The Vendée coast is renowned for its luminosity and is called locally "LA COTE DE LA LUMIERE"... The Vendée is rich with many museums, castles and heritage centres to visit.

It is a land of naturally preserved space with a variety of pleasures such as sandsurfing, horse riding, golfing, watersports and Spa Thalassotherapy centres offering revitalising salt water cures. The Vendée is reclaimed land and therefore flat and riddled with creeks, vast beaches and sand dunes inviting you to relax. In the dusk, fine pleasure ports transform into lively, welcoming stopovers with a variety of museums, gardens, festivals, folklore pageants and magnificent evening shows.

The region is covered with working salt marshes, oyster beds, potato fields, vineyards and provides a wealth of seafood. The Vendée offers colourful beauty and a variety of countryside from farmlands to the local marshes and Marais Poitevin Marshes, from forests, the sea and villages with their colourful markets selling the local speciality "Brioche Vendéene" (a type of bread with a sweet taste). One can relive the past by visiting cloisters, abbeys, inhabited Châteaux and the picturesque surroundings encompassed by magnificent windmills. You couldn't have a better setting for seaside fun, plenty of space on the gently sloping beaches where you can cool off, or picnic in the fragrant pine woods which sweep down to the sand dunes.

SOUTH BRITTANY. In the sunny climate of Morbihan, South Brittany, the local area located along the banks of the Ria d’Etel has kept its original beauty yet is nearby the main tourist centres of Carnac, Quiberon, Lorient. There are four local towns, Belz, Erdeven, Etel and Locoal Mendon, each one with its own originality. Etel : all the pleasures of the sea and gastronomy; Belz : discover the architectural and natural riches; Erdeven : between seaside and countryside; Locoal-Mendon : an unusual encounter with nature and legends. ETEL : Water sports activities can be practised in complete safety thanks to 4 ha of enclosed sea water. All sports are on offer : wind surfing, diving, sailing, cruising on the Etel river or walking on the dunes close by, sea fishing (bass, sole) and shellfish collecting on foot. But don't forget the gastronomy : having a glorious maritime past, retraced by the Maison de Pays (District museum) "Autrefois Etel" (Etel in bygone days), Etel will tickle your taste buds with tuna recipes which you have never tasted before…to be consumed with moderation ! BELZ: is the commune to explore : coastal lanes and footpaths, reveal little marvels to the walker : megalithic remains, chapels, fountains, little hidden harbours, impressive views over the Ria d'Etel, rare fauna and flora… The ideal way : glide across the water in a kayak to get as close as possible to egrets, ducks, sparrow hawks and buzzards which find a haven of peace… But above all, you will remain spellbound by its jewel, the island of Saint Cado, linked to the shore by a stone bridge built, according to legend, by the devil himself ! Also discover the Lorois bridge which majestically spans the Ria, offering the visitor permanent and varied sights which change to the rhythm of the tides and the season The only crossing point on the Ria, it links the district of Lorient with the district of Auray, leads directly to the long beaches of fine sands and the effervescence of the great tourist resorts like Carnac and Quiberon. ERDEVEN in Breton "Ar Deuwen" means "towards the sand dune". Here 300 hectares of protected sand dunes hide a fine gold sand beach, which lies as far as your eye can reach. This is a delightful place with traditional rural activities and leisure activities. Erdeven is a paradise for the ones who love taking advantage of the sea, breathing pure air. Just enough to offer you tonic and invigorating holidays facing to the ocean and its immensity! If you get away to stroll inland, what a surprise to discover outstanding megalithic sites! Dolmen, cromlechs stand close to calvalries and old chapels of a more recent age. There are numerous paths opened to cycles and walkers. LOCOAL MENDON is the most mysterious, the most celtic and certainly the least known commune of the Ria d'Etel. The land, water and sky blend into a palette of impressive colours, in tune with the tides and the seasons. You will find fabulous shaded tones of grey, green and blue and you will be carried away by the magic of turquoises… A mysterious atmosphere reigns over the place : Wild, with its bird population, steles, standing stones and megaliths, the thirty kilometres of maritime shores seem to have come from another age. The Bagad (Breton pipe band), several times champions of Brittany find their inspiration here. This is where some of the best oysters in Brittany have been farmed for generations, and it would be a sin not to taste some ! CARNAC The small town of Carnac in southern Brittany is world-famous for the long rows of standing stones stretching over a mile or so in a north-easterly direction to the north of the town. Much plundered in centuries past for stone and generally getting in the way of earlier generations, these fabulous relics gained greater respect over the 20th century, and are now under State protection.

Options