Every Saturday and Sunday, Vanessa Zhâ and Marion Sauveur make us discover some nuggets of French heritage.
Today we head to the Ile de Ré to discover its natural reserve and its white gold, salt.
We are going for a walk this morning to a destination that breathes the holidays, just by its name: the island of Ré.
An island that still fascinates. Already because it is somewhere the star of the Charente islands, that it always promises a good iodine break and then that it is a real postcard: all the ingredients are there: the typical small villages with their white houses with shutters greens and tiled roofs, alleys and hollyhocks, village steeples, forests of pines and holm oaks, dunes, large beaches of golden sand, etc. And then the Star of the stars: the salt marshes.
80% of the island cannot be built. As a result, the island is very focused on nature, in particular thanks to the Lilleau de Niges nature reserve. A green setting where 30 to 35,000 birds stop there during the migrations. Another emblematic place of the island, the Maison du Fier, the nerve center of the reserve. It is a small museum housed in an old salt shed which presents all the natural environments of the Ile de Ré, such as salt tides and plants. To further the experience, the museum organizes classic outings that last about 2 hours, but also more atypical outings, in particular paddle boarding.
"Every summer, we do activities that are more family-friendly such as the bike rally. People come by bike and we organize a course on the Ile de Ré and we add small challenges on nature to take up in different places. people are invited to go and meet organizers and volunteers from the association who will show them lots of things about biodiversity, ”explains Amandine Delory, member of the LPO association and director of the Maison du Fier.
Is cycling king on the Ile de Ré? once you cross the bridge, you land, and a lot lets go of the car?
Yes, the bicycle is king and more and more tourists use their cars because the infrastructure is developing.
There are already more than 140 kilometers of cycle paths and bicycle rental companies in almost every village.
Especially since for the less sporty, most bikes offer electric assistance.
An exceptional natural heritage but its built heritage is not bad either, the Port of Saint Martin, the citadel.
The fortifications of Vauban are listed as a Unesco heritage.
And the Ile de Ré is the first island to be labeled a Country of Art and History.
Obviously there are its lighthouses with the very beautiful Baleines lighthouse which is one of the most visited sites in Charente, and then forts, one of which we do not talk about enough to my taste: Fort Laprée, not far from the Abbaye des Châteliers and which existed long before the citadel: it was built in the 17th century to intimidate the Protestants of La Rochelle, and it was not until well after that it was seen again by Vauban.
A historic site to recommend to families, thanks to a very active entertainment team, which offers many activities for all members of the family.
What about accommodation?
It's complicated in summer and obviously it's quite expensive.
Prices are soaring, that's why it's best to go to the island during the off-season.
But I have a good plan at Camping les baleines.
Very close to the beach, in the middle of the dunes.
Eco labeled;
3 stars with cabins, lodges.
Marion Sauveur, what culinary specialty are you going to tell us about?
White gold from the island, the marine nugget of the Ile de Ré: salt!
A natural salt harvested by hand in the north of the island in pure ancestral traditions for more than a millennium!
The first salt marshes were created by the monks of St-Michel-en-l'Herm opposite the Ile de Ré.
They have created wetlands in the north of the island to form this set of shallow basins.
Basins that we call "tiles", with clayey bottoms and this is what allows water to be retained.
Salt workers regulate seawater levels: very little water is needed for it to rise in temperature.
It takes more than 30 degrees.
And with the effect of the wind, the fleur de sel crystallizes on the surface.
The monks made it one of the most important salt production sites in western France.
The heyday of salt exploitation on the island took place in the 19th century.
There were no less than 1,000 salt workers.
But it declined at the start of the 20th century with the industrial revolution.
And in 1942, to save this tradition, the salt workers from Ré created the cooperative "Les sauniers de l'Île de Ré".
Today, they are 70!
And you can actually see them working all summer.
It is the full season for harvesting coarse salt and the delicate fleur de sel.
A 100% natural salt, harvested in an ancestral way with the same tools as the old ones.
This is what one of the island's rare salt producers tells us: Valérie Charpentier.
“The coarse salt falls to the bottom. To pull the coarse salt, we have a simoussi, it's a wooden board with a big handle. We push on one side of the tiles and we pull on the other. we make little pyramids on our paths, it's very pretty. and in the evening so we have lousses. So it's always big sleeves, like a flat colander where water can pass through but like the flower floats above the water we collect it with small gestures, it's quite pleasant to do ".
At the end of the season, the salt workers bring all their production, all their "tasseliers" (these piles of salt) to the cooperative.
It is not treated.
How do you cook this salt?
You can put it everywhere, of course, especially since the cooperative has released mixtures of salt and spices: in curry or for grilling, perfect for barbecues.
Today I am offering you a classic, but so good: a fish in a salt crust.
And not just any fish: sea bass, which we catch offshore.
We start by gutting the fish, but without scaling it.
Garnish with thyme and lemon slices.
We put half of the coarse salt in the bottom of a dish.
We put the fish, before covering them with the rest of the coarse salt, packing well.
Head to the hot oven (210 degrees) for 35 minutes.
We break the crust at the end of cooking and we will taste it with potatoes from the Ile de Ré of course ...
Do you have good addresses for on the Ile de Ré?
Home chef Pascal Godin offers a black mullet carpaccio, lemon and fennel, worked with coarse salt from the Ile de Ré.
At the restaurant O Parloir, you can enjoy a chocolate mi-cuit… and caramel with fleur de sel: indulgence guaranteed!
If you want to know more about the salt of the island of Ré the Ecomusée des Marais Salants, in Loix.
You can buy the salt at the Cabane des Sauniers or online!