Marais Poitevin, a nature reserve for birdwatchers on the Vendée coast

The Marais Poitevin, France’s second-largest marshland, lies roughly between the well-known port city of La Rochelle and Brittany. I’m here in the southern part of the Vendée department. Read my tips on my 4-day trip through the Marais Poitevin.

This name may not be very well known among the Dutch, but that certainly isn’t the case for birds. The area is a vital stopover for migratory birds and an important breeding ground. Birdwatchers can therefore check off quite a few species from their list here. And outdoor enthusiasts will also find plenty to enjoy. In short, it’s a fantastic slow tourism destination.

About 900 kilometers from Amsterdam, you find yourself at the gateway to the marshlands—in a completely different world, and yet not quite, because it also has a Dutch feel to it. So let’s start with a brief look at the history of the Poitevin Marshes.

The area, which covers more than 100,000 hectares (almost as large as the province of Utrecht), consists of three parts:

1. The Baie de l’Aguillon: On the Atlantic coast, the former Golfe des Pictons (named after the Picts, who originally lived in Scotland) was dotted with small islands. Today, at high tide , the coastal area — the Baie de l’Aguillon— is almost entirely submerged. The salt marshes and mudflats are therefore teeming with life; a veritable smorgasbord for birds.
2. The Marais Desséché is the dry section: this part of the marsh resembles a prairie in places, and a few minutes later it becomes a rural area with lots of grasslands, cows, and few forests. It’s ideal for a bike ride.
3. The Marais Mouillés is the third section. It’s also known as the “wet” marsh. This section is often called the “Green Venice” because of its maze of small canals where flat-bottomed boats with gondoliers sail in the summer. This section is located furthest inland, near the city of Niort. And don’t worry—you won’t get bitten by mosquitoes. I’ve been told this is due to the large number of dragonflies, but it surely also has to do with the fact that there’s hardly any standing water.

Day 1: Birdwatching by the Sea

My first base in the southern Vendée is the seaside town of l’Aiguillon-sur-Mer. My bed-and-breakfast, Le Lys Blanc, is just a stone’s throw from the beach. Le Lys Blanc, run by Laurent, a Frenchman, and his German wife Mélanie, has five rooms. My room, with its French doors, overlooks a lovely garden. It’s convenient that you can also store your bike here.

Michel Brosselin Nature Reserve

I have a birding excursion planned. Our guide, Katja, takes us to a bird-watching hut in the Michel Brosselin Nature Reserve. We walk along a long wooden boardwalk to an observatory equipped with telescopes and bird guides. Here, you can watch all the birds at your leisure. Katja has already spotted a Caspian tern, even before I’ve barely finished focusing my telescope. She turns her telescope toward me, and all I can make out is a long orange-red beak and a beautiful white-and-black head. According to Katja, Caspian terns aren’t often seen in France.

I can’t take my eyes off it. I see spoonbills flying overhead; further away, there are shelducks. The males have a knob on their heads and a bright red beak. Size-wise, they’re somewhere between a duck and a goose. Next, a small flock of skylarks flies overhead, calling out loudly. We also spot a coypu with shiny fur, sitting contentedly in the grass in the sunshine next to a few ducks, munching on aquatic and riparian plants. In French, coypus are called “ragondins.” That sounds a lot cuter than the Dutch word.

A small group of sacred ibises wades through the water. Less than a minute later, we spot black-tailed godwits standing on their characteristic long legs. It really is a bird paradise here. The guide looks proud as she uses a marker to add to the whiteboard listing the birds spotted that day. At the end of the afternoon, we head off to the next birding mecca, about a twenty-minute drive from the nature reserve.

400,000 migratory birds at Pointe de l’Aiguillon

Louise, a guide and bird expert with the French Bird Protection Society, is waiting for us at Pointe de l’Aiguillon with a huge telescope. There are quite a few people there with binoculars. Apparently, this is the place to be if you want to see rare birds.

Louise knows an incredible amount about birds, and in no time at all she spots a bluethroat. That’s quite an achievement, because this little bird usually hides among the bushes. You definitely hear it more often than you see it. Breathless, I peer through my binoculars. Its beautiful bright blue, orange, and brown colors shimmer in the sun.

In the dunes, we also spotted a linnet, also known as a flax finch. It’s a small bird, smaller than a house sparrow, with a soft red head and a proud red breast. What a beauty it is. We slowly walked on toward the sea. Louise tells us that more than 400,000 migratory birds are spotted here in France every year.

Exceptional biodiversity

During the breeding season, parts of the beach are cordoned off. During this time, sand plovers lay their eggs in the sand among the shells, and you can hardly see them because of their amazing camouflage.

Louise and her colleagues also devote a lot of time to educating tourists. Aiguillon Bay boasts exceptional biodiversity, but unfortunately it is also under significant pressure from human activities, such as shipping, agriculture, shellfish farming, and tourism. They are participating in various projects aimed not only at restoring this important coastal area for birds but also at protecting it effectively.

Day 2: Cycling Tour of the Vendée Peninsula

The next morning, the Vendée du Sud tourist office in La Faute-sur-Mer is the starting point for a roughly thirteen-kilometer loop around the peninsula. We’ll also ride a short stretch of the Vélodyssée long-distance bike route, which runs from northern Brittany, along the Vendée coastline, all the way to the Spanish border.

We’re taking a sort of tidal tour. That morning, it’s low tide, and the boats are lying on their sides on the riverbed. The bike path takes us along the Lay River for a while. Halfway through the trip, we see the island of Île de Ré in the distance. The landscapes vary, from wooded areas to sandy beaches, salt marshes, and river landscapes.

Oysters at Les Amourettes

We’ll make a stop at the Rade d’Amour, a protected area with rich biodiversity. From a lookout point, you can see the mouth of the Lay River. Oysters are also farmed in this area. At low tide, the area is teeming with birds foraging for food in the mud.

