The Good Life France Magazine brings you the best of France - inspirational and exclusive features, fabulous photos, mouth-watering recipes, tips, guides, ideas and much more...
Published by the award winning team at The Good Life France
a broad avenue from the station to the sea. Renamed Avenue du Général de Gaulle in 1945, it is now one of the town’s main streets for shopping and restaurants. More amenities followed and soon wealthy buyers were investing in plots to build their own holiday villas. In 1896, the resort was renamed La Baule and despite the dips in fortunes created by two World Wars, the town has grown steadily to be one of the most popular resorts on the Atlantic Coast. La Baule’s sea front villas were sadly redeveloped during the post-war years in what can only be seen now as a tragedy of urban planning. Great if you want a holiday apartment with your feet in the ocean, but completely lacking in atmosphere. Go behind the bland sea front architecture however and you immediately step back a century. Today there are few nicer urban strolls than meandering along La Baule’s pine-scented Allées and Avenues to peer through garden gates and over ornamental walls at the eclectic mix of flamboyant properties, 15 of them given protected status for their exceptional architecture. Each villa is different in style, from half-timbered ‘Anglo-Normand’ mansions to Art Deco splendour and medieval fantasies. And each one has a name, often in Breton, La Baule originally being part of Brittany rather than Pays de la Loire. I stop first outside Villa Symbol, built in 1881 in Anglo-Normand style and the private home of architect Georges Lafont. An eyecatching combination of stone and timber, curved roof lines and embellished spire, it was the first grand villa that visitors would see as they came out from the station, a great advertisement for the 250 properties that Lafont would go on to design in the town. Close by, I come across Coq de Roche, a classic example of Art Deco style with its whitewashed facades and red shutters, flat roof and metal balconies. La Baule’s many thousands of trees are also protected, but only a handful of properties can boast their original gardens and, as at Villa Saint-Charles, Le Croisic Pierre Bouguer, Le Croisic M Restaurant - former butcher and baker shops an outdoor gallery where 19 th century visitors would sit to inhale the clean air, often to recover from TB. I soak up the period atmosphere at Hôtel Saint-Christophe, a 4-star hotel composed of four individual villas dating from the early 1900s. Just a short walk from the beach and boutiques, it’s a great place to sample the good life with individually designed bedrooms and stylish public rooms. After an aperitif in the hotel’s shady garden, I stroll to Place du Maréchal Leclerc for dinner in the garden of Le M. This popular bistro takes its name from the shape of the two steep roofs of what were once adjoining shops. Across the square stands St Anne’s Chapel, the first public building erected in La Baule. Now an exhibition centre, it was commissioned by M Hennecart, a deeply religious man whose widow was so incensed at the opening of a casino that she left La Baule, never to return. I walk home along the sea front as the sun sinks over the calm ocean and watch families, friends and even horse riders make the most of a balmy evening on the beach. And after a blissfully quiet night, I head west out of La Baule next morning for the short drive along the south side of the Guérande salt pans. Time to spare? Hire an electric bike instead from Le Pouliguen Bikevasion to visit Le Croisic, Batzsur-Mer and maybe the Grand Blockhaus Museum, a World War II bunker that tells the story of the Saint-Nazaire Pocket. Now designated a Petite Cité de Caractère of the Loire-Atlantique department, Le Croisic stands on the headland where the ocean flows through a narrow gap into the salt marshes. Enjoy a drink beside the marina or at a café table in the pretty town centre; visit the Océarium sea life centre; and pay homage to the seafront statue of Pierre Bouguer, 18 th century scientist, mathematician and astronomer. Swapping salt water for fresh, I turn the car inland to explore the Brière Regional Natural Park or PNR. Nicknamed the Pays Noir or Black Country because of its rich peat 46 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 47
The might Rhone River changes as it
Jeremy Flint visits Sarlat-la-Cané
SELF-DRIVE BOATING HOLIDAYS NO PREV
What’s NEW spring 2024 the Modern
SPOTLIGHT on the Loire Valley Chamb
Chateaux such as Chenonceau, Chambo
French immersion courses Learn Fren
Le Touquet’s Art Deco market Sout
Bethune Get 20% off your first cour
Croque-monsieur revisité Your one
INGREDIENTS Serves 4 ¾ cup (200 ml
Last Word In France they say of tho
Loading...
Loading...