A Very Fond Farewell To Ile De Ré

As our two weeks in Ile De Ré draw to a close I'm offering some advice for visitors to the island as my final blog. If you've read any of the blogs over the last fortnight you will know that we've had a great holiday and it's certainly a wonderful place to visit. But to make the most of it you have to get things right. 


Firstly, make sure that your accommodation is in a good location. We stayed with iledereholidayhomes who have four properties on the island and all are in great positions. Last time we visited we stayed in a remote bungalow which meant eating in or taking the car every time we went out for a meal which in turn prevented us from enjoying the local wines and aperitifs. Being located in St Martin (the largest and ,in our opinion, the best of the island's towns and villages) gave us the opportunity to stroll down to the harbour every evening and watch the people promenading whilst enjoying an aperitif in the Colonnes bar or eating at Bistrot Marin.

And by booking with a private firm like www.iledereholidayhomes you can be assured of the personal touches that are often overlooked by bigger operators. Our house (Maison D'Aquitaine) was beautifully furnished with antique but comfortable furniture that worked so well with the character of this old building beside the magnificent ancient church. It had all we could need, including wifi (essential), Digital TV (not essential but great for listening to Radio 4), an iPod dock and as many other mod cons as you could want plus a nice bath and comfy bed.

Ile De Ré is perfect for cycling with kilometers of safe cycle tracks criss-crossing the island through woods and along (low) cliff tops. Being flat, the cycling is easy and there is a plentiful supply of bikes to hire at reasonable prices. We opted for the cycle hire just behind Le Phare Pizzeria on the quay at St Martin (La Maison De Velocipedes). We used this same hire shop last time. The proprietor Antoine is charming, his prices are reasonable and the bikes are good. We had no problems but four years ago I got a puncture in a remote spot and he drove out with a replacement bike in no time at all. We cycled for an average of four hours every day. A couple of recommended routes are from St Martin to La Couarde along the coastal track and a similar ride from St Martin to La Flotte again along the coastal track (keep straight on past the little fun fair and on leaving the town go straight ahead with the car park to your right and go through the prison gates and through the prison car park). Two longer routes are from St Martin to Le Phare De Beleines and back via Loix (enjoying lunch at La Route De Sel) and from St Martin to Rivedoux Plage (lunch at Le M) and back through Sablanceau, St Marie, La Noue and La Flotte.


But if you aren't into cycling there are plenty of excellent beaches which are ideal for children and also for fishermen, wind surfers and sailors.


If you've been reading this blog you will think that we are a pair of gluttons but the food here is so good that opportunities to eat to this standard rarely come our way and we made the most of it. Some recommendations follow. There are a few places that we wouldn't recommend but I won't be churlish and name them. I've added a few guide prices. These are based usually on just two courses plus an aperitif and an inexpensive wine (we weren't that greedy and normally shared starters and desserts).

This tea room L'Atelier in La Flotte is run by the people who run the excellent ice cream parlour La Martiniere in St Martin. The coffee is great and comes with a delicious macaroon, the place is spotless and the waitress in lovely. Strangely it was often empty when the neighbouring bar was packed but we went back time after time.

Here's a super little place for an inexpensive snack en route whilst cycling. Ici et la in La Noue serves a wide variety of snacks. We had four lovely tapas between us including calamares fried in the lightest batter imaginable, tasty meatballs and some lovely garlic mussels. Together with two glasses of pineau, some wine, a shared dessert and coffee the bill was 34 euros.

We pushed the boat out yesterday with a trip to L'Ecailler in La Flotte for a three hour blow out lunch. My red mullet and anchovy starter (above) was so fresh that the fish must have been landed that morning and the creme caramel souffle was perfect. This is at the pricier end of the scale and the lunch was just under 180 euros although we did have three courses each, an aged pineau as an aperitif and a better bottle of wine than usual. Service was charming with the waiters and the lady proprietor extremely attentive.


Others I've already mentioned are La Route Du Sel at Loix (a great lunch stop for about 60 euros for two - do try the duck breast or the lamb cutlets). Le M at Rivedoux another great lunch stop. A higher standard than Loix in a lovely seaside setting (about 80 euros for two). The pizzeria Le Phare here in St Martin for an excellent pizza in a relaxed child friendly atmosphere (about 50 euros for two). Le Serghi on the quay for fine dining (slightly north of 100 euros for an excellent dinner for two) and our favourite the Bistrot Marin. This is pub grub of the highest quality in a buzzing atmosphere. It's frequented by all the locals and is always lively. The food is great and the bill with drinks would normally be about 70 to 80 euros. We ate there four times - more than any other place.

