Le long du Littoral Vendéen : Traditions et Savoir-faire | Côtes françaises | Trésors du Patrimoine

Le long du Littoral Vendéen : Traditions et Savoir-faire | Côtes françaises | Trésors du Patrimoine

It’s 8am. We are at
the Fromentine heliport in the north of Vendée. Like every day, Antoine Grésillon
loads the mail and newspapers for the inhabitants of the island of Yeu.
With his helicopter, Antoine is the umbilical cord that connects the island to the continent.
It ensures daily rotation regardless of weather conditions.
“The problem we have on the island is that the boats are tied to the tide times…
…which means we can’t have regular timetables. The post office, they
always start at the same time, they sort the mail, that’s also why the helicopter
really has its place on the island of Yeu” After flying over the
Noirmoutier bridge, Antoine sets course for the island of Yeu, the furthest island from
mainland France after Corsica. Exactly 17 kilometers separate the island from the continent.
“Every morning my landscape is this, when I open the windows of my office this is what
I have when I leave at 7:30 every morning. Today we are lucky the weather is
very nice, sometimes it is a little less nice but we still have a beautiful environment”
The helicopter lands in Port-Joinville, the main town on the island. For a long time it was
the leading tuna port on the Atlantic coast. “Romeo Delta helicopter, I’m arriving
to land at the helipad.” The mail vans arrive
immediately to receive the mail. An average of 5,000 letters and 150 parcels
arrive by helicopter every day. “There are no parcels today.”
Antoine, for his part, is already preparing his next flight because he is getting ready to welcome
Annabelle Chauviteau-Lacoste, the archaeologist in charge of the heritage of the island of Yeu.
“Sit down, stand in front. THANKS. » She comes to take a look at the
main monuments of the island seen from the sky. The island is very small, covering
only 23 square kilometers. However, it presents a great variety of landscapes.
“So in front of us, we can see Pointe des Corbeaux. From here we can clearly see that
part of the island is mainly made up of a sandy coast with dunes and
pine forests. So this sandy coast faces the continent. And on the other side, however, we have
a much higher coast with cliffs of ?? Mostly. This coast opens out to the
open sea. So we have two completely different physiognomies on either side of the island of Yeu.
“Here we can see the port of La Meule with the Notre-Dame De Bonne-Nouvelle Chapel which
is there at the entrance. This port is a natural port where the sea really fills
the ???. The fishing tradition in this port is lobster trap fishing.
If Annabelle knows the island so well, it is because she was born and grew up there.
“I went to the continent for a long time to study and
then to work and I thought I would find my little piece of paradise elsewhere, on the
continent, and then I realized that it was indeed there and I came back with
great pleasure to work here today” Located along the commercial maritime routes
, the island of Yeu has long served as a stopover for merchant ships.
This strategic position made it coveted by the English,
the Spanish and the Dutch. For defense, this castle was built
in the 14th century on this rocky spur, impregnable from the sea. Called the old castle, it is today one of the emblems of the island.
“If it was built on this rock, it was very well thought out because the landing places for
the enemies are not on this coast but really on the opposite side of here on the sandy coast,
so the enemies had to cross the island on foot and once they arrived at the castle, we can see it very
well from here we have an outer belt, a defensive belt in the shape of a star where the
soldiers of the castle were posted behind and if the enemies managed to take this
outer belt the soldiers quickly entered the castle, raised the drawbridge and there it was necessary to
enter one way or another.” Annabelle is responsible for protecting this
last testimony to the island’s history. She accompanies Maurice Esseul to the Old Castle
because this historian has devoted his life to the building. Do you have the keys to the castle?
“Well yes, since 1974, the year we had the door installed, I was granted the right to
possess the key to the old castle and so I am allowed, perhaps until the end of my days, to
have the authorization to enter this castle.” Thanks to this door, Maurice was able to
protect this castle from looting. Since then, he has overseen
a restoration project almost every year to consolidate the building. And soon,
Annabelle will take over. “Here you are in a place where
a cannon used to be placed. When the cannon fired, there was immediately a recoil caused
by the shot and it would hit this mound here and return to its initial position and therefore it
could be used again. We had no other means of holding it back than by this mound.…”
so if we look closely we can see that we could put three cannons.
Three guns. “This castle grabbed me by the guts from
the start. For me it is the history of the island since it is the symbol of the freedom of the Islanders so
for me it was essential to preserve and pass on to the generations why it was
created here and that is why I started to lead a team of young people for
four consecutive summers between 1967 and 1971. We cleared everything we could so that
the official teams could resume work and begin the real restoration.
In these pictures, Maurice is 40 years old. In the 70s he devoted all his free time
to the old castle. And over the years, he succeeded in mobilizing more and more people
and raising awareness among residents about preserving their heritage.
” So here we are going to see a
very clever place. It is a door that allowed direct access to the
sea. So watch out, Maurice, for the stairs… This door is called a postern. This is the
emergency exit from the castle. In particular, it allowed the lord and his soldiers to escape when the
English privateers took the castle in 1355, during the Hundred Years’ War.
“What is very ingenious is that right in front of this postern we have a large
natural rock and this large natural rock allows us to hide this postern from the view of the enemies
even if they approached here by boat or ship they could not see it at all”
“The English occupied this castle for thirty-seven years and at the same time the whole island
so the inhabitants were at the mercy of the English. It was not until 1392 that
its direct lord of origin, Olivier V de Clisson, took back this castle from the hands of the English
and restored the island’s French identity. Throughout the 16th century, the island of Yeu
experienced several more invasions: the Spanish under Charles Quint, the Protestants during
the Wars of Religion and then the Dutch. The wild coast has been classified as a Protected Site
since 1995. But in recent years, these natural spaces have been weakened
as they are increasingly frequented. Thousands of visitors roam
the island, straying off the beaten track and threatening vulnerable biodiversity.
On sunny days, they enjoy one of the most beautiful sites on the island: Sables Rouis beach.
An idyllic setting between sea and cliffs. Inès and Juliette are
environmental protectors. All summer long, they crisscross the island to
watch over the wild coast. Here, it’s the poorly
parked bikes that are the problem. “There’s one over there on the rock”
“We’re putting up little notes that tell people who are
parked badly that they’re on a listed site and we’re also advising them of where to park…”
“What’s the problem with these bikes? ” Here we can see it clearly, it’s a good
example, there are all the bikes passing by, there’s no more vegetation whereas
normally it’s like on the other side of the path. People park on that side,
so we lose all the vegetation.” “Hello, do you understand the little note
Yes but it’s not easy to park. Yes, it’s true that it’s not
easy to park, but you have to know that it’s like that all along the coast.
“I didn’t expect people to pass by for that, but at the same time, I think
it’s good. It is true that it is a magnificent site so it is good that there is protection and
surveillance to preserve the site. Next time I’ll try to park my bike somewhere else.” ”
Hello. We are the ones who put the little notes in for you. You have to park just on the other side of
the stones that mark the protected areas. But why don’t you install
logs? Everyone would respect the parking lot if there were logs…
“We agree and we note your comment. Our job is to pass on
the information. Good day, Madam.” Thus, the inhabitants of the island,
the ilais, have the hope of keeping a wild, beautiful and protected coast.
