Curiosities of Saint Martin de Ré !!!

Posted in Europe, Food and Wine, France, Uncategorized

I had these pictures mix in with other posts and feel they should have a post of its own, after all there are two different islands part of a bigger island ,get it ! This one is on Saint Martin de Ré in the Ïle de Ré island !! The Île de Ré is a nice wonderdul island , the fourth largest on metropolitan France! It is in the Charente Maritime dept 17 of the region of  Nouvelle Aquitaine, and in my belle France. Therefore, here is my take on curiosities of Saint Martin de Ré !!! Hope you enjoy this post as I

The ride was nice and we got up early leaving by 6H or 6AM taking the N165 direction airport of Nantes ,Nantes-Atlantique, then Bordeaux on the toll A10, and then La Rochelle on the A83 then  exit 7 to  the D237 , N11  and continuing to Ile de Ré  and then in the island on the D735 and D201 and D103. Coming back we took a more quaint trip going all the way on the D137  passing by the wine region of Clisson into the beltway or périphérique of Nantes into the N844 and then N165 home. The morning ride was foggy and cool at 10C and then the day went up into sunny and 24C as well as 21C on the way back. The other nice thing of the road trip was crossing the the bridge linking the Mainland with the island, the Pont de Ré, magnificent and 8€ roundtrip toll in winter. The official Pont Île de Ré: http://www.pont-ile-de-re.com/

We move on to Saint-Martin-de-Ré a bigger town and nicer, nice surprise should be a nice stop for all. Here we went straight for the Stadium stade Marcel Gaillard  where Spain was to train during the Euro16. This is one reason I came to the islands! Again ,another disappointment as the stadium was under security due to the terrorist condition at the time, very difficult to see unless you camp out according to the security guard on duty. The stadium is home of the AS Rethaise football team: https://www.fff.fr/la-vie-des-clubs/3705/terrains-du-club

We again has to settle for a walking tour of the town. We found parking by Vauban near the Citadelle , first hour free and then for the day 6€. This was a nice surprise as it has wonderful Vauban citadelle (see post)  fortifications that you can go in into the inner yards of the enclosure, but not Inside as it is now a prison. The Citadel is a military work built from 1690 to protect the Île de Ré.

We move on to the inner city, visiting the Church Saint Martin, (see post) with gothic ruins (from Normans invasions)  in the middle of the high city to be seen from the harbor. Today the oldest part dates from the 15C  on the walls on both sides of the high towers in ruins.  The belltower has a square tower and has three bells, such as the Marie Thérèse, the big one that sounds, the  Charles Catherine , the medium one, and the  Marie Pierre Michel Samuel Augustine , the smallest sound.

By now we were hungry and mostly thirsty so without any real choosing I told the gang to eat at Le Phare resto pizzeria by 4 Quai de Bernonville facing the habor, and it was a 10. We ate in the terrace just next to the water, with a friendly fishing dog that no fear of going into the water! the service was fast and friendly and we had our usual mussels or moules au curry and Rochefort with pizzas, great Leffe beers and desserts like the rice pudding in caramel sauce with express coffee to finish all for 36€ per person, a bit high but good considering you are in a very touristic  island! No webpage but reviews at RestaurantGuru : https://restaurantguru.com/Le-Phare-Saint-Martin-de-Re

The refreshing busy town and the quaint harbor, pleasure marina ,and citadelle and great ambiance by the wharfs was a great surprise and a good consolation for missing out on the Spanish team. It would be a great vacation area combining it with beach there and sights additional at La Rochelle or even further north at Rochefort-en-Mer. All along the border a wonderful view of the sea and views of the other smaller island the île d’Aix. There is a quaint lighthouse red (phare toit rouge) there and a wonderful harbor for pleasure boats into the center of the town.

The Île de Ré tourist office on things to do: https://www.iledere.com/

The local South Charente tourist office on the Île de Ré : https://www.sudcharentetourisme.fr/destination-ile-de-re/

The Île de Ré has other spots such as Loix, La Flotte, Rivedoux-Plage,Ars en Ré, Saint-Clément-des-Baléines, and Phare des Baléines , as well as Les Portes en Ré passing a natural reserve area. Another wonderful spot in my belle France, but they are so many ,can go nuts trying to see them all lol!!! Again, hope you enjoy this post on curiosities of Saint Martin de Ré !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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