France West Coast - Great places to visit

After a few summers exploring Northern France, which we often found to be overcast and windy and almost as wet as Britain, we started venturing south; a little further south year by year first starting with Quiberon, a southern tip of Brittany stuck right out into 'The Savage Coast', very aptly named as the western side of this peninsular is fully exposed to the Atlantic Ocean and the whole time we were there the sea was 'savage'. In contrast the eastern side of the peninsular being protected from the westerly winds and savage seas, looking inland towards mainland France was much calmer and warmer; but nevertheless was still a little too cool for our liking and just a wee bit too overcast too often.

So the following year we travelled just a little further south, past Nantes and onto the Vendee Coast, about half way down France. Jackpot; still northern France but just far enough south to pick up the start of the Mediterranean type weather; hot glorious sun and blue sky's almost guaranteed with temperatures in the low 30's (30C or 86F) sometimes reaching 35C (95F).

As it's such a wonderful place we returned to the Vendee Coast for many years, lapping up the gorgeous long sandy beaches with warm seas and exploring the area; visiting chateaus (castles) local attractions, displays, shows and the local markets in the towns and villages such as Saint-Jean-de-Mont and Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez. Every year we made a point of visiting the various evening open-air shows and displays (usually held from 8pm until midnight) after the heat of the day; entertainment such as 'fireworks to music' and the Parade of the boats' in Saint Gilles Croix de Vie; and most commonly, medieval festivals.

The only down-side if you're from England and use to shops being open all day, every day, is that (apart from tourist's shops) shops are closed on Sundays and during the week in the afternoons from midday until 4pm e.g. their siesta; but a small price to pay for such a glorious holiday spot.

Puy du Fou (a Theme Park that outshines all other Theme Parks) is without doubt the highlight of any holiday to the Vendee. We stumbled across it by accident on our first visit to the region, we seen it advertised in a local 'Tourist Information' shop one lunch time just as they were closing so had to wait until 4pm (when they re-opened) to buy the tickets; which at that time was just £20 each for a full days entertainment; good value for money.

We'd been to Disneyland Paris years previously but in comparison Puy du Fou was far more entertaining, so much so that a few years later we made a special point of returning the Vendee specifically so that we could spend a full two days at the Theme Park. If you want to also see the evening show at Puy du Fou you need to book on their website at the beginning of the year because these tickets sell quickly.

In more recent years we've been going further south, into the Bordeaux Region; not quite as good as the Vendee, villages are more spread-out and the population more dispersed so you have to travel further to see anything, but nevertheless still good and still lots to see. In particular Dune Pyla (at 100m high) being the largest sand dune in Europe; Parc Ornithologique du Teich, a wetlands for wildlife birds; and of course Bordeaux city itself, just to mention a few hot spots. And talking about hot, temperatures here are often in the high 30Cs, 35C (95F) to 40C (104F) being quite normal.

Wherever you travel in France there is always plenty of wildlife and Nature to see, either in the natural habitat, zoos or wildlife parks such as Parc Floral et Tropical, Vendee, France and Parc Ornithologique du Teich in the Bordeaux Region.