“The girls, well, I hear them.” Nearby, Julien Dupont and his family
have embarked on a new adventure. “We’re hunting cows, we
‘re looking for our cows because they’re raised there like that
in complete freedom, to find them, did we put bells on them? So
we listen for them. We’re going there, we’ll find them”
A part of this immense natural and preserved area was allocated by the
municipality to Julien and Bénédicte. They breed a rare species there: Black and White Bretonnes.
“There they are, I see them… Come on girls, Schooner.”
The Breton Pie Noirs were once present on the island. By
reintroducing this breed here, Julien and Bénédicte are reviving an ancient tradition.
“I think it’s a shame to make an island just for tourists. It’s good that we’re managing to
keep fishing going, even if it’s not easy, and it’s good to bring back a bit of agriculture. So
putting cows back in was a good fit. Now that we are starting to do
more natural, organic farming everywhere, it was the time to do it.
The Breton Pie Noir feeds on fibers and legumes that it
finds itself in wastelands. It is an independent cow but produces less
milk than the others. Its breeding was abandoned after the Second World War.
The breed even almost disappeared. In France, a recovery plan was put
in place in 1976. For several months now, Julien and Bénédicte have been the first
to take the plunge on the island of Yeu. “What was important to me
was to revive the island, revive the land, do something with this
land that has been forgotten and needs life… There’s no doubt about it, they don’t spoil the
landscape, I don’t get that impression.” These cows will give their first liters of
milk next summer when they have given birth. In the meantime, Julien and Bénédicte
bought four heifers which they went to get from the continent. For now,
they are being pampered in their garden. Julien: “We give
the cows a little water because it’s hot, we give the calves a little water,
we fed them like that for 3 months because of the lack of a mother, of course,
but it went very well, there were some small problems at weaning, but that’s normal.”
While waiting to be able to make a living from his new activity, Julien is keeping his
current job as an electrician. As for Bénédicte, she left her job to follow a
training course and devote herself to her breeding. “The youngest one we had was 8 days old,
she was a tiny baby, no bigger than a dog, we’re a bit like their parents.”
“It’s a bit deliberate. What we want is to make dairy farmers who love us and
who we love, so it seems like we’re off to a good start.” Today is the big day.
Two heifers leave the village to join the herd. For the first
time, they will experience life in freedom. “Come on Iris, go on your own…
The holidays are over girls… The apprehension is the reaction of the others,
we’ll see how it goes, anyway, they don’t have much choice…
They seem quite surprised or intrigued, I think they’re wondering what’s
going on. New people, everyone wants to see them. Right away,
she seeks to dominate. And happy, ah well there you go… well what did you think?
“I’m happy, the livestock is increasing, the pump is primed.” A few kilometers away another pearl
of the Atlantic coast appears: the island of Noirmoutier. It is connected to the continent
by this bridge built in 1971. But for a long time it was only
connected to mainland France by a legendary road, submerged at high tide.
Hidden under the sea is a section of the Departmental Road 948! It is
revealed at low tide, twice a day. More than 4 km long, it is listed in
the inventory of Historic Monuments. It is called the Passage du Gois.
It is 7:30 in the morning and on this day of high tide, the Gois is already stormed
by a queue of impatient motorists. “We got up very early this
morning, 4:00, 4:30 from Niort we left to arrive among
the first because the pleasure is to see the sea leave and to follow it…”
Like every day, the first to open the road are the maintenance services. This is
the work of Claude Gauthier’s team. “Yes Regis, how are things going this morning? is
there traffic? Yes, we have to do it quite quickly because there is a lot of traffic.
“We clean the Gois passage like every day… we do it twice a day
when the tides match, otherwise once, we never intervene at night… The
algae risks leaving slippery areas for vehicles, motorbikes and pedestrians. We have to
remove the jellyfish, which are quite large, gelatinous masses, and then
fill the potholes if there are any.” Meanwhile, the line of cars
grows longer. By using the Gois passage rather than the bridge, motorists
save 20 minutes. During high season, more than 4,000 vehicles pass through here every day.
But for this road to continue to exist, it must be constantly repaired.
“It’s called shoulder reinforcement ; we fill in the shoulders to maintain the
shoulders, it supports the Gois and prevents cars from falling into the holes, if a car
falls into there, it’s sure to stay there. Gois has always been a huge success. Since my earliest
childhood there have always been people fishing on the banks of the Gois at low tide.
For the unwary, the route is punctuated with markers that Claude and his
team inspect regularly. “These are refuge beacons for people
who get stuck in the sea with their cars. Does it save lives?
It saves lives, yes, every year in fact” 9 refuge beacons were
installed in the 19th century, one every 500 meters along the passage.
On the mainland side, the Relais du Gois serves as an observatory. From this location, you can
monitor the passage all day long. Karine bought the restaurant
with her husband 14 years ago. From the terrace, she watches for cars
and fishermen as soon as the sea rises. “We are constantly monitoring, we must always keep an
eye on the sea so that we can intervene as soon as there is a problem. If there is a problem, we
call the fire brigade because the sea rises very quickly and the cars are completely covered.”
Three hours later, the Gois passage is no longer passable. Locals say that the
sea comes in at a gallop on days of high tide. In a few minutes, it covers everything.
“It’s already very dangerous because in the end we can’t go around the bend anymore,
there’s already water coming from the left and pouring down to the right. The most critical thing
is the car that is in the water there and that might get caught, live. People
always commit until the last minute so they can ride in the water. They do
n’t realize, finally there I hope he realizes because there where he rolls the gentleman. So he
mustn’t fall on his side, otherwise he ‘s doomed. The second to last time when they got
caught, he fell on his side like that and the car stayed. “It’s okay, he’s gone.”
The driver of the vehicle, his wife and their two children escaped unharmed this time.
But in 2013, more than 28 people were trapped in Gois. And for several years,
this figure has been constantly increasing. The Gois is also popular with
professional fishermen. Coralie is one of two women who work in this
business all year round. With her husband Patrice, she goes to sea every day at low tide.
Their specialty is fishing on foot to collect the island’s star shellfish: the clam.
The sea has not yet completely receded, but Coralie and her husband are already starting work.
“While waiting for there to be no more water so that we can fish with a rake or a
hole, instead of wasting time waiting, we use the dredge. It allows us to fish a
little more and not waste our time waiting for 3 hours for the tide to go down.”
“It’s physical because it’s our weight that pulls, but here it’s quite soft ground so we
have to force ourselves to be able to push the dredge in, to be able to pull it, it’s my body that
pulls while walking backwards, so it’s true that it’s not… the advantage of weight.”
As the tide goes down, dozens of fishermen take over the
Gois passage in search of precious shellfish. And two hours later, the fishing on foot can finally begin.
“I’m fishing with a rake, so I’m scraping in the sand where there’s water. I
bring the clams to the surface and then I collect them. The clams must be larger
than 4 cm. Above 4 cm, they can be harvested; below this, it is not permitted. There is
no point in picking up everything that is small because everything that is small will become big and reproduce,
so all of that must be left on the ground. We’ll fish them out later. There’s no point
in picking them up now. You have to fish what you can sell and eat rather than
collect everything and anything. It is eaten cooked, put it on
spaghetti fried in butter with cream. You put this on spaghetti and it’s
really good. In cream directly in the pan, and raw too, it can also be eaten raw
… Look how beautiful it is! It’s good.” As a professional fisherwoman,
Coralie has the right to collect up to 50 kilos of clams per tide. Fans
are limited to 3 kilos per person, but during high tides like today,
thousands of people come to the place. Patrice and Coralie want to pass on their
love of their profession to Michaël, who has chosen to become a professional fisherman.
