Vendee: is still too early to criticize. However, in our beautiful country, grumbling often contributes to help one’s cause. That’s why, without being hostile to our president, I raise a preventive protest.  Just in case the response of the French government to Xynthia would look like that of George Bush to Katrina, i.e. shockingly insufficient.

In fact, I was also a little worried during the first reaction of the president, which reassured the stricken departments by promising a help for the gargantuan sum of 8 million Euros. So, what they are going to do with 8 millions Euros? Repair thirty houses? Distribute 800 000 ladles to the inhabitants of the stricken coast for the next storm? Buy them 80 000 pumps? I was puzzled! Fortunately, lately they quoted figures that are a little more relevant .

Other trick which puzzles me: we do not speak any more about the global warming. The theories of 11 scientists out of 10, which feared a rise of the level of the oceans, as well as an outbreak of storms, seem forgotten. All right, the monomaniac obsession of our media brings them to stuff us with one nightmare at the time: H1N1 flu, bird flu, financial crisis, etc. All right, companies and governments do not have money anymore to invest in renewable energies, and prefer to rush into the dead end of 200 $ per barrel oil. Nevertheless, I would have liked some clarifications on the causes of the increase in number and in intensity of storms. Is the climate change there for anything? Because, if that’s the case, it is advisable to invest in the hinterland of Vendee. Before some decades, we shall have a house with a view of the sea, and its value will have doubled. The same for our gites and bed & breakfast.

Question : What is the funniest situation that you have ever managed to live?

The answers of hosts:

- First year, some Belgians, 1 couple and 3 children came on holidays in Vendée one week before reserved period (signed Contract, and paid stay). We thus welcomed them as a matter of urgency at the request of a

tourist information office of the North Vendee.

- An "illegitimate" couple in top secret which informed us about their situation. 

- The intervention of my tamed ferret in the room of a couple. I found madam stamping on the bed while Zippo looked at her(it) completely startled.

- A bizarre couple by the way they live and think. Among others, they did not travel in boats in the swamp from Poitou because they did not want to be remarked.They left for La Rochelle to visit the city but they couldn’t find a place to park their car: they returned to their cottage without having visited La Rochelle. It was a couple in their fifties without handicap.

- Not seeing any car anymore on the parking lot I entered a room one morning to do the housework there and I found an attractive naked woman, siting on the ground painting her nails. The surprise was mutual!

- A couple of childhood friends, who meet accidentally in our holiday cottages at the end of at least 20 years of separation (one staying in the Paris region, the other in the South).

- We meet all around the barbecue.

- I had forgotten to attach 2 twin beds to make only one measuring 180 cms, and they fell on the floor.

- Not accepting animals, I did not expect one morning to find an attractive kitten  in the bed of a girl who had left for walk with her parents …

- A girl locked herself into our toilets to stay in our holiday cottage.

- Vacationer who demands sheets the last day, while the bed was ready.

- A midnight swim of a customer, the noise of the water of the swimming pool having woken me up, I was persuaded that it was an intruder, and I turned on the big lightings of the garden!!!

The continuation in the next ticket! 

The Melusine pass card assures a particularly warm and privileged welcome at numerous tourist partners members’. Concretely, it allows to enjoy reductions which sometimes exceed 10 % on numerous local products, leisure, restoration  and accommodation activities. It demonstrates, once more, that, even if free market needs a certain amount of competition, unity results in strength, and the collaboration between people working in the tourist industry deploys win-win synergies, for themselves and for their customers.

Our praise to all those who dare to go beyond a certain individualism, to bet on the strength of synergy and cooperation between professionals. We are not there still there, but, in the long term, the association could indeed become, through a closer and closer collaboration between his members, a kind of tourist village spreading througout our beautiful swamp in Sude Vendee. See Welcome  Vendee for more information.

A magnificent tourist zone in Vendée, strewed with charming bed and breakfast, would be the first one to be submerged should  the level of the ocean climb because of the looming arctic glaciers melt down.

The swamp of Marais Poitevin, a coastal zone of Vendee, Deux-Sèvres and Charente-Maritime, is a space which was given up by a withdrawing ocean about five centuries ago. In fact, it was the monks of five abbeys of the region who began the work of draining the water from the swamp, building dams and channels. This titanic job continued until the 80s.

Wet swamps, which is the most oriental part, is qualified as green Venice, and  cover for their part a surface of about 17 000 square miles, whereas swamps qualified as intermediaries (imperfectly dried out) represent approximately 11 000 square miles. The height of this swampy zone is at an intermediate level between that of high waters and low waters. With my GPS, I find heights going from less two yards to 10 yards.

My conclusion : the debate of Copenhagen on the rise of the level of the oceans gives me the shivers.

I went buying groceries by bike in Marseille. It was so warm that eggs hatched and I found chicks in my rucksack.

My apricot tree had carried some fruits, but they were jammed because the heat wave had cooked them.

Ban Ki Moon made a follow-up visit to the arctic glaciers . He got wet up to knees. I went to buy myself a kebab; the sweat of Aziz flowed faster than the fat of the meat.

The frequency of the advertisements of the government in favour of the good old water to be drunk (a barrel a day) exceeds by far that of Coca-cola ads.

I wanted to make some snorkeling. I left my mask and my palms in the car parked in the sun, and when I went to look for them, they had become cheese cakes.

Story of common madness on the Mediterranean coast any summer.
 

 The mining village of Faymoreau, at the northern border of the poitevin marsh, is the witness of the life of a small community of minors. What fascinates me in this resort, it is that it enables us to plunge ourselves into history to understand the life, work, joys, sufferings, in short, the daily life of these people. The well maintained mining cottages, the rebuilding of the mine with video support, the working tools, video of miners and their wives, are an effective means of discovering a page of the modern history.

