La Vendée:
The Vendée is a large département (or county) about the size of
Devon or Cumbria (or, for American readers, somewhere between the size
of Maine and West Virginia), located on the French Atlantic coast, just
south of Brittany and Nantes, and north of La Rochelle. Its position,
within 2 to 5 hours of the various western ferry ports, makes the area
an easy day's journey from Britain and Ireland. The population,
according to the 1999 census, is 540,000.
The name "Vendée" is taken from that of a river that runs through
the south-east of the département. After crossing the forest of Mervent
it flows through the town of Fontenay-le-Comte, which used to be the
capital of Bas-Poitou - the county's name was changed to Vendée after
the French Revolution of 1789 - until Napoleon decided his soldiers
could keep the Vendeans in order more easily from La Roche-sur-Yon. The
river meanders on through the marshes to meet the Sevre Niortaise, and
turns west to meet the sea in the bay known as the Anse de l'Aiguillon.
There are plenty of activities for all: water parks; castles; no
fewer than five 18-hole golf courses; countless churches and abbeys;
museums of every sort; prehistoric standing-stones; thousands of
waymarked footpaths; a signposted cycleway running along the coast
(several sections already open, others under construction); mudflats
and marshes that attract unusual birds, from avocets to storks; fishing
in sea, rivers and lakes; and wide, unpolluted skies for star gazers.
Niort:
Niort was once a medieval port that developed around the Sevre Niortaise river. The river is dotted with pleasant gardens,
flowers and the remains of an old glove factory, a reminder of Niort's former leather-making industry. Traditional industries
such as leather making have largely been replaced by the electronics, chemical and insurance industries. However, this does not
detract from the town's appeal.
Niort boasts an immense 12th-century donjon built by Henry II and
Richard the Lionheart and which played an important part in the town's
defense in the Hundred Years War. There are also ancient houses covered
in round roof tiles that line the twisting streets in rue de l'Huilerie
or rue du Tourniquet.
Niort is also the ideal base for discovering the Marais Poitevin
marshes hence the local dishes of eels and petit-gris or snails. The
best way to explore the marshes is by flat-bottomed boats or plattes
which will enable you to marvel at the pretty white-washed villages
dotted along the dikes or limestone islets.
Deux-Sevres:
Les Deux-Sevres is a department of woodland & small fields
enclosed by hedges and trees. The Poitevin marshes to the West are a
stretch of fens and swampy marshes.
A myriad of canals, dykes & rivers have opened up opportunities
for tourism - the Ecomusee at Marais Breton proving a popular stop off.
Local specialities are eels, snails and angelica - all products that stem from the marshes.
Les Deux-Sevres was once known for its silver mines particularly in
Melle. Nowadays, Melle is known for its churches, in particular
St-Hilaire built alongside the river. Another impressive church is at
Parthenay, a Roman legacy of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de
Compostela.
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