the violent storms and inondations in the south-west of France, where the grotto at Lourdes is currently under about two metres of water.
It’s not just the south-west of France that’s getting this stormy weather; an orange weather alert is in place for similar weather in the eight departments that make up the Ile de France.
Despite all this very unseasonal weather, I’m tempted by some islands in France, starting with the Ile St Louis right in the heart of Paris. It’s a wonderful small island in the Seine, right beside Notre Dame and a welcome antidote to the masses of tourists at the cathedral. In earlier times, there were two islands in the river here, the Ile de Notre Dame, with the cathedral, and the Ile des Vaches (Cow Island), where cattle were grazed before being sold at market and where wood was stockpiled. These two islands were once so isolated that in the days of Louis IX in the 13th century, he used to escape to the Ile de Notre Dame to read and pray, away from the hordes at court on the Ile de la Cité.
In the 17th century, during the reigns of Henry IV and Louis XII, the Ile de Vaches was mapped
out, in one of the earliest examples of urban planning in France. The island was quickly built up, so that by 1660, it was largely inhabited, by a variety of merchants, artisans, entrepreneurs and others, who lived along the two new thoroughfares in the centre of the island. The aristocrats and wealthy
bourgeoisie who came to live on the island preferred to live along the quays.
Today, the island of St Louis has changed comparatively little, with quiet residential streets and the occasional grand house, such as the Hotel Lambert at Number 2 rue St Louis en l’Ile. This great mansion was built in 1639 for Baptiste Lambert, who held important positions at court, including as secretary to the king. The island has no Métro station and only a couple of bus stops. But it also has a variety of art galleries, small specialist shops and a handful of booksellers, as well as restaurants and the
headquarters of Glaces Berthillon, the luxury ice cream makers, whose ice cream is considered the best in Paris. However, the population of the island has fallen quite dramatically. In the 1950s, about 6,000 people lived here, but now, the number’s around half that total.
It’s easy to get to the island, which is connected to the ‘mainland’ of Paris by five bridges, from the
right and left banks, but it remains a wholly delightful oasis of calm in the midst of the city bustle. While the Ile St Louis is a natural island in the Seine, another island further downriver, the Ile aux Cygnes, in the 15th and 16th arrondissement, is artificial. This island is 850 metres long and a mere 11 metres wide; it’s noted for its quarter sized replica of the Statue of Liberty.
Elsewhere in France, off the west coast, one favourite holiday spot for French people, during the peak holiday months of July and August, is the Ile de Ré. It’ s a lovely unspoiled island, close to La
Rochelle. It’s 30 km long and five km wide and at its highest point is only 20 metres above sea level. It’s very easy to get to, thanks to the 2.9km bridge that was opened in 1988. Before the bridge was built, the sea crossing could be quite rough. But the bridge makes access much easier; nearby La Rochelle is easily reached from Paris, on the TGV train which takes three hours. However, I
remember vividly one trip we did between La Rochelle and Paris, which took all of seven hours in sweltering heat, as the train broke down en route, not the most pleasant of experiences!
However, back to the Ile de Ré. The island has much natural beauty, as well as small coastal villages and salt pans, where sea salt is dried. The villages, usually with whitewashed houses, bedecked with flowers, are choc full of restaurants, mostly specialising in locally caught fish; the island has a long tradition of local fishermen selling small quantities of their catches, on the quays, when they arrive back home, so that they’ll have enough money to go for a drink, or two. The island is ideal for such sporting activities as swimming and surfing, horse riding and tennis. One of the man-made attractions is the Museum Ernest Cognacq, in St-Martin-de-Ré, which was named after a native son of the village, Ernest Cognacq, who founded the famous Parisian department store, La Samaritaine.
