Feature Image: My Basket & Tools for gathering Oysters
Exiled to the Island
Even before we started our workaway adventure in a bed and breakfast in La Rochelle we knew we were going to spend a week on a neighboring island of Ile D’Aix (pronounced eel-dex). The La Rochelle house was booked out for a week and our host had texted us before we arrived to ask us see if we were ok with moving out to the island when the B’n’B guests arrived.
Um! let me think about that for a nano-second before agreeing!
About Ile D’Aix
This two-mile long island is a magnet for nationals with second homes and day trippers, and has a scattered collection of rental apartments and small homes to tempt the tourists.
You can still see the fortifications that were built in the 18th Century, to protect the mainland navel base at Rochefort. Fort Liédot was later used as a prison during the French Revolution, the Crimean War, and WWI. The island was briefly home to Napoleon, while he was plotting his escape to America, but he didn’t leave in time and was exiled to Saint Helena instead.
Getting to Ile D’Aix
During the summer you can catch a ferry directly from La Rochelle (30km away), but off-season you have to travel down to Fouras for the short ferry ride.
There’s only a few crossing a day during off-season, but the 20 minute service runs year-round, and the timetable changes each month. Before we were due to spend our week on the island doing our workaway jobs, our host took us on an overnight trip so that we could find the house and familiarize ourself with our surroundings.
Apart from its historical heritage, and tourism industry, Ile D’Aix has a thriving oyster industry.
It’s was an overcast and blustery day, but it wasn’t raining so we took walked the 6km around the island’s circumference to explore the coastline, so that when we returned to the island for our imposed isolation, we knew where to find the best oyster spots.
I’m a sun bunny, and love the beach, but there’s an intrinsic beauty to a forlorn looking beach at low tide on a cloudy day.
This walk around the Ile D’Aix coastline whetted my appetite for our tranquil week-long stay.
There were small sheltered rocky bays, and broad sandy beaches, and I was excited by the prospect of exploring the island with my sketch book and capturing the essence of its rugged beauty with my pen.
Red on the other hand was already hyperventilating from the sheer desolation of this car-free island, and the almost complete absence of other human contact.
Around the other side of the island we stumbled across forts and bunkers and these had the desired effect of kick starting his enthusiasm for a return trip.
But he was absolutely ecstatic when we reached some of the best beaches for gathering oysters, and Red didn’t waste any time trying to dislodge dinner.
Looks like there’s going to be plenty to keep him busy during our next trip. Ironically enough, he doesn’t like oysters, but GUESS what I’ll be having every day for lunch?
Can’t get much fresher than this!
Even though the French Island of Ile D'Aix is deserted during the off-season, there's still plenty to explore, and you get the oysters all to yourself. #travelblogger #visitfrance Click To Tweet[france202]
This island looks amazing. I totally agree there is something beautiful about a forlorn looking beach on a cloudy day. And fresh oysters!! Ooh, how I love France. In fact. I should be there right now, but hey C word, so everything on hold and having to live my France trips through travel blogs for now 🙂
We returned to the island for a week, and it rained most days, but it didn’t matter, it didn’t stop us going out to explore the beaches.
This looks a nice place to visit off the beaten track and sometimes a beach on a cloudy day has a magic to it that you just don’t get when the sky is so blue. I can’t stand oysters myself but I imagine that if you do then to have them fresh from the sea is a delight.
We weren’t sure if we were allowed to eat the oysters, but our host said as long as they were over 5cm, we could harvest them. My husband’s the same – he can’t stand them.
What an amazing deserted island! I love cloudy days to totally sunny days, so the weather is perfect for me. France is a lovely country and picking oysters and having them for lunch sounds like fun!
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I’d opt for sunny days every day of the week, but if it does rain, then I don’t like being cooped up inside, so would prefer to explore.
Haha the Ile D’Aix fortification and moat looks kind of scary, you did not walk on it right?
And hey, did you actually pick and prepare your own oysters?
I have actually never had oysters before, it was one of the things I had on my food bucketlist for our upcomming trip to France.
The bridge and walkway were out of bounds … but even if not, we wouldn’t have walked on that walkway, it was way too weather beaten to trust. Yes we picked our own oysters.
Pjuh! 😀
Thats sucha a cool an unusual experience to pick own oysters, good for you! 🙂
I left the picking to my husband .. I just ate them!
Wow, Ill D’Aix looks amazing! I love oysters, I love beaches and photographing lonely places. Ill D’Aix just got added to my eve growing list of places to go!
If you’re ever heading to La Rochelle it’s definitely worth taking a side trip to Ile D’Aix, and there’s another couple of islands off the coast that have a suspension bridge bridge leading to them.
Wow! This looks wonderful! I don’t like oysters either and we live in Oyster heaven on the eastern shore of Virginia. 🙂 The wandering looks like so much fun, except of course that scary wooden walkway that’s falling into the sea. Thanks for sharing this lovely place.
Yes that walkway had been battered by the wind and rain, and wasn’t fit for use anymore, but I’d love to sketch it.
The island of Ile D’Aix looks to lovely and I am tempted to visit when I can. No people in sight and no cars – winners for me for sure. Totally agree with you that there is something special about low tides and forlorn looking beaches. Exploring the shell covered beaches seems like a lot of fun and I would love to give it a go.
We returned to this island a few weeks later, and spent hours beach combing.
Good to know about Ile D’Aix. The view from your new home in Ile D’Aix looks very rustic and peaceful. This whole island looks very relaxing type and peaceful.
Yes it was really peaceful and still quite rustic, which make the island so much more appealing.
WOW! What a cool journey to get there. There is no people in your pictures, the place looks so vast and uncrowded. It’s amazing to have places all to yourself when you’re exploring somewhere.
Not so vast. It’s a 6km walk around the perimeter, and we had fun exploring.