Abbaye Cistercienne, Notre Dame de Ré

On our visit to the north of  L'Île de Ré we stopped off to take a look at the former Cistercian Abbey, Les Châteliers.

 

Now in ruins, the original buildings date back to the twelfth century. However, as with many religious institutions in the area, it had something of a chequered history. 

It was destroyed by the English Fleet in 1294, then rebuilt only to suffer two more attacks during the Hundred Years War. In the first, in 1388, destruction was partial but the second attack in 1462 was more severe and led to a refurbishment which included the building of the abbey church of Notre Dame.

Then, in 1574, during the Wars of Religion, the Hugenots ravaged the buildings and they were abandoned by the Cistercian monks.

The abbey church is probably the best preserved part of the ruins and dates back to the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century.

Set against the backdrop of the sea and isolated from other buildings the ruins form an impressive sight.

 

The abbey was the focus of a restoration project in 1997 by the conseil général de la Charente-Maritime. As so often in France, the site is beautifully tended with not a blade of grass out of place.

It is also free to visit. There is ample parking 100 yards from the site and it is certainly worth the short detour off the D735.

Phare des Balèines, l'Île de Ré

One of the highlights of our trip to the coast last week was a visit to the Phare des Balèines at the northern tip of l'Île de Ré.

The lighthouse was built in 1849 is 57 metres high and access to the top is by a spiral staircase of 257 steps..... and there was a long queue!

We decided to forgo the climb and instead take a walk on the wild side... round the Écluses de l'Île de Ré, a fishing area surrounded by stone walls, dating back to the Middle Ages.

The walls were built without any concrete and yet have survived the ravages of tide and time. We experienced a little of these 'ravages' as we walked the kilometre or so round the wall with the tide advancing...

 

 

Even the beach had it's idiosyncracies...

In one area children had used smaller pebbles to spell out their names on the shore. I wonder how many of these cairns survive the winter storms??
It was certainly a fascinating place and one to recommend.

A few days at the coast...

Yes we have been on holiday for a few days and instead of our usual destination of the UK we went to La Rochelle and the L'îlle de Rê. La Rochelle is 195kms (120 miles) from Braye and it is the easiest part of the coast for us to get to as the drive is all motorway and dual carriageway. The downside is the 9:70€ each way toll but the plus side is you are there in just over 2 hours. La Rochelle has a very pretty harbour and old town, it was quite busy being the middle of the French holidays.

 

We toured the area to the south of La Rochelle, Châtelaillon Plage as far as Fouras (about 20 miles). There were many beaches to explore, some were busier than others but none could be said to be overcrowded. The picture below is one of the quieter ones at Fouras.

 

We then paid the quite pricey sum of 16:50€ to go over the bridge to the L'îlle de Rê. We did not really know what to expect but it was spectacular... and well worth a visit.

 

We will be featuring some of the more interesting aspects of both areas in future blogs so watch this space.. We both enjoyed our short break away and will most definitely be visiting the area again.

Interesting Fact - St Martin de Re one of the main tourist towns on the L'îlle de Rê  is twined with Esperance in Western Australia. Esperance is a large town in the Goldfields-Esperance region  located on the Southern Ocean.