“What I like is being outdoors and being at sea because I have been passionate about
the sea since I was very young. What is really nice is the landscape…
…we see the nearby parks, we see the whole bay of Bourneuf, there we see the
Gois beacons, the coast of Noirmoutier, it is a heavenly setting, it is super beautiful. »
“It’s pretty, it’s alive, it changes every day, with every tide. The
landscape is never the same, today it was nice, it was windy, tomorrow it might be
super sunny. We see cars passing in the distance, people arriving, other boats and
it’s all open and then it’s nature, we have space we can breathe. There aren’t many people
who work outdoors in the full sun, we tan in the summer while working. »
In Noirmoutier, the castle was built in the 12th century to protect the inhabitants from
Viking and Norman attacks. Not far from there, one of the island’s treasures: the salt marshes. They were made by
monks as early as the 5th century. Today, Noirmoutier’s other wealth
is its beaches, such as the legendary Plage des Dames. And well hidden behind the
hundred-year-old holm oaks, Anse Rouge. The beaches owe their
reputation to the famous cabins. They make up the identity of the island.
And to preserve them, a small group of enthusiasts created the
Beach Hut Owners Association. “This is a double cabin, it dates
from a time when there were no limits, no real dimensions to give…
it has certainly been redone since…” Pierrick and Daniel founded the association because
beach cabins almost disappeared with the coastal law. Since 1986,
all construction on beaches has been prohibited. The association
fought to preserve this heritage. “It’s in the guts, Noirmoutier without a
cabin, it’s Noirmoutier without a jetty, it’s like Paris without the Eiffel Tower. »
« The beach huts are one of the symbols of the island . There is not a photo, a
postcard, a brochure on Noirmoutier where you do not have beach huts.
The first beach hut appeared in Noirmoutier in 1860. The others were then built
in the 1900s. They belonged to wealthy owners of second homes.
Having a beach hut is a privilege. They are passed down from generation to generation
provided you own a house on the island. For others, the waiting list is long.
In total, 213 cabins line the beaches of the seaside resort.
Today, the association is holding its annual inspection to elect Miss
Cabin, the most beautiful of all the beaches. Each one is scrutinized.
“We can see it’s eaten away there” A fun way to make
owners aware of the need to maintain their cabin. The rule is strict, a poorly
maintained cabin that collapses is not replaced. The condition of the cabin is not compatible with
our vision of heritage and he risks losing his permit if he does
not restore his cabin. It’s all the more unfortunate because the cabin is sound, it’s
old, it has character, it must be saved. It must be saved for itself but
also to protect the entire heritage” “When you are lucky enough to have a cabin, I
find it a shame that people do not maintain it and especially do not occupy it. ”
The cabins must comply with the specifications of the Bâtiments de France:
be 2 meters by 2 meters and retain their original character.
On this beach, this is the case of cabin 25 which is unanimously popular.
“It has an extremely solid structure, a superb staircase, a castle staircase…
for a beach cabin, it’s a castle staircase… it’s a monumental staircase”
“There’s the little extra, the little detail, the little heart, it’s beautiful,
it’s nice. Nothing to say » The Jury will spend the day
touring all the cabins on the other beaches.
“ Hello Michèle, we’ve come to
check the condition of your cabin.” There’s a special feature at St Pierre beach
that doesn’t exist anywhere else: these little folding benches. “That’s good, that’s a good idea.”
“We sometimes meet up with friends in this cabin when the weather isn’t very nice. It’s
very nice. We can make you a little tea, a little coffee with a breathtaking view and then
there are snowshoes, there are fins, here there is something to make boards, there is something to
enjoy the beach to the maximum quite simply. » A little further on, it’s the same passion
for this art of living on the beach. “This cabin means much more to me
than my house. I’m not really into houses. I’m a backpacker and traveler, and you
can always find a house. As quotas are limited, if someone bought it for more
than my house, I wouldn’t sell it. » On the beach next door, every morning, the
Pellemelle family meets at cabin 85. “Go get your ball, little one.”
Cousins, children and grandparents have shared the cabin since 1959.
“Do you want to go swimming, my dear? » « What is important is that there is
family, that there are friends in a place that we like in fact, that is why I care about
family and we have lots of memories in this cabin. We really enjoyed it, we were 15
, 16, 17, up to 20. We were young girls, we came with our friends and there we had
parties, dinners, that was really good” “The Sableaux beach for us is associated with
the cabin so we hope that for the children, it will continue too, it’s the beach hut, it’s
the little sand house, it has to stay” From the north to the south of the department, Vendée is
a land of water. For thousands of years, the alluvium of countless rivers
has formed immense mudflats. It is within this vast territory that Richard the Lionheart, King of England and Duke
of Aquitaine, left us a jewel: the Abbey of Lieu-Dieu.
Founded in 1190, he installed the monks of the Premonstratensian order there. The first to settle
in Vendée. They will stay there for 600 years. This royal abbey, abandoned for
several decades, is about to be saved. Today is an exceptional day.
Under the direction of Alain Dupeloux, around twenty volunteers are beginning a
large-scale project: the restoration of the moats. We need to find the exact passage of the moat
; currently everything is buried underground , but when we arrived it was under a
pile of brambles, we couldn’t see anything at all.” The moat connected the abbey to the neighboring marshes
and extended over more than 300 meters. After the first strokes of the excavator driven by
Hugh, Alain’s son, it was already a surprise. “There’s a hole there… We’ll have to work
only by hand, no more excavators because it’s becoming too dangerous and tricky, and
then we’ll have to try to find where it’s leading us.” At the other end, Arnaud,
Hugh’s twin brother, is also digging . He’s going to make a funny discovery.
“I see my brother 10, 15 meters away; on the other side of a corridor full of water…”
For his part, Hugh launches himself into the section of moat that he has just discovered.
Underground, the vault remained intact. “When you plant the spike, there
is 1.50m of water below the water level to the bottom.” Meanwhile, at the foot of the abbey, the
volunteers are not counting their efforts and they too are going from surprise to surprise.
“Here we are discovering the passage under the abbey where
fresh water enters the moats.” “We go there… there’s the dog who goes there… we
find lots of underground passages and this one is particularly long.
Today is the day of all discoveries, it’s quite fantastic.”
This passage bears witness to the monks’ mastery of water management because at the very end,
it opens through this conduit into the cloister. “At the time, we didn’t have gutters
on the roofs, but we had found an ingenious system of gutters, the water fell
into the gutters located on each side. They went around the cloister and came to be
collected in this drain. All the water went back there to go into the moats. So it is a system
that stands the test of time since these gutters have existed since the 12th century and are
still in perfect working order today. The cloister was at the center of the abbey.
Today the abbey church has disappeared, what remains is this large dwelling where up to
80 monks lived. They divided their time between working in the fields and
liturgical services. The Lieu-Dieu Abbey was particularly influential in the region.
“We are here in the scriptorium . This room was lit by this oculus
which was directed towards the setting sun. This could explain why the
monks worked in the afternoon or evening.” Burned down in the 16th century, at the
time of the Wars of Religion, the building was then restored as
evidenced by these neo-Gothic style vaults. “The monks also had a right
to justice… that is why behind this door we have prisons.”
The prisoners were locked in this small room. At the entrance, various signs
remained engraved on the wall. Here a pipe, the wheel of torture or even the hanged man.