If you’re here, you simply have to try some oysters. We’ll do that at Eva Charneau’s, who runs the Les Amourettes oyster farm in La Faute-sur-Mer with her husband and sons. At a real (raised) oyster bar overlooking the Lay, she shucks the oysters with incredible ease. She talks so enthusiastically and passionately about her “babies”—the little oysters—that I almost want to train to become an oyster farmer myself. After tasting three oysters and wishing Eva a great oyster season, we hop back on our bikes.

We pass through the La Belle Henriette National Nature Reserve, one of the last true lagoons on the Atlantic coast. The sand here is a beautiful golden yellow. La Belle Henriette is constantly changing with the tides. You can also go for walks here on specially constructed trails.

Just before we get back to l’Aiguillon-sur-Mer, I suddenly spot a hoopoe sitting on the road. What a treat—I’ve never seen this beautiful pinkish-brown bird, with its lovely large crest and long beak, this close up before.

Day 3: Soaking Up the Culture in Fontenay-le-Comte

Today it’s time to soak up some culture. And fortunately, in France, that’s never far away. We’re taking a walk through the historic center of Fontenay-le-Comte, located on the Vendée River, with historian and guide Pauline Retailleau.

Until the French Revolution, Fontenay was the capital of the region. Napoleon then chose La Roche-Sur-Yon as the capital because of its central location. In the higher part of Fontenay, Pauline points out some remnants of the city wall. Much was destroyed during the Wars of Religion. We walk uphill past a beautiful fountain made of yellow sandstone. This is the symbol of Fontenay. Here and there are half-timbered houses.

Our guide, Pauline, really knows everything there is to know about the town’s architecture, and I’m hanging on her every word. I can see why she’s in such high demand throughout the Vendée for giving guided tours.

We quickly pop into the Church of Our Lady. Pauline has the key to the Romanesque crypt, which is over 1,000 years old. The simplicity of the small space leaves me speechless. It’s truly special! Before we say goodbye, she quickly gives us a tip for next time: “Be sure to visit Terre-Neuve Castle. It’s a gem from the Renaissance period, where you can see, among other things, furniture from the famous Chambord Castle in the Loire Valley.”

Day 4: The Marais Poitevin from the Water

Today I’m exploring the “Green Venice.” In the Marais Poitevin marshes, there are several places where you can board a boat (or a kayak or stand-up paddleboard) for a short trip. I choose the hamlet of Le Mazeau, where you’ll find the Embarcadère de la Venise Verte boat rental in the little harbor.

Of course, you can rent a boat on your own, but it’s much more fun to book one with a guide. The guides know an incredible amount about the marsh and the animals that live there. I go early in the morning so I can have the marsh pretty much to myself. Next to the little canal we’re sailing on runs an old towpath, where horses and even cows used to pull barges loaded with food.

These days, it’s mainly a bike and hiking trail. My guide, Matthieu, knows exactly where animals like muskrats tend to hang out. We soon see one swimming across, and a minute later we spot a couple of young muskrats in the bushes that aren’t really afraid of our boat. The water’s edge is lined mainly with ash and willow trees.

It’s also incredibly green here. I never knew there were so many shades of green. Then suddenly it looks like it’s starting to rain, but our guide Matthieu reassures me: it looks like rain, but it’s actually caused by insects—the cicada nymphs hiding under the leaves are covered in a whitish foam. When that foam comes loose, it looks like falling raindrops.

Bird Species in Green Venice

They row in traditional boats using a thick pole, called a “vaarboom.” It’s actually just like what the gondoliers in Venice do. Suddenly, we hear the song of a Cetti’s warbler. I’d never heard of it before, but it’s a small brown songbird. It’s also being spotted more and more often in the Netherlands. We also hear the chiffchaff and a wren.

A little further along the water’s edge, a small herd of beautiful light-brown Limousin cows is grazing. They look up curiously as we glide past through the water. I booked a 1.5-hour boat tour, but you can also choose a shorter or longer one.

Exploring the Marais Poitevin wetlands on an e-scooter

After seeing the area from the water, I have an electric scooter ride planned for the afternoon. From Le Mazeau, it’s a ten-minute ride to the charming market town of Maillezais, where I’ve booked a room in the center with Françoise at her stately mansion, Le Parenthèse Entre Abbaye et Venise Verte. A house full of character with creaky wooden floors and a lush garden with a pool. This is a place where I’d love to stay longer.

I’m driving to meet Jean-Luc Grospelier, the owner of Nomad’Trott, who has mapped out a number of routes for the e-scooter. The scooter is suitable for the mountains and has thick tires. It’s incredibly handy in the swamp.

His website says that “the natural route is reminiscent of the challenges of a Dakar Rally, but without the time pressure.” I swallow a few times, but Jean-Luc reassures me. After a little dry run on the scooter, I put on gloves and a helmet. It’s high time to venture off the beaten path. What an amazing experience! Sometimes the scooter slips a little when there are other deep ruts, but it’s so much fun to explore the marsh this way.

The landscape is also very varied. After about an hour and a half, we zip past the Maillezais Abbey on our scooter. This Benedictine abbey was founded around the year 1,000 on a small island in the marsh. Monks dug the canals to drain the Gulf of the Pictons. Before I leave, I’ll definitely take some time to explore the impressive ruins of the abbey church, the monastic buildings, and the salt cellars on this enormous complex.

First , take a breather on the terrace at Achille’s, La Crêperie du Marais, where you have a fantastic view of the abbey. I stayed here until sunset, enjoying a savory crêpe and a glass of rosé from the Vendée. This is slow tourism as it’s meant to be.

Marais Poitevin on the map