France | TRAVEL
There’s an almost constant sea breeze blowing over the Île de Ré that brings with it a little cool air, which is a welcome respite from the heat of the day. Maybe it’s the limited number of roads that help create the feeling of peace, maybe it’s the muted palette of colour that maintains the calm, maybe its long sandy beaches stretching into the distance that give a sense of space. Putting all this together, you have somewhere very special.
Whitwashed cottages with terracotta tiles are dotted in the landscape and village streets have pebble-white houses with pale blue and muted green shutters. Against these subtle colours, vivid pink valerian, poppies and hollyhocks grow between paving stones to provide splashes of colour. It’s all very harmonious.
It's not by accident that the island hangs onto its faded charm. Local councils forbid overhead cables, and new development must reflect the style of the existing one and two-storey buildings. They must be painted white with woodwork colours selected from a limited palette of 16… eight shades of blue and eight of green.
Since 1988, a bridge has linked La Rochelle on the mainland with the Île de Ré. It’s a curvaceous structure, almost 3km long, making it the second-longest bridge in France. I was pleased to learn that the €8 return toll (€16 in the summer) is in