“You should know that I am a lover of old stones and leaving such a
building in ruins is unthinkable, so we must ensure that this building comes back to
life. This is part of the challenge of sharing this heritage with all visitors.”
Alain now meets his friends in the chapter house. Also called the chapter house,
the monks met there every morning to divide up the day’s tasks.
“I want to thank you all for this fabulous day we spent
together. I would like to raise this glass to all the discoveries we have been
able to make together… At the abbey! ” For several centuries, the monks who lived
in the abbey worked for the development of the country. They created a huge agricultural estate
of more than 900 hectares. But above all, they transformed the old mudflats into
salt marshes. First exploited for salt, they were later used to raise fish.
Connected to the ocean by the Payré River, they still exist thanks to the
work of a few enthusiasts. Jacques Petitgars is the guardian of these places.
“Allez go go” He comes from the oldest
fishing family in Talmont Saint-Hilaire who have always preserved these marshes.
This morning, he has to ensure the marine water inlets.
“Come on guys, let’s take the boards down. I have to make my marsh drink, I need
sea water and in this hot period I have to feed the marsh regularly so I take
advantage of the high tides to fill it up” The monks had designed this ingenious
hydraulic system which remains identical today. “So it’s going to rise, there’s going to be
pressure… it’s not easy to remove. Here we go, we’re going to fill it up throughout the
high tide. It’s absolutely essential to move the water regularly, it’s very important.
The fish must be able to get in and it is also vital for the marsh. You need
fresh water and you also need fry so that you can have fish to catch. And
this must be done at every tide. It is very important. And today the marshes, if we do
n’t practice this method, they’re finished.” “It’s fine, it’s closed, let’s go.”
Jacques’ fishing grounds extend to the ocean, on the other side of
the pine forest that borders the marshes. Their comb shape was designed
by the monks to allow the nets to be laid on foot from the dikes.
And behind the dune, here is the Pointe du Payré. With its natural lagoon, this wild coast is
one of the heavenly places on the Vendée coast. This estuary communicates directly with the
marshes. An exceptional and preserved space. For years, this is where
Jacques’ family has set up their oyster beds. “Well, I turn the bags to
aerate them, this helps break the growth to harden the shell, and water penetration is
easier since we have eliminated all the algae. This arm of the sea has the particularity of having
a lot of fresh water upstream. And this mixture of fresh water and sea water allows us to have a
quality of oyster which has a nutty taste. We don’t even know what to say because it has
remained so pristine. I hope the children will be able to enjoy it for a long time. We never get tired of it
, even in winter, it’s nice to come here.” The tide is coming back. Jacques must
hurry up and turn over all these bags of oysters. “We have always practiced helping each other among oyster farmers
, all the time… We are in a hurry because in ten minutes the parks
will be covered… It will go up very quickly so if we are not finished everything will come
apart. But we’re not bad here, we’re good here ”
At the end of the day, Jacques takes us
to the Saint Nicolas estate, a place inaccessible to the general public, reserved
for professional fishermen. He still has to lay a net before nightfall.
“Well, well. I always wait until the end of the evening to put my net in. By putting the
net in the evening, the eels are easier to catch then, they move around all
night and that is the best time to catch them… The monks left us
farms that we absolutely have to keep alive simply by our fishing methods
and our actions. We have kept intact this part which was left to us by the monks.
About thirty kilometers from these marshes, the natural spaces give way to
one of the most famous towns on the Atlantic coast: Les Sables d’Olonne.
This town built on the beach is one of the first seaside resorts
on the coast to have seen the light of day. It was the 1930s.
With the development of the railways, many French people came to the coast to
discover the joys of the first sea bathing experiences. In the 19th century, Les Sables d’Olonne
was already considered a holiday resort. The seaside resort developed thanks to
Doctor Coppa, then mayor of the town. He advocates the benefits of iodine on the body.
The city evolved throughout the 20th century and attracted more and more people.
These buildings from the 70s are not unanimously popular.
They are part of the landscape defended by Louise Robin. She is an art historian
and for the book she is preparing on the city, she is crisscrossing the seaside resort.
“Here we are on the famous embankment of Les Sables d’Olonne, a rather curious name…”
“…which surprises outsiders. Very often on the coast we speak of promenade and the
embankment designates this particularity of the extremely flat coast. And to make these pretty quays,
this beautiful promenade, it was necessary to fill in to prevent the tide from rising too high. This is the
term that refers to both the promenade and the buildings on the other side.
In Les Sables d’Olonne, beautiful villas from the beginning of the 20th century stand alongside
buildings from the 1970s. All the buildings are stuck together.
“The joint ownership has led to a somewhat unique phenomenon, what I call
the decapitated house. We keep the basics, often the ground floor, first floor,
and then we make a somewhat wild elevation without taking too much account of the style
quite characteristic of the 60s and 70s. The buildings of those years
were built en masse, sometimes completely replacing the 1900 villas.
“We know that when people arrive at Les Sables for the first time, we talk about the exaggeration of the
concrete and the embankment, we even talk about a massacre, a word that I absolutely cannot stand
anymore. Maybe tourists are too nostalgic. Architecture
is truly living and living transforms. Even though there were obviously
mistakes, the embankment was destined to be transformed.
A little further along the seafront, the embankment will undergo a new transformation.
Louise has an appointment with a muralist who is to change the appearance of a large
blank wall adjoining this pretty white villa. Its tall gray facade spoils the landscape.
The wall will be camouflaged by a monumental trompe l’oeil . And this technique will give
the illusion that the adjoining building is extending. A pictorial feat.
“My project ultimately follows the surface of the wall…”
“…that I have to paint. So, keep the existing terrace. Imagine a continuity
and then above all take up the floor line with four windows and then give a little life
with two characters dressed in the thirties to clearly mark the origin of the building”
“Ah, it’s really very good there, I could n’t imagine it. It really is a true
work of art. This will really restore the beauty of the embankment since, in recent years,
there has been a significant amount of work being done. The buildings are being refurbished,
the old houses are being repainted, there is really a very interesting development there.
This new facade will also benefit the Villa Blanche, currently under renovation.
It is one of the very first villas in Les Sables d’Olonne. It was designed by
one of the architects who shaped the seaside resort at the beginning of the 20th century.
His name is Maurice Durand. He is a local boy. He grew up in Les Sables d’Olonnes
before going to study in Angers and Paris. Back in his
native country, he actively participated in the construction of the Embankment, where he built
two-thirds of the villas between 1913 and 1960. His architectural style evolved and became more
and more eclectic over time. His house is still visible on the embankment. It is inspired
by the typical shipowners’ houses of Saint-Malo. It was especially after the Second World War
that he distinguished himself with one of his most prestigious commissions: the Villa Mirasol.
“It’s a very pompous building on 3 floors ; I use the term building, in fact
it’s a villa. What we can see is the scale of the decoration, its
very flowery frescoes, its balusters, its wrought iron balconies and especially the
famous red Italian marble columns to mark this large living room on the 1st floor.
