I have been to a lot on my road warrior travels in my belle France, One thing started late but catching up all over is to visit the outer island off the continental shelf of France, The event , 2016 European Nations Cup were held in France! and the training ground for the national team of Spain was you guess right, Sainte Marie de Ré in the Ïle de Ré island!! So we went there, and saw things all over, we came on later years too, see posts, The main city is actually Saint Martin de Ré and we spent most of our time here after all, The Île de Ré is a nice wonderdul island , the fourth largest on metropolitan France! It is in the Charente Maritime dept 17 in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region.
I somehow have left the sea info from my blog, so need to do justice to this beautiful island and will tell you a bit on the port and beach of Saint Martin de Ré. Hope you enjoy it as I.
This port in Saint Martin de Ré, the easiest on the Ile de Ré island, has a rating of +1.3 meters. The site includes an outer harbour, a beaching port and a wet dock closed by a lock. 220 spaces on quay and pontoons including 40 to 50 visitors for boats of <16 meters. Quai Georges Clémenceau in the beaching harbor reserved for fishing , Boaters who dock there rub shoulders with fishing boats and above all, enjoy a delightful environment. Protected by the ramparts and located in the heart of the village, it allows the traveler to go to the restaurant or to visit the park.
There is ,also, a cute little beach, plage de la Cible, supervised with its pretty white bathing cabins. Small but complete, there are also water activities to do there, restaurants and fun on the beach, a pontoon. The beach is located about 700 meters from the old port. Beach supervised in season with free parking, a diving board and toilets. You will also find a sailing school, a playground and picnic area, enough to practice surfing, sailing, fishing on foot, kitesurfing, kite flying. The beach which is certified “bathing water quality”. We did not go in the water but a nice quant beach indeed.
The city of Saint Martin de Ré on its port: http://www.saint-martin-de-re.fr/fr/information/73129/bureau-port
The Saint Martin de Ré Cible beach from the island tourist office : https://www.holidays-iledere.co.uk/discover-ile-de-re/preserved-and-living-nature/beaches-that-change-with-the-seasons/the-beaches-of-ile-de-re-interactive-map/plage-de-la-cible-580133
My fav beach site Plages TV on the Cible beach : https://en.plages.tv/detail/cible-beach-saint-martin-de-re-17410
There you go folks, another wonderful spot in my belle France, The Ïle de Ré is beautiful and Saint Martin de Ré lovely! Hope you enjoy this seawater post and do visit, worth the detour,
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 