THE BRETON MARSHLANDS

The most instructive and fun way to discover the area and learn all the riches of this protected environment is to follow the interpretation trail set up by the tourist office, which also organizes guided bike tours called La Maraîchine. In total, the Breton Marsh covers 45,000 hectares, including a network of canals (etiers), wet meadows and polders of great biological richness. It extends from north to south from the communes of Moutiers-en-Retz to Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie on the coast and from Machecoul to Challans in the lands to the east. It was the Benedictine monks from the 11th to the 13th centuries who undertook the construction of salt-growing installations: pits, pits and pits. Longères and bourrines, the traditional habitat of the marsh, evoke the presence of men as well as the bell towers of the surrounding communes: Saint-Cyr, Fresnay-en-Retz.... Today, oyster farming activities have taken over (Vendée-Atlantique oysters) and tourism has considerably developed around the seaside resorts of the Bay of Bourgneuf (Les Moutiers-en-Retz, Noirmoutier, etc.) and the Vendée coast (Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, Saint-Jean-de-Monts, etc.). The pastel colours of the beginning or end of the day give a magical and enchanting charm to this enchanting landscape. The rustling of the wings of the cormorant, the grey heron, the egret, the ducks, the dry rustling of the reeds remind us here that nature is queen. The bumps, long funnel-shaped nets were placed for eel fishing. Note again that the Breton marsh can also be discovered on horseback.