These antique style columns, very out of step with the seaside style of the embankment, have earned
the building a Historic Monument designation. Louise does not hesitate to ring the doorbell to
visit the house. At the top of the villa, the owner takes him to discover one of the
most beautiful terraces in the city. “Beautiful, it’s
breathtaking. It’s rare. » “It is certainly one of the most beautiful
viewpoints in Les Sables d’Olonne. I haven’t seen all the terraces but I think this is one of the
largest and especially exposed to 360 degrees. » This terrace is one of only two
built on the 1900 villas on the embankment. It offers a privileged panorama of the three
kilometers of beach of the seaside resort. “The sea is different every day, even though we
see it every day, some people forget it. I can’t forget it. When I have my
coffee, I say to myself, wow, how lucky to be here.” South of Les Sables d’Olonne, Louise is interested
in another emblematic building from the 1930s. It’s the Preventorium, one of the first
thermal spas to open in France. Built next to a 12th century abbey, it
stands out with its modern and imposing architecture. One of Louise’s favorite architectures.
“It is a utilitarian building, a healthcare building in an extremely simple style that
one could describe as modernist art deco. The forms are completely refined, very
rhythmic, repetitive, marked by a line of half-hexagonal pediments. It is very much in the
style of what Durand was doing in those years.” Today, the preventorium has been transformed
into a specialist school. Inside, the building is distinguished by this
entrance: a double geometric staircase. “The winding game, the resumption of
the winding with the small balls, the contrast with the squares and the diamonds, the
floral pattern, the play of colors. A small masterpiece of sobriety and simplicity which I hope
can contribute to enhancing the image of 1930s art and geometry. So obviously
it is a school today, but imagine walking into the hotel with
a few large palm trees, art deco furniture, small marble tables and there you
have something absolutely magnificent. The art deco style rubs shoulders with
medieval architecture just a few meters away. In the abbot’s home, which later became
the house of the architect Maurice Durand, Louise will show us a little treasure.
“Such a restoration, which must have been carried out in the 1930s, is extremely rare,
with this quite astonishing fresco. What we would call neo-medieval, we dream of
the Middle Ages so we have all the bestiary, the rooster, the cow, even an owl (
the owl is always mysterious) and then just in case we forget that we are in the
Middle Ages a small sword. And then in the center, an abstract decoration with
very, very stylized acanthus leaves. This is almost where we come back to the style of the art deco period because we can
clearly see that it has been redesigned. The art deco fresco blends perfectly with
the spirit of the medieval building. The highlight of the visit is at the top of these steps.
“We end up at this superb stone vault which is held by a magnificent ribbed
vault with ribs which present facades in the medieval spirit. It is truly a
little gem that we find there. And what proves the authenticity of the building is
the thickness of the wall. There is no doubt about it, we are not in a cardboard castle atmosphere
, it is real, moreover granite treatment for the surroundings in order to
make it extremely solid. It is a beautiful building” Further south, this landscape is unique in France.
Thousands of years ago, a marine inlet stretched here: the Gulf of Pictons. There are
still some astonishing traces of it, such as this curiosity: the island of Dive. With
its 15m high cliffs, it overlooks land reclaimed from the ocean between the 13th and
17th centuries, like the polders of Holland. At the controls of this microlight, Francis Leroy, a pilot who
loves the coast, set his sights on one of the most beautiful sites in the region.
He takes Eric Chaumillon. For the first time, this geologist will discover
from the sky, a very rare phenomenon that he has been studying for 10 years: the Pointe d’Arçay.
“Now that’s really magnificent, it’s extraordinary. This is what we call in
our scientific jargon a sand spit and it is special because it
is built by a series of hooks which curve, this is what
gives it its very aesthetic appearance. 400 years ago, this long
strip of sand did not exist. It was born in the 17th century and has
continued to expand ever since. These hook-shaped sandbanks are
the traces of this extraordinary growth. Today the Pointe d’Arçay is 6 km long.
“Approximately how many meters does it move forward per year?”
“On average, it advances 20 meters per year. On the surface, it is the equivalent of two
football fields reclaimed from the ocean each year. There are only about thirty sand
spits like this in the world. The Pointe d’Arçay is bordered on the right side by
a river, and on the left side by a large ocean bay: the Pertuis breton.
“You should know that the sand that is transported by the waves migrates from north
to south along the French coast and therefore the Breton Perthuis acts as a
sediment trap so day after day, this sand will contribute to the lengthening of this
point at a quite extraordinary rate, it is really very beautiful, really magnificent”
“It is one of the most beautiful places on the Atlantic coast to fly over, it really
has a majestic, elegant shape” At the base of the Pointe d’Arçay stretches
one of the last natural lagoons on the Atlantic coast: it is the Belle
Henriette reserve. A fragile 5 km zone, located between the forest and the beach.
Remarkable flora and fauna flourish here. 234 species of birds have been recorded
in the reserve, but one of them is particularly rare.
This is the Ringed Plover. Every year in spring, this little bird
arrives from Iceland and comes to breed here, on the top of the beautiful Henriette beach.
But he has to share his territory, because the beach is frequented by holidaymakers and sportsmen.
The reserve was only created in 2010. The guards still have to ensure the
coexistence between the birds and the public every day. “Good morning, gentlemen. We apologize for
disturbing you. Curator of the National Reserve. We’re coming to you because you have an area
authorized for kitesurfing which is behind the sign over there. Because we are
trying to maintain the dune cordon and you have the Ringed Plover which nests
in the small depressions at the top of the beach and we are trying to protect them. If you want we
can show it to you if you’re interested…” “The nest is right here. It is a very
rudimentary nest. The bird simply lays its three eggs in a small cavity of sand
and it will leave them there and come to incubate them but you see we are very far from the beaches ”
“I knew very well that the ringed plovers were going to nest at the
top of the beach but I was unable to recognize the egg in question ”
“That said with our wings we rarely come up high like that…
” When you raise your sail it will gain height and above all it will
come above and disturb the females who are going to leave the nest. See, we are in full
sun and eggs that are not incubated and that remain in full sun for too long like that… ”
“It is very important. We usually pay attention to the environment, but here we will
immediately change location to respect it. The Ringed Plover has completely
disappeared from England and Scandinavia. It is rare in France and the Belle Henriette reserve
is one of the last places where it is preserved. “It’s a bit what we thought, it’s very
impressive, very large, voluminous, it goes up high and we have a significant visual impact
with the shadow of the wing over the entire nesting area of ​​the ringed plover, so we did
well to create this area to limit this activity in the nature reserve.
One of the kite surfers is a member of a sports and nature association.
The other is a ski instructor. By building relationships with the various
park rangers, they will be able to become ambassadors for nature protection.
Because here, 100,000 birds stop over every year on the entire sandy spit.
This is why in 1951, the point became one of the first integral reserves
in France. With the exception of the beach, access to it is prohibited to the public.
A few months later, it is the migratory period. The guards of
the Pointe d’Arçay gave an exceptional meeting to our two sportsmen.
They have a message for all kitesurfers
: do not approach the sandbanks where migratory birds land.
“As long as they stay in the channel it’s fine… but this is what had to
happen, as soon as they leave the channel and approach the birds fly away”
“The kite surfers got too close to the resting place. This means that most of the
water birds present have gone to other sites and the problem is that we are in a coefficient of
high tides. So there aren’t many waters where they can go at high tide. This
kind of event should not happen too often because it is so much energy spent
by the birds that cannot be used for their migration to Africa.
“Hi, hello.” It is on the sandbank that
the kite surfers join the guards for a bird watching session.
“Ah yes, it’s more sparse than before… They’re all there… There are
hundreds of them there… There are more like two or 3000, there are exactly 3800…
There are 3800 black-tailed godwits” The Pointe d’Arçay and the nearby Pointe de l’Aiguillon
are major stopping points for these small waders from Siberia or Iceland.
