Sunday, November 11, 2018

Ile de Noirmoutier

Among the places on our must-see list during our trip to the Vendée was the island of Noirmoutier. Ken and I had set foot on the island once before, in 1992. The island is connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway that is submerged during high tide, and we wanted to drive across. We did, and then immediately turned around and drove back.

Looking northwest over the baie de Bourgneuf.

Since the 1970s, however, a bridge connects the southern tip of the island to mainland France. So, for this trip we decided to take the bridge. On arrival, we drove the entire length of the island to its northwestern point and a fishing town called l'Herbaudière. Then we started back along the bay side to a small resort town called le Vieil, where we stopped to walk around and see the beach.

Looking southeast toward the beach at La Clère.

Tasha was extremely excited to be on the beach. It was her first time running in the sand and I could see the big smile on her face. Once again, we arrived near low tide. We could see people out among the rocky tide pools collecting shellfish like mussels and small clams. La pêche à pied (fishing on your feet) is very popular on the Atlantic and Channel coasts.

5 comments:

  1. Really, Tasha's first time on the sand of a a beach... well, yes, you don't have a beach at home. Did Tasha get wet at all? You should have thrown a ball out to sea for her to retrieve.

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  2. What an idyllic place. Must be some interesting weather out there in the winter. Dogs do love the beach...great place to run and so many interesting smells.

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  3. This entire trip looks so wonderful. And imagining Tasha running on the beach makes me smile.

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  4. No one is foolish enough to drive out when the tide is coming in ?

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  5. andrew, no, she's not a water dog. And having a wet dog in the car was not a good idea. She did try to gulp a drink of sea water... YUCK! She didn't try that twice. :)

    sheila, true. I'll bet the wind and rain are relentless.

    mitch, she really liked it.

    michael, oh yes! People get caught out there all the time and need to be rescued, even though there are big signs with the time of the tides posted.

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