Twice a day, coming and going with the tide, a 2.5-mile road known as le Passage du Gois emerges from beneath the Atlantic Ocean, connecting the west coast of France to a petite island south of Nantes. Not even half the square mileage of Nantucket, Noirmoutier-en-l’Île is an idyll the French know very well but Americans may miss, drawn instead to the glitz of Biarritz or St. Tropez. Yet is there anything more exclusive than an island guarded by nature’s bouncers, keeping guests out until low tide?
Noirmoutier is one of those quietly decadent destinations that is low on pretense, high on bounty, where chefs craft three-Michelin-starred meals with seafood from the fish auction across the street and vegetables and herbs from the organic kitchen garden. Truly, La Marine, led by chef Alexandre Couillon, is a hyper-local restaurant that needs no introduction and traditionally starts taking reservations for future seasons on November 4, an annual milestone for dedicated food enthusiasts to mark on their calendars. Travelers familiar with Scotland’s Isle of Skye may recognize this recipe for remote luxury, though rather than craggy cliffs and emerald-green glens, Noirmoutier is closer to a little slice of California. Here, pine forests meet sand dunes, salt marshes yield a famous hand-harvested sea salt, and well-heeled locals aren’t heeled at all. They are barefoot and surf bound.
Happy hour on the island is oyster hour, particularly in La Guérinière, a commune with a rich history of oyster farming. Mathieu and Aurélien Gendron, brothers and co-managers of Les Petits Bassets, renovated a former oyster hut in the marshes to be a seasonal tasting cabin named Le Bouclard, where visitors can feast on what is harvested from April to October and even tour the working oyster farm with their father, Alain. If you visit the island in May, try to time it around the brief but glorious harvest of “La Bonnotte” potatoes, also known as the world’s most expensive potato. These tubers have fetched up to $600 per kilo at auction, growing in just three months and yielding a delicate, lemon-y or subtly salty taste that reflects the unique terroir in which they are cultivated.
Longtime readers of luxury publications may recognize the name Bois de la Chaise, usually paired with descriptions of contemporary coastal retreats or exquisite manors for sale. This protected pine forest on Noirmoutier’s northeast coast is home to multimillion-euro real estate, many of them serving as cherished second homes for Parisians or residents of nearby Nantes. Aristocrats built grand villas here in the 19th century, and the Belle Époque architecture remains intact, mingling harmoniously with more modern homes that boast private beach access. Plage des Dames is a particularly beautiful stretch of coastline, its historic white wooden beach huts sheltered by centuries-old oaks. Paparazzi rarely venture here, allowing families to relax in peace, quietly enjoying a destination that has long managed to keep its idyllic profile understated.
As temperatures continue to rise in the traditional hotspots of the South of France, a growing number of travelers are looking northward to the department of Vendée, home to Noirmoutier, Île d’Yeu—an even more laid-back, camper-friendly island—and roughly 155 miles of windswept coastline. Given how much sunshine the region receives annually, it has also earned the cheery moniker Côte de Lumière, or the Coast of Light, a bright title for a place that hosts some of the most demanding maritime challenges in the world. Among them is the world’s most grueling sailing race, the nonstop, single-handed, round-the-world Vendée Globe, which sets off from the port city of Les Sables D’Olonne every four years.
Kitesurfers know the seaside town of St. Gilles Croix de Vie as a sublime launch site, while foodies flock here for the region’s famous sardines. Earning official designation as a Site Remarquable du Goût, or Remarkable Site of Taste, St. Gilles Croix de Vie is considered the French capital of sardines. It celebrates its culinary heritage with a dedicated spring sardine festival, a comprehensive museum, a shop, and a tasting room at L’atelier de la Sardine, as well as a 1.5-mile walking trail marked with blue sardines that guides visitors past 14 historic and significant sites related to the tiny fish.
Lest anyone think sardines are the only local delicacy receiving adoration, the agricultural-rich department of Vendée is also a place that celebrates flower festivals, chocolate festivals, astronomy festivals, and nearly every other niche cultural celebration imaginable. Nature is deeply respected across the entire region, nowhere more so than in the inland marshland dubbed “Green Venice,” described by major cultural publications as a magical maze of canals shaded by willows and alders that stand like transepts in a cathedral. Driving across the small bridges that span the waterways, travelers can catch a glimpse of a lone flat-bottomed barge known as a yole, gliding silently along a canal as its boatman poles the water with a long wooden paddle called a pigouille, standing upright in the manner of a Venetian gondolier. In the end, this unique corner of France feels a little bit like Italy, a little bit like California, and entirely like an authentic, understated expression of the French coast.
