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ILE D’OLERON Located
off the beautiful southwest Atlantic coast near |
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* More annually recorded sunshine hours than the Med *
LA HUNE (The Crow's Nest) Ground floor of seaside villa with pool available Jubilee Week (2nd June 2012) and during month of August only as a holiday rental. Holiday home exchanges other dates on request.
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
Car
rental: All the usual international hire companies are represented at
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
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.
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
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
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
Boat
trips around the island can also be arranged through
Michel. The day trip includes a tour around
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
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 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
Known as ‘the ile lumiere (island of light), 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
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 On the nearby eastern side of the island, facing Ile de Re,
Ile D’Oleron is a haven of natural sandy beaches lapped by
the waves of the Atlantic and warmed by the
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
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
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
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
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 sleeping up to 4.
La
Hune (The
Crow's Nest)
Charming self-contained 2 bedroom apartment
sleeping 2 comprising entire ground floor of Stunning location on dunes of the Cote Sauvage with panoramic sea views . AUGUST/JUBILEE
WEEK
JUBILEE WEEK
________________________________________ 2012
available
as a Holiday Rental
exclusively for the week of the La
Hune (The
Crow's Nest) Les Huttes Plage ILE D’OLERON Sleeps 2 or 4
Celebrated for its abundance of sunshine, clean air and mild climate
the
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.
There is shared
(with us) use of the heated swimming
pool (9.5 x4.5m)
and full access Guests have a private front and
back entry, their own bathroom, WC, 2 double bedrooms
(1 which can double as
a 2nd sitting room), kitchen and separate
sitting room with
English or French satellite
TV. The apartment's
fully equipped kitchen/dining room opens directly onto
the swimming pool deck and garden with summer
kitchen & BBQ.
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 completely natural surroundings.
Cycles are included in the rental for those
who would like to take advantage of the island’s Oleron boasts a 33km network of dedicated
cycle and walking trails (across coastline,
countryside, forests & villages)
and is truly a paradise
for anyone who enjoys safe 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
including the dunes at the rear of our garden.
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 is available as a holiday rental £995pw for 2 or £1295pw for 4 Special
Offer Jubilee Week @ £895 for 2 or
£1295pw sleeping 4
English & French spoken. Linen hire . Pool & Cycles incl. Non-smokers. No pets please.
Available also 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.
regret we
can not return calls to mobiles phones in the UK please leave a landline no. only
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