Stop press. The cote de boeuf at Bistrot Marin - carnivore heaven.


I hope that this might help anyone thinking of a break in  Ile De Ré. If you want any information get in touch via the comments. Bon Vacances

The Rapture? It happened didn't it?

As I sampled this wonderful chocolate souffle at Le M in Rivedoux Plage today I thought for a moment that that Rapture thing might well have happened yesterday and I had died and gone to heaven - it was that good. Our culinary adventure in Ile De Re continues although now that we have got to know a few restaurants on the island we are somewhat reluctant to experiment any more as we've only got five days left and we've only tried a couple of dishes in our favourite places and could eat at least another ten before we need to look elsewhere. It's a good job that we've only five days to go as the waistbands are tightening by the day but what's the point of being good when there are more outstanding restaurants within five miles of here than there are within fifty miles of home? We've got all summer to eat lettuce and brown rice and drink water.

Even the local Pizzeria - Le Phare -  (which we visited last night as a break from fine dining) was a treat. Great service, super view (see below), lovely pizzas and a real treat for families with kids as the place was extremely welcoming and family friendly.

The harbour here in St Martin De Re was heaving today with a huge influx of day trippers enjoying a stroll along the quayside so we rode a few kilometers down the coast and visited a "brocante"fair or flea market. After lunch at Le M we felt so guilty about our over eating that we cycled about another twenty kilometers as a sort of penance. There was a huge variety of cyclists enjoying the island's tracks. They ranged from toddlers with stabilisers through young lovers on tandems (why is the man always at the front?), groups of men in all the gear who look like late arrivals for the Tour De France and spend all their time ringing their bells to warn dawdlers like us of their presence, dads with kids on baby seats or in little carts being pulled behind the bikes, lots of couples from teens to pensioners and much bigger mixed groups of all ages. It's all so pleasant, so French and something we would never see in England. We love it.


And on a cycling note, here's a few who enjoyed it so much they carried on even when they got to the airport.

Hollyoaks Sur Mer

As we arrived at Bistrot Marin for an early morning coffee today, the quayside was packed with a film crew. They were shooting a cafe scene in the next creperie along from us and it transpired that the drama unfolding was for the popular France 2 soap "Coeur Ocean". None of the actors was over thirty and we nicknamed it Hollyoaks Sur Mer. There were at least twenty five cast and crew so the expense of filming must have been significant. The costs were escalating by the minute as three old blokes like a French Compo, Foggy and Clegg at the table next to us enjoying a croissant and coffee listened attentively and obediently to the runner's whispered plea for silence and then repeatedly broke into loud and animated conversation as soon as the director shouted "trois,deux un action!" If that was not enough a young lad starting up his souped up Harley Davidson just as a third take was almost in the can had M Directeur flinging his headphones to the floor in desperation and when all around us was finally silent, the waitress at Bistrot Marin decided to wind up the bar's enormous parasol with a squeaky handle whilst giving a Gallic shrug and saying that she wasn't a big fan of the show. Great entertainment.

And speaking of entertainment we spotted that there's a boat trip to Fort Boyard next week. Son Paul used to love the game show that was filmed at this remote Napoleonic fort so we feel that we must take the visit to be able to take some photos and tell him about it. Like the Crystal Maze (another of his favourites) the show involved teams competing against each other in a number of daredevil games in this very different studio.

Another day another nice restaurant. We stopped off for lunch at Le M at Rivedoux Plage. Part of the La Maree hotel, the restaurant has a pleasant and modern seating area across the road from the hotel right on the sea. A little more up market than La Route De Sel at Loix, this is the sort of place where your aperitif comes with an amuse bouche rather than the standard bowl of stuffed olives and a couple of cocktail sticks and we were perhaps a little under dressed in our cycling outfit of shorts and t shirts. Under dressed or not we were made extremely welcome by our waitress Sonia and enjoyed a super lunch. 

Marion had a vegetarian platter and I had an excellent hake with rice in a lightly curried sauce. 

To finish we shared the chef's special dessert - a medley of home made bon bons - a jokey but delicious bunch of confections based on childhood favourites, liquorice, sweet and sour candy and caramel cream. The lunch came to 77 Euros for one main course each, the shared dessert, a couple of glasses of wine as an aperitif and a small pichet of house wine and I thought it was good value for the very high standard of food and service. The only negative is that the restaurant is right on the roadside and, although covered and sheltered, on a busy day the traffic might be off putting. On the positive side, when the tide is lapping at the restaurant's edge the setting is very attractive.