Black-tailed godwits find resting places and food here in
abundance for 6 months of the year. “Pointe d’Arçay is just a tiny
link in a large migratory chain and we are trying to do our best locally
to protect the entire route of the species.” It is September and soon most of
these birds will take flight for Cape Verde. We leave the shores of the Atlantic
to head inland. Heading for the Vendée countryside… and
its many noble houses. On the edge of the plain and the marsh
lies a residence typical of the great Renaissance estates.
The Chaligny lodge is a combination of a castle and a farm, organized
around a large interior courtyard. It is surrounded by gardens and
orchards which allowed the self-sufficient life of the great Lords of the past.
Today, thanks to the passion of two men, it is also one of the remarkable gardens of Vendée.
It belongs to Alain Durante. When he bought the house 20 years ago, the
gardens had completely disappeared. “We should still
consider taking over the whole thing.” Alain rearranged everything with his friend Marc
Bardaud, the former gardener at the Elysée. Today they have to finish maintaining
more than two kilometers of hedges. Alain and Marc have transformed these 10 hectares
of woods and garden into a true paradise. “I had a dream that I wanted to fulfill and
I found it here. I was looking for a project that could last 30 years. And I really
liked that. When I saw cracks in the walls, when I saw collapsed walls, roofs that needed to be
redone, all of that delighted me. And I said to myself, here is a place where I can express myself
both on the building and on the garden.” Alain restored this
Renaissance dwelling according to the rules of the art. To redesign the gardens as they were
originally, he found the very first land registry created under Napoleon I.
The document revealed the exact locations of an orchard,
firewood and various vegetable gardens intended to support 40 people.
“I wanted to rehabilitate a property and restore a reputation that had
somewhat disappeared, and above all for me it was a real coherence between the buildings,
the environment and the gardens.” In memory of this era, Alain and Marc
are reviving a very old method for producing original apples.
“We are going to remove the bags delicately because this is the crucial moment”
“We are unbagging apples that we have prevented from turning red in the sun…”
“The technique consists of using a green apple that will turn red in the fall
to put a stencil on it so that the apple can turn red in the morning light
except under the stencil. I learned this from my mother who was an arboriculturist, she
worked for delicatessens and when I discovered the Chaligny estate
I am going to revive this practice and that is extremely interesting because it
awakens the curiosity of people who see the apples once they are printed.
Marking on fruit dates back to the 12th century but in France it was Louis XIV who rediscovered it.
He amazes his guests by offering them fruits marked with his image.
“They are very red.” A little further on, the apples
prepared a few weeks ago by Alain and Marc are already ready.
“We take a very fine instrument, in this case a billhook, and we peel it off very gently. We
must not damage the skin. That’s it, and we see the design on the apple,
in this case the dragon. It’s fabulous, I think it’s wonderful.”
“It’s truly extraordinary. That gives me great pleasure, discovering that in
a garden that we have recreated from scratch, it’s fabulous, it’s truly gratifying.”
His passion led Alain to take an interest in other gardens in Vendée.
A few kilometers from the Chaligny lodge, in the small village
of Thiré, he will show us one of the most beautiful gardens in the region.
The first remarkable garden in Vendée, it is designed around an immense mirror
of water and a 17th century building. It belongs to a celebrity who has
taken care of it for over 25 years. From one space to another, the garden changes
atmosphere. It is composed of hundreds of precisely carved plant sculptures.
“ Hello William”
This is the work of William Christie, famous
Franco-American conductor, specialist in baroque music and
long-time friend of Alain Durante. Together, they share a passion for gardening.
In 1984, the conductor fell under the spell of this abandoned building.
Since then, he has completely transformed it by reinventing the entire space around the building.
“I didn’t want to have an established garden. I was n’t interested in that at all. I have seen so
many properties boasting three-hundred-year-old trees and gardens designed by
Mr. Whatsit, a landscaper in the 19th century. That didn’t interest me at all. I
wanted to create something from scratch. A mixture of Italian garden and
French garden, the spaces here are dominated by geometry and symmetry.
Minerals and plants complement each other to create a unique architectural landscape.
“I was shocked, it’s a garden that really struck me, struck my imagination and my
heart because a garden isn’t made like that. It relies on a lot of techniques
that are mastered and above all on a great imagination. I find that what has been
done here is truly extraordinary. In this open-air theatre, the great
mastery of the size of the plants has given rise to these monumental topiaries. These immense
plant embroideries are the fruit of 20 years of work. “Oh well, I see there’s something
new in the theater. It seems to me that there were cypress trees behind it.
“It’s a garden that is evolving. This means that sometimes you have to be a little barbaric
in eliminating what you have planted and I simply decided that the cypress trees surrounding
this theatre were suffocating the moles a little. It’s the culmination of a dream I was born with two
passions in my life, one music, the other gardening. There are connections between music
and what I do. Obviously we can think of a melodic curve, we can think of notes that
follow one another, but I designed this space as a theater where we can make music.
Recently, William Christie has been organizing a baroque music festival in his gardens,
every August for more than a week. At the other end of the garden, the sound of
the river mingles with that of the flutes. This garden is open to the public
for most of the summer. “I created this garden to give pleasure to
myself and others. Through this festival, I would like to encourage a new generation
of instrumental artists, singers and musicians to follow and imagine that perhaps they
can have as much pleasure as we do. This is my personal definition of transmission.
“Moreover, it is a garden that is now extremely well-known, and that people from all
over the world come to visit. People travel from far and wide to come to the Vendée
to see William Christie’s gardens and that is something extraordinary, everyone can
find something rewarding there.” With this garden designed as a work
of art, William Christie pays homage to the Vendée which has become his favorite region.
“I left the United States 40 years ago, even a little more; I know the little
paths around this house better than I know the surroundings of my birthplace in
New York State. Do I feel like a Vendée native? Yes ! » The last concert of the day is
given at nightfall on the water mirror. William Christie and his orchestra
perform Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. In the reflections of the water mirror, the
conductor’s sublime garden takes on yet another dimension that evening.
Heading north of the department, to the borders of Vendée and
Loire-Atlantique. We set off to discover a city that
has had an astonishing history. Nestled in the Sèvre Nantaise valley,
the town is part of the marches of Brittany. It defended the territory
against Poitou and Anjou. After the French Revolution, the town and the
castle were ravaged by the Vendée Wars which pitted the Royalists against the Republicans.
During its reconstruction, the city completely changed its appearance. It was rebuilt
on the model of Tuscan cities. It is the work of two men: the
Cacault brothers, from Nantes who returned to Clisson after years spent in Rome.
They are joined by François-Frédéric Lemot, a friend they met in Italy. Having
fallen under the spell of the town, Lemot bought the old hunting ground
of the Lords of Clisson in 1805 and transformed it. In this 13-hectare estate, he built
an astonishing Italian-style residence and a dozen decorative buildings.
They are called factories. Even today, the estate team
preserves the landscape as François-Frédéric Lemot imagined it.
“We are on the temple of Vesta, we have a rocky mass…
on which we are clearing ferns since the objective is to
resituate the factory in its plant setting.” This factory is inspired by a temple that
exists in Tivoli, Italy, it overlooks a waterfall of stone and greenery
that Lemot created from scratch. “Factories simply come from
the lexicon of painting…” the first landscape painters of the 17th
century drew or painted architectural elements on their canvas to make
the landscape more beautiful, more idyllic, and this is what François-Frédéric Lemot does here in his
field. It adorns its park with several factories. In this picturesque setting on the banks of the Sèvres,
François-Frédéric Lemot punctuates the park with ancient statues which remind him of his stay in Rome.
