From revolution to relaxation - the Vendée

THE last time we went to Fontenay-le-Comte it had a highly decorous cast iron fountain painted in green and covered in rust in the middle of the high street.

That was 30 years ago. This time, our delight came from arriving on a Saturday morning when the market was in town.

Not any old market, but a proper market where you could buy anything from baskets to the freshest carrots.

Little knots of people gathered in the market to gossip after shaking hands or kissing a cheek or two, and the babble of conversations sounded like an orchestra warming up.

To add to the confusion, an accordion player had parked himself in the corner of the square and, in the main street, traffic did its best to dribble along the roads without knocking anyone over.

Market day at Fontenay-le-Comte

A few yards away in Place Belliard all was quiet. In this little square there are five colonnaded houses from the time of Henry IV and a bust of General Belliard that overlooks the house at number 11 in which he lived.

It was Belliard who saved the life of Napoleon Bonaparte at Arcole.

Behind the square is the 15th century church of Notre-Dame which has a particularly fascinating 11th century crypt.

Another resident of the town was the Marquis de Sade who was garrisoned at Fontenay-le-Comte when he wrote his novel Justine shortly after he was seen hurrying from the town having fought a duel with the local magistrate.

Fontenay-le-Comte was a leading intellectual centre of Renaissance France and home to Rabelais who was a monk before having to seek refuge in the nearby Abbey of Maillezais after falling out with his superiors over his perceived support for the Reformation.

On the edge of town is the 16th century château of Terre-Neuve. Built by Nicolas Rapin, a high provost of the constables of France, the château has had many owners but has been in the same family now for more than 200 years.

Terre-Neuve is inhabited but open to the public and you can visit rooms containing collections of original furniture, clothing and paintings.

George Simenon, the writer and creator of the French detective Maigret, lived there from 1941 to 1943 and many of the detective’s adventures are bases around the town.

We did examine many of the walls of the town but presumably time has erased the marks made by Maigret striking his matches on them when lighting his pipe.

Chateau de Terre-Neuve

We would be surprised if Simenon didn’t get some inspiration from the rare alchemist’s fireplace in the château designed to venerate the discovery of the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ the universal medicine that would turn base metals to gold and cure all ills.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Fontenay-le-Comte, which proved a worthwhile diversion to our journey up through western France, as did the detour to the tiny nearby village of Nieul-sur-L’Autise where we strolled through the 11th century abbey of St Vincent with its pristine Romanesque cloisters, and flour mill museum with one of the few working water wheels still grinding corn on a daily basis.

While Fontenay-le-Comte may have been all refinement and enlightenment, the rest of the Vendée population were not averse to taking up arms in defence of their beliefs.

Between 1793 and 1795 in defence of their religion, and in support of the crown, they rebelled against the Revolutionary government.

Despite fighting an intense guerrilla war their army was eventually defeated, their emblem of interlocking hearts topped by a cross, evolved during the conflict, remains the symbol of modern Vendée.

If you venture inland you will find a country, the Bocage, which is flat and divided by high hedges.

During the insurrection the sails of the many windmills around then were used by the Royalists to pass information to each other and in consequence were destroyed by the Republican army.

The only working windmill to be found in the Vendée today is on the hills above Châteauneuf, near Saint Nazaire, where it has been grinding corn for 300 years.

To feel the swoosh of the great vanes of this ancient edifice turning in the wind makes the effort required to find this hidden village well worthwhile.

The windmill has been in the same family for generations and the owner offers guided tours and, of course, a tasting of crèpes made from his own grain.

Most people will know the Vendée for the beaches and tiny ports that stretch north from La Rochelle.

La Tranche-sur-Mer and Jard-sur-Mer are typical examples of small hamlets that first attracted those who could afford to build grand villas between the tall pines that grow behind the beaches, and which today hide a plethora of campsites that are packed out during the high season.

One person who saw the delights of the Vendée was the French President Georges Clemenceau.

If you have the slightest interest in turn of the century history then St- Vincent-sur-Jard will introduce you to the small house Clemenceau used as a retreat; it is open for public visits.

While the beach at St-Vincent-sur-Jard is not as spectacular as that at Les Sables D’Olonne or nearby St Gilles Croix-de-Vie, it means those who come here do so mainly to see Clemenceau’s house.

In his day there was no such thing as mass tourism so it is easy to imagine the isolation he must have treasured while wrestling with momentous events of the day.

It is probable that Clemenceau was driven to St Vincent-sur-Jard in the sort of vehicle you will find in the museum of automobiles on the D949 between Les Sables d’Olonne and Talmont.

Here is housed a fine collection of 160 vehicles, ancient and relatively modern, all in mint condition, and all beautifully presented in a single-storey building that smells wonderfully of leather and tyres. If you have the slightest interest in cars then we would heartily recommend a visit here.

If you are in search of a beach holiday and tend to lose interest in your transport once you have put down roots, then there is large campsite in Les Sables d’Olonne within walking distance of the golden sands, shops and casino.
 
From the harbour, boats can be taken to the islands of Yeu and Noirmoutier, but if you scratch beneath the surface of this seemingly innocuous region you will discover an independent and conservative heart that has not forgotten its past.

Roger and Ann Mechan chose the Brittany Ferries route from Roscoff to Plymouth. This route gives access to the Atlantic coast and provides a fast route to Spain for those who prefer driving to cruising. The day crossing takes around six hours 30 minutes and the night crossing eight hours.

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