Go France:Almost everyone cycles on Île de Ré in western France so Deirdre Falveywas left with little option but to go for pedal power to see the island
DOES IT COUNT if you only did a bit of fiddling about as a teenager? I wouldn’t have the nerve to take my life in my hands in Dublin and ride a bicycle, but it’s funny what you find yourself doing away from home.
This cycling almost-virgin (only cycled to school occasionally) fetched up in the lovely Atlantic coastal Poitou-Charentes, in the charming small medieval and renaissance city of La Rochelle, and its adjacent islands Île de Ré and Île de Oléron, and found that everyone seemed to be getting about by bike, so it was almost obligatory.
There it was before me for the first time, large and yellow. Ups-a-daisy, omygosh, a bit of a wobble, how to stay upright?; but within minutes it was pretty easy, and yes, pleasurable.
Bike rental places are all over the place on the islands, and La Rochelle has a short-term scheme similar to Dublin’s, but which is free for the first two hours (you have to deposit some ID when taking the bike) for the sturdy, basic three-gear, chainless bikes emblazoned with the cheery logo Yelo.
The city which started as a town of fishermen and salt merchants and whose old town is bustling and charming, also has tons of nice cycle tracks – we took the bikes on the city transport’s boat-bus out to the adjacent port area of Minimes for a wander around the 3,000-plus pleasureboats moored there, then had a cycle back to the city centre on some of the brilliant tracks.
BUT IT'S ONthe islands that the cycle tracks really come into their own. Calling them islands is a bit of misnomer – both Ré and Oléron are connected to the mainland by (very long) bridges, so you can drive over (although a new boat service is due to start shortly linking Oléron with La Rochelle). Difference is, there's a toll on the bridge to Île de Ré (€8 usually, but €15 in summer months, for the return trip) while Oléron's is free.
Both Île de Ré and Oléron have extensive cycle tracks criss-crossing the islands, through vineyards, salt marshes and nature reserves – over 100km on each island, so it’s safe, and blessedly flat. So everyone seems to go about on bikes, and you can see why. When we visted the weather was mild and grand for cycling about locally, or exploring further afield, though in high summer it’d be only mad dogs and Englishmen out in the midday sun.
The islands have quite distinct identities. The more upmarket and exclusive Ré (the “white island”, 30km x 5km) is very protective of its seaside and maritime identity, with a limit on the size of shops (you’ll only find smaller versions of the chain supermarkets), whitewashed houses and features such as the colour of shutters chosen from a limited palette (mainly green).
Saint Martin de Ré is the walled former fishing village capital of the island; the ramparts are one of the 12 sites of the Vauban recognised as a Unesco world heritage site. But it’s not all history and heritage; the outskirts are, almost refreshingly, also home to a real life, if discreet, high security jail.
AND WHILE RÉhas lots of salt marshes (the island's fleur de selis famous), where you can – and we did – canoe, many of Oléron's marshes are now used for refining and fattening the area's justly celebrated oysters. You can buy the oysters in the market, or eat them in the restaurants, or visit an oyster farm – we did Fort Royer oyster farm's fascinating tour in Saint Pierre d'Oléron, an eye-opener about the labour intensive work involved.
Later we ate some yummy cooked oysters nearby at Les Viviers de la Saurine, a sort of local tavern where we also saw them cook mussels l’eglade, a traditional dish (on both islands) where a plankful of rows of mussels on the ground is covered with dry pine needles (the island has vast forests) which are then set alight, cooking the mussels with a burnt pine flavour.
You might not fancy getting up on a bike afterwards, but it’s possible.
Get there
GORyanair flies to La Rochelle. From Irish Ferries' and other companies' north France ports it's five-plus hours drive to La Rochelle.
STAYMost people stay in one of the many caravan and camping sites, but there is a good selection of hotels on both islands. Ocean hotel and restaurant in Le Bois Plage on Île de Ré (re-hotel-ocean.com) is a two-star boutique-style hotel with pool. Rooms from €75 up. The separately run restaurant has a superb standard of cooking (menus from €24). On Oléron we stayed and ate at the beautifully situated Les Cleunes hotel in St-Trojan-les-Bains (hotel-les-cleunes.com).
WEBSITESFor activity, accommodation, dining, etc see oleron-island.com; visit-poitou-charentes.com; and iledere.com.