“This is what Lemot wanted, for the visitor to let themselves go to their imagination, to
creation, to meditation and this is what we are trying to preserve today and this is what
I feel, like most visitors, when we walk along the paths.”
At the end of one of them, Nathalie takes us to the gardener’s house.
“Lemot, when he designed his estate, he lived and worked in Paris so he needed
a gardener on site so he thought about creating a lodge for him in a style of architecture that was
completely unusual for the time since it was typically in the rustic Italian style.
That is to say, an architecture that is found in Italy around Rome, in Tuscany. It is a
country architecture of agricultural houses. And so it is characterized above all by the
brick pillars in decorative arrangements. We also have round openings,
semicircular openings, this semicircular shape which rests on column bases. It’s
really typical of this architecture and it’s also the case for this part which was
more the barn part where we find these semicircular openings and then these
attic openings which are really part of the Italian architecture…”
But the pearl of the estate is this sublime neo-Palladian style villa with its large
semicircular stone colonnade. At its summit, the building is overlooked by a belvedere.
It offers a superb view of the Clisson castle located on the other
side of the Sèvres valley. “To make a real Italian-style park,
he needed an ancient ruin and here we don’t have any ancient ruins, on the
other hand opposite his house there were the ruins of the castle and so he bought the ruins
of the castle to transform them into a factory, as an element of his landscape he planted it.
The umbrella pine can be seen at the tops. There were lime trees, hornbeam trees. This is the
view he opened with this other factory, the temple of friendship in which François-Frédéric
Lemot is buried. He now rests for posterity opposite his estate.
When the town was rebuilt, a real Italian fever swept through Clisson and
gave it its character. Here, the bell tower dominates the small houses, almost all decorated with brick.
Throughout the region, wealthy landowners are imagining vast Italianate residences.
On the heights of the town, here is the Château de l’Oiselinière.
Built between 1822 and 1835, the large building with red tile roofs encloses a square courtyard
surrounded by outbuildings dating from the 14th century. Today it is the subject of study by a
woman who has rediscovered the Italy of her childhood here. “It’s true that for my
archives, it should be perfect” Dalmasia Minardi-Bernard is Franco-
Italian. In love with the region, she became a guide and specialist in this
little Tuscany in the Nantes region. This morning, Isabelle Verdier opens the doors of her house to him.
“Everything is Italianate on this façade, whether it’s the semicircular bays, which you
have at each window, the semicircular bays, these are these small rounded windows with
brickwork, you also have these bands on the three levels, again on the
top floor, we find small semicircular bays with small brickwork
and then we finish with the Genoese, the Genoese which is this decoration under the roof made of brick
or tiles which add to the Italianate character and the Italianate repertoire of Clisson. And
then it’s true that there are superb chimneys, you have some in the south of the Venice lagoon”
“I like them, they look like little houses every time”
The jewel of the castle is outside near the orangery
: it’s the gallery of the illustrious which extends over almost ten meters.
“These illustrious people are people who have left their mark on either the history of France or the history
of Clisson, starting with Olivier de Clisson, on our left, Constable of France; then
we have Condé, Duquesnes, Jean Barthes, Bayard, Du Guesclin. These are just people
who worked to build France.” The tour ends with an unexpected curiosity
at the back of the castle at the very bottom of the garden. ” There. Look straight ahead.
It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” “the castle, the bell tower”
“They must have thought it would be a superb idea to make this gap in the vegetation”
“When you go for a walk in Tuscany or Lumbria, you find castles,
bell towers, always these square towers on small hills. It’s truly a trip to Italy…”
L’Oiselinière is not the only splendor in the area around Clisson.
In the heart of a 40-hectare estate, here is the Château de la Noë Bel-Air.
Listed as a historic monument, it was built on the ruins of an old
noble house razed during the French Revolution. It is inspired by the villas designed by the Italian
Andrea Palladio in the Venetian countryside in the 16th century. A magnificent loggia houses an imposing
colonnade made of tufa, a stone from the Loire Valley. The castle stands next to the outbuildings and an
orangery built on the model of Tuscan farms. In the loggia, the muse of dance and the muse
of music face each other at either end. Facing northwest to enjoy
the cool summer afternoons, it offers a panoramic view of the garden.
“Here we are in front of the castle’s orangery. It is magnificent”
It was the family of Jean de Malestroit who had the entire property built. The orangery once
again incorporates the great classics of Tuscan architecture with an added detail
: these rounded brick screens. “Is that a balcony up there?” »
« No, what you see is an exterior cornice, the roof
is zinc and slate. We cannot fully pursue Italianism since the
rainfall in the Nantes region does not allow it. The rain is evacuated thanks to this four-
sloped roof hidden by the cornice. An ingenious system for adapting
Mediterranean architecture to the oceanic climate. We leave Clisson to discover
the region’s legendary river. Over 1000 kilometers long, the Loire
offers breathtaking wild landscapes. To discover them, an
800-kilometer cycle path runs along the river. This unusual route begins here, (Wait for
music to resume) at the mouth of the river, at the foot of the Saint-Nazaire bridge. This
structure, more than 3 kilometers long, connects the urban bank to the wild bank.
To the north, the port of St Nazaire, to the south, Saint-Brévin les Pins and its famous
fishing nets built in a row. “So here we arrive at the fisheries
of Saint-Brévin in the estuary” Etienne Leborgne is one of the architects of
this cycle route. He travels throughout the year to write specialist guides.
Today, he is taking a friend to discover a square net fishery.
They have an appointment with the owner, Steve Boulay.
“We try to lubricate the rotating parts regularly because with the salty air
they tend to seize up and when we go fishing they risk making noise or the rope will
wear out on the pulley. What you need to do is remove the pin. I really mustn’t let her escape
me because otherwise we’ll be screwed for fishing afterwards. We like to maintain our fisheries.
It’s easier at home than here, but there’s not much choice. We don’t have much choice”
The square net fisheries appeared in the 18th century to provide an
additional resource for fishermen. There are more than fifty of them
on the Loire estuary. “I love fisheries…
I’m a fishing fan. I prefer to maintain them rather than come fishing.
This site is superb on the Loire. What I like is this friendly place to come and have
a good time… What is interesting is that we catch a lot of small plaice, small sea bass
and then we throw them away. On the estuary, it’s the nursery for fish, that’s why there are so
many of them. This year there are more bars than in previous years, there are really a lot of them.
So the technique is quite easy, we will lower the net, we will leave it on the mud, we will wait for the
fish to pass and by chance we will raise the net there is fish, so much the
better, there is no fish, so we start again ” “Ah we have a good catch, that’s great,
a very big plaice which is a good 35cm, we have a mullet of 1.5kg. As we
fishermen say, it’s a plaice that covers the plate.” Today, the construction of a
fishery can only be done on the site of an old one. Like
Steve’s. And he thought of everything. “We make holes in the walls to be
able to pass the handle. There are two holes. We choose the bottom hole when fishing,
otherwise you have a hole up there so you don’t hit your head and you bring in your fish.
That’s funny, we just caught a smelt, and the special thing about smelt is that it
really smells like cucumber, it’s crazy! » The bike ride continues to Paimboeuf.
