
be interested in a Holiday Home Exchange please contact me to discuss it further
.

 

I am at my home in France now on 00335 46366625  

Regret we can not return calls to mobiles phones from France so if requesting a callback please leave a landline number only .

 

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