OFF THE BEATEN PATH
SALT OF THE EARTH Discovering Noirmoutier, the sometime island off the Atlantic coast of France in the Vendée that appears and disappears with the changing of the tides. By Barb Sligl
BOATS AT THE JACOBSEN JETTY
A
France has long beckoned with its diverse regions, from Provence to the vineyards of Alsace. I’ve biked in the rocky Dordogne Valley, toured the beaches of Normandy, strolled the buzzy streets of Paris, sampled cider and crêpes in Brittany, and sipped the eponymous libations in Champagne and Cognac. Yet I had not heard of Vendée until I read about its “sometime” island, Noirmoutier, off the west coast of France and thought, I must go. 22 • Vacations ® • Spring 2022
PASSAGE DU GOIS
© PASCAL BELTRAMI
vast swath of sand, clay-coloured from the seawater still clinging to it, is stippled with figures poking in tidal pools. Barefoot with pants rolled up and buckets brimming with shellfish, clusters of clam diggers and families wander in the sodden landscape on either side of the Passage du Gois, which stretches four kilometres from Île de Noirmoutier to mainland France. As the high tide rolls in, the sliver of land will disappear again beneath the Bay of Bourgneuf.