As was the tradition in the past, fishermen painted their
houses the same color as their boats. In the 17th century, Paimboeuf was
one of the main outports of Nantes and had the only lighthouse on the Loire. Over time, the city became entirely
dependent on maritime trade. A prosperous trade as evidenced by
the old shipowners’ houses. 70 km further on, the rows
of vines overlook the river. “I like this place because we are
somewhere else, we dream a little. We overlook the Loire and it is not often that we are so close
to the Loire overlooking it like this…” Guillemette: “I am really happy to discover
this Loire with these lights on the banks of the Loire that I have always heard about. The ray of
sunshine that falls is truly magnificent with these vines that descend, it’s quite magical…”
Etienne has an appointment with Anne Athimont. His family has been making wine since 1635.
Today is the first day of the grape harvest and here they harvest the grapes by hand.
“It’s important to harvest by hand… It’s a young vine, it’s more fragile, so by
hand, we harvest more gently. Here I am picking. Then we check that we have
n’t left any. And then, make sure not to leave the leaves in the tubs because it is
not with the leaves that we make wine” “I eat it greedily, it is really
sweet, it is super sweet, it is extremely good” ”
Does the fact that the vineyard is on a slope affect the quality of the grapes”
“Yes because the fact of being on hillsides, they are hillsides facing due south
southwest. The more it is under the sun, the more it will ripen and then the fact of being on
the heights, we are in the wind and the wind will allow the bunches and the
leaves to never macerate in the humidity, it is true that the good terroirs vines
are at height and in the wind…” The next day, we meet Etienne.
He is accompanied by Claudie and Michel, a couple of friends. They head towards an
old fishing village very popular with the people of Nantes. “So here we arrive at Trentemoult, a
small village near Nantes, great…” The small village has retained all its
architectural character from yesteryear. “Tentemoults until quite recently, there
were still the Loire rivers overflowing throughout the neighborhood, so people
took shelter, we will see on other houses, there are always these stairs which go to the
first floor and always on 3 floors” The floodable ground floor was occupied by
the cellar, the living space was located on the first level and the top floor
was reserved for the attic. At the very top, the pulley was used to lift the firewood.
In the 19th century, the quays were developed to reduce the damage caused
by floods in the village. The last major flood was in 1935.
The walk continues along the Martinière Canal. It was created at the
end of the 19th century and allowed intense maritime trade activity
until the First World War, in places where the river was impassable.
A little further on, on the banks of the Pellerin, the Loire ferry takes us to Paradise,
the name of the place on the other side of the river. The baccalaureate is now an institution
but it almost disappeared. He was saved by local residents.
“If there had been no more ferry it would have been catastrophic because
there was a bridge in St Nazaire, a bridge in Nantes and in between there was nothing.
The only alternative for us was the baccalaureate. We were lying down to go to
work for 2.5 hours when we were leaving from here and we wanted to go there.
To get from one bank to the other, the ferry only takes 5 minutes and
runs throughout the day. “It’s a first for me, I’ve never
taken the Loire ferry and frankly I find it really enjoyable. I feel disoriented even though
it’s 10 minutes from my home! That’s nice. » Etienne and his friends now take the
Divatte embankment. A dike on the banks of the Loire which stretches for around fifteen kilometers.
Built in the 19th century, it supports a fully restored cycle path.
“Here it is a Loire which begins to take on a wild aspect. A wild Loire, a calm Loire”
…So here we are going to enter a Loire that people do not necessarily know and which
is truly natural, wild where there are people who live and who make the Loire live
and where we have a very intimate side of the Loire” Here, more than forty islands mark
the river. Sandbanks wooded with willows or poplars are multiplying. These land
masses form remarkable spaces, listed as UNESCO world heritage sites.
Etienne, Claudie and Michel head towards the wild islands. They are accompanied by
Claude Janin, a Loire fisherman, from father to son. He knows the river like no one else.
“Here we are in the arm of the grasshopper, is it a false arm of the Loire? not navigable and
we are on the island of Rouis here. It’s a real Loire island. There is the main arm which is
on the other side and this dead arm which is on this side. These remain preserved environments.
There aren’t many people who come around here…” “That’s real Loire sand. A sand that
was used to build quite a lot of things in the region. Which was used a lot for plastering.
It is a sand highly prized by masons and which was used for cultivation in the
market gardening valley. He grew everything from leeks and lamb’s lettuce on this kind of sand.
The vegetation here is lush. Further on, poplars emerging from the ground
offer an astonishing spectacle. They are alive despite their exposed roots.
“So about ten years ago there was land roughly up to there and the
river uprooted the tree and it adapted to its new conditions. It was the current,
the storms, the tide that made it come loose. The front land reached to the other side of the
trees. We lost fifteen to twenty meters of island which went with the flow….”
This landscape on the banks of the Loire is similar to the mangroves of tropical countries. As you go up the Loire, the
landscape gradually changes. On the north shore, these cliffs were the scene
of a unique story under François 1er. “In the first, highest arch in
the structure that holds the rock to prevent rocks from falling onto the
railway track, we can see a cave. This is the counterfeiters’ cave. ??? who
had organized a traffic in fake gold stones. And the people from the mill opposite, seeing
torches waving at night, reported them to the police and they were beheaded in 1526…”
A little further on, another testimony to the history of the Loire:
These ears of corn placed in the river bed are an integral part of the landscape. The oldest ones are sometimes
reinforced with wooden stakes. “Here we are on the remains of an ear of corn
; it had two functions. This allowed the current to divert into the middle of the water,
which produced self-dredging of the river, which allowed the banks to be protected
and behind this produced a reservoir of water and therefore there was
a whole marine life which developed. But over time, these works
were abandoned. They caused excessive erosion of the river bed.
“Here we are really cut off from the world.” And on this wild island, Claude will
show them his little corner of paradise. “We are in one of my favorite places, if
not my favorite place, quiet, nothing. Fifteen km from a town of 500,000 people.
Not a sound, just trees, nature, two or three birds and that’s it, nice? »
“Very friendly. There’s not a sound. » « On a peaceful arm of the Loire. There
we really are; “That’s the Loire.” No one ever comes to
that place. I’m the only one who goes for a walk from time to time with one or two
wild boars that pass by regularly. The only footprints are mine.
It’s truly a complete change of scenery.”

De La Pointe d’Arçay à l’estuaire du Payré, en passant par l’île de Noirmoutier ou la ville de Clisson, ce voyage à travers le littoral vendéen est l’occasion d’aller à la rencontre de ses habitants, qui défendent fièrement leur patrimoine.

Amoureux de la France et du patrimoine, ses trésors n’auront plus de secrets pour vous 👉https://bit.ly/4dnI1h1

Ainsi, Annabelle Chauviteau-Lacoste, archéologue, s’occupe du Vieux Château, l’un des sites emblématiques de l’île d’Yeu. Sur l’île de Noirmoutier, Coralie Corbrejaud, l’une des rares femmes travaillant comme pêcheuses professionnelles, tient à transmettre son savoir-faire. Quant à Alain Du Peloux, il s’est lancé le défi de redonner vie à l’abbaye de Jard-sur-Mer, une bâtisse datant du XIIe siècle.

“De la vendée au pays nantais”
Un documentaire de la collection Des Racines et des Ailes, écrit et réalisé par Laetitia Vans.
© ECLECTIC PRODUCTION
Tout droits réservés – AMP
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