The Good Life France Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 49

Fall in love with island living

This is a place of hollyhocks that spring up everywhere and of wild flowers that scent the fresh air. There are tiny cafés where you’ll receive a warm welcome, pretty little cottages with pastel coloured shutters, bikes with baskets ready for a picnic lunch or a bucket to catch a fish for supper.

Though you can cycle round the island in a couple of hours if you really want to, you’ll probably take a lot longer due to the amount of wow moments you’ll have. Go at a leisurely pace and stop off at pretty bays and picturesque inlets. Fishing or collecting shellfish is allowed but restricted to enough for one meal! Stop off for lunch at a restaurant with golden sandy beaches in your view, palm trees waving in a gentle breeze that makes you feel as if you’re in

the Caribbean rather than the Charente-Maritime. Buy a souvenir from the mother of pearl shop and museum, a family run business where they’ve been making little shell gifts for more than 60 years. You can also take a carriage ride, pulled by friendly horses

This is a place to smell the blossom and the salty sea, to let the silky sand slip through your toes, to enjoy a glass of chilled wine and a deliciously fresh cooked meal and to fall in love with the great outdoors – French style.

Book the boat and get the time table for the trip to Ile d'Aix

Charente Maritime Tourist Office