The island has long attracted the famous. Jean Monnet, considered the father of the European Union, was a devotee of the island, as has been Princess Caroline of Monaco in more recent times. Lionel Jospin, who was prime minister of France from 1997 to 2002, retired to the island when he left political life. Performers, too, like Charles Aznavour and Johnny Depp, have also been devoted to the island. But it’s not all sunshine and sea spray. Last year, a family from New Zealand who had settled on the island had to leave after a whispering campaign and vendettas against them by some of the
notoriously insular local people.
In winter, the settled population is about 20,000, while in summer, the number of people on the island
soars tenfold. So if you are heading towards the Ile de Ré, far better to avoid the main summer months and go out of season. September’s an ideal time to visit.
Also in this part of western France, there’s another big island, the Ile d’Oléron, slightly bigger than the Ile de Ré, which makes it the second largest island in France after Corsica. The Ile d’Oléran is also reached by bridge from the mainland. This island too is a popular holiday destination and offers the same kind of attractions as the Ile de Ré. The Ile d’Oléron has eight communes and its villages have many interesting old buildings. So if you want a tourist island that’s not quite as chic, and therefore, not quite so packed, it’s a good place to head.
Sandwiched between these two islands is the tiny Ile d’Aix. It’s very small, just over a square kilometre and can only be reached by ferry from the mainland. I’ve made the trip and must admit I found the small village there quite delightful, even if the Napoleonic museum wasn’t quite so interesting. Napoléon had fortified the island in 1808 and the commander’s house is now the museum. This is the island where Napoléon spent his last days on French soil after his defeat in the Battle of Waterloo
in 1815, and his subsequent exile to St Helena.
Something I was reading this week about French technical history, on the BBC website, was equally
fascinating, the first telegraph network in the world, developed in Napoleonic France, 200 years ago. The Chappe system, named after its inventor, Claude Chappe (1763-1805), used a series of towers, just over 500 in all, to send semaphore messages all over the country. It meant that messages could be dispatched from Paris to the most distant parts of the country in a matter of hours; previously, dispatch riders on horseback had taken days to make the same journeys. But the system was relatively shortlived. By the 1840s and 1850s, railways were being built throughout France and alongside them, a new invention, the electric telegraph, was installed. The new style telegraph quickly ousted the Chappe system, which fell into disuse. Most of the stations disappeared, although enthusiasts have rescued a few of them from oblivion. The fate of the Chappe system is reminiscent of the uniquely French Minitel system, which has itself been made redundant by the development of email, the
Internet and social networking.
The Minitel system of videotexting using the telephone network only began in 1978, but it was once a huge success, with most homes in France having a connection. But it was made redundant last year; this precursor to the Internet had outlived its time. It was also introduced to other countries; it was launched in Ireland in 1988 but failed to make any lasting impact.
Still, another French invention has come to market. A wine marketing company, Winestar, is putting AOC wines in cans for the first time. These 187ml cans sell for around €2.50 and the aim is to get away from the bad reputation of wines in non-traditional packaging, such as wine boxes. The marketing company also wants to promote good quality wines to younger drinkers, who have often abandoned wine in favour of beers and spirits. The cans are also 100 per cent recyclable. In Germany, the market for canned wines is big, about 60 million cans a year, so hopefully this trend will catch on in France.
Another example of French heritage and tradition has also been promoted; windmills and dovecots. Around 1,500 events were organised at traditional windmills and dovecots up and down
the country and you can see more detail of what happened on the website for the event.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch here in Ireland, another developing trend is what is beginning to look
like a property bubble mark two. The collapse of the first one, around five years ago, was the main cause of the great Irish economic collapse and it seems that the powers-that-be have learned little from the first fiasco. They don’t even appear to notice the building up of a strong boom in residential property in Dublin, with all its fatal consequences if it’s uncontrolled. Property is one of the strange obsessions of so many people in Ireland; the only other European country with a similar addiction is Spain, where a similar collapse of the bubble also left that economy in ruins.
So what can you
do,except send for another can of AOC wine and drown one’s sorrows!