Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, France
Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez Holiday Rental Cottages and Houses
Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez enjoys a stunning location on the Atlantic coast in the Vendee departement and Pays de La Loire region. When you stay in a Hilaire-de-Riez rental villa or cottage it will no doubt be very relaxing as it's a fairly small and friendly resort in between the larger town of Saint-Jean-de-Monts and the old fishing port of St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.
If you love pottering around traditional French markets then this is also the area for you. There's the main market every Sunday in the centre of St-Hilaire-de-Riez, plus St-Jean-de-Monts' market days are Monday and Thursdays. The nearby town of Brem-sur-Mer hosts extra markets every Tuesday in July and August as well as the regular Friday throughout the year - well worth a visit when renting a self-catering holiday home in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, France.
Food wise, start your pre-holiday diet now! This area is a gastronomic treat. The brioche is a “must-try” and the “Jambon de Vendee” which is a raw cured ham similar to the distinctive taste of the famous American bacon. Plus, of course, the seafood delicacies that you would expect from such a seaside resort. Sardines and sea bass, lobsters and langoustines, mussels, scallops, crabs, cockles, skate, tuna, sole and mackerel are a plenty in the Vendée markets and restaurants. And many restaurants offer a set meal of the day making eating out regularly economically possible.
During the Summer months, there's plenty of evening entertainment with street stalls in the evenings, carousels and bumper cars giving it a “proper” holiday feeling. Plus on a more classy level, there's a very particular French evening show called Son et Lumiere (Sound and Light Show), this is a “must-see” and can be found in Puy de Fou - a spectacular show with actors, horsemen and special effects but you do need to book months in advance. At the same location you can find daily historical entertainment for all the family too.
If you are travelling to your holiday rental cottage or house in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, France - then the best airport is Nantes airport which is 70 kms away with Easy Jet flying from Gatwick. There's also a TGV station in Nantes and Brittany Ferries have routes to Roscoff Cherbourg Roscoff and Saint-Malo with AA Route Finder quoting it as a three and a half hour journey from Saint Malo. By car AA Route Finder quote a 4 and a half hour drive from Paris. The climate like all of the Vendee coast is typically warm, with an average of 200 sunny days per year.