Places to visit:
Nearby towns to visit include St. Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, with it's pretty church and good shopping facilities and Challans, famous in the area for it's huge Tuesday street market, where you can buy practically anything - including livestock! Another site well worth seeing is Le Passage du Gois, this is a submerged roadway linking the island of Noirmoutier to the mainland near Beauvoir-sur-Mer. It is passable only twice a day for a couple of hours either side of low tide. Join the locals who park their cars on the sandy side of the road to search for fresh seafood - just keep an eye on the rising sea level! The island of Noirmoutier is well worth a visit - use the bridge that joins it to the mainland when the causeway is under water. There is the large 'Sealand' aquarium in the town and nearby is 'Oceanile' a large family waterpark with slides, rapids and a very warm indoor pool.
Things to do:
For a little bit of local history try a visit to Apremont with it's castle ruins and pretty village or the Chateau at Talmont which was an occasional home of English King Richard the Lionheart.
There are a two large theme parks within driving distance. At Les Herbieres is 'Le Puy-du-Fou : Le Grand Parc' where various periods of history have been created to house spectacular shows of Viking invasions, Gladiatoral chariot racing, falconry displays and much more. As darkness falls 'Cinescene' takes over. This is a huge open air show recounting the Vendee's troubled ancient history with a cast of 800 people and 50 horses!
A little further afield at Poitiers is 'Futuroscope' , second only in popularity in France to Disneyland. Nearer to the house are many child friendly attractions. The 'Atlantic Toboggan' water park is within walking distance as are two mini quad bike circuits and a 'mini-golf' course. Two minutes drive away a stable offers horse riding for both children and adults.
Activities:
The one thing you cannot avoid noticing in the Vendee generally and in St. Jean particularly is the number of cycles ! Bike hire is readily available (or why not bring your own?) and there are literally miles of dedicated cycle tracks both on the roads and through the nearby woodland. Walking and jogging are similarly well catered for.
If you have a head for heights, the park 'Paree Jesus' at the northern end of St. Jean is the place to head for a spot of 'high ropes' amongst the huge pine trees. Courses are rated in degrees of difficulty and even young children are catered for in this safe environment. The park is also home to a large number of well kept tennis courts. Roller blading is also very popular on the cycle lanes along the seafront.
A guide book to the whole area that we can thoroughly recommend is 'The Vendee' by Angela Bird published by Malnoue at £9.95 (ISBN 0-9545803-0-3).
Golf:
Not being golfers ourselves, we have to rely on the word of others who sing the praises of the five courses within the Vendee. They are located at Nesmy ( near La Roche sur Yon), L'Aiguillion-sur-Mer, Olonne-sur-Mer,
Port Bourgney and actually in St. Jean de Monts itself. Green fees range from about €25 to €50 depending on the season. A 'Formule Golf Pass' is also available that allows unlimited use on four of the courses within a specified number of days thus offering better value.
Other Activities:
jet ski, quad bikes, go karts, high ropes, paint ball, water park
marks the location of the property in Western Loire