You’ll be astonished by the sobriety and simplicity of these workers, who hint at a certain fraternity. It is learned there, for example, that several groups of nationals of other European countries lived in harmony in the village: Germans, Russians, Italians, etc . At the end, I felt gratitude towards these workers: without their daily sacrifice to extract coal, we wouldn’t have computers and wind turbines today.

There is an artistic beauty, too: the small chapel decorated since 2001 with nineteen stained glasses, carried out by the contemporary artist Carmelo Zagari, son of a miner. The whole of the canopies constitutes a single table which can be read as a large book of images. Exceptional work which mixes portraits of the miners, colors and spirituality, in homage to these brave men and to the danger of their lives, in the entrails of the ground.

A thing which I like about the Vendee, is its multi-centric  structure, from the socio-economic point of view, but also from that of tourism and town planning. In fact, in any other department of France, there are always great urban centres, featuring  important industrial or tertiary sector concentrations, and the remainder of the department turns d’ around them. Sometimes, the towns which surround these great economic centers are simple satellites, if not dormitory.

In the Vendee, it’s very different. In the XIX century, the age of the construction of the great road and railway networks, during all the industrial revolution, the Vendee was left behind by the central power of Paris. It had undergone the defeat of the wars of the Vendee, and no great industrial group wanted to build its factories there. Consequently, thanks to the progressive thriving of the family owned small businesses, each town developed its economic activities. It’s the recipe of its charm: there almost no slums, nor neighbourhood  which don’t have an autonomous economic activity. The same applies to tourism. The recreation parks, the museums, cultural or tourist attractions strew the territory. One cannot drive 20 km without stumbling upon something to see or to enjoy. Bed and breakfast are thus connected by a very thick network of cycle tracks. That resembles a little Polynesia: each corner is like a small island, with its personality, its assets and its autonomy, except that, instead of the sea, the " islands of Vendee" are surrounded by the countryside. And the ocean? Well, it’s never too far!

Comparing the Atlantic with the Mediterranean is a little like comparing a lily with a pink, a raspberry with a bilberry. There is no best one, only two different beauties. Personally, I do not know whether I prefer the Atlantic or the Mediterranean sea for my holidays. Considering I live in the Vendee, I’m enticed to find comparative data.

Economically: the Atlantic seems less expensive to me. Thanks to a less dense resident and tourist population, one spends less there, for housing, parking easily found, restaurants, leisure in general. All seems to be a little cheaper there. The relationship with the other tourists: if you look for quiet, pick the Atlantic. On the other hand, if one likes to tie occasional friendships on the beach or at the bar, the Mediterranean is probably better, because distances are reduced there. Landscapes and architecture. Ah the soft and picturesque harmony of Provence, with its olive-trees, its vineyards, its houses with their learnedly colored frontages.Once again, it all depends on you: do you like posing your glance in a soft contemplation, or do you prefer  walk in or biking  in  wide open spaces, less picturesque but with an undeniable charm? Sport. Do you prefer quietly swimming in a tepid sea, or practicing the sports of the wind, windsurf,  sailing and so on? in this case, the Atlantic is a must. Seafood. Less expensive, more varied, often fresher, the Atlantic seafood seems unbeatable. Cultural experiences. Do you prefer art, a field where the Mediterranean coast is surely richer, or  do you like theme parks such as the Puy-du-Fou or Futuroscope, to name only two Atlantic stalwarts? The ocean also seems to prevail as for zoological gardens and aquariums, I just quote Royan and La Rochelle. Climate. Do you like to roast yourselves on the beach, defying any medical recommendation? or do you prefer  a bright but moderate sunshine, with a brisk,  refreshing breeze? Changing may be the best strategy. Are you addicted to the Atlantic? test Provence once. Are you a fan of the Mediterranean? We await you in Vendee. Luca Tamburelli

What’s the world most visited country? The one drawing the most tourists?

France, with about 78 millions tourists in 2007. The USA are following with less than 50 millions. Let’s first analyze the reasons of this success, then we’ll see how we can make it last.

The popularity of France abroad: although it can be improved as far as industrial products are concerned, it’s outstanding for everything regarding fashion, eating, culture. Just think about champagne.

Prices: you can find all kinds of accommodations, from cheap campings to luxury hotels, but to also bed-and-breakfast featuring various prices and charm.

Quality of life in France: rich and tasty food, mild climate, numerous possibilities to practice any kind of sports.

The landscape: beautiful, relaxing, charming… Are there enough adjectives to describe it?

Culture, museums, technology: Paris can be considered one of the most culturally advanced cities in the world.

Communications: internet is very advanced in France. Public transports are very efficient.

I could be accused of being nationalist if I weren’t … Italian!

Anyway, it’s our responsibility to get the most out of this godsend, that’s also the outcome of the work of generations of Frenchmen. Especially now, with a new generation of tourists eager to visit France: Russians and Eastern Europeans.

Luca Tamburelli

I remember being a vacation junkie, once upon a time. Here are the 10 specimen I belonged to.

May be now I’m just older, or I got wiser thanks to faith, and my family. But I sure was crazy for vacations, always trying to find true happiness during the summer. Here is the short list:

The fisherman. Spending hours on a shelf, trying to catch any animal living in the sea. Filling the refrigerator with live worms, getting badly burnt by the sun for the sake of few micro fish.

The scuba diver. Same thing, except for the numerous useless fishing guns and tools, that made me look like an alien and made mothers panic for their children when I emerged from the sea

The lonely sailor. I remember being taken away by the stream on my small rowing boat, with my mother barely succeeding in rescuing me.

The wild guest. I had to join my friends at the seaside, all owning a second residence there, at all costs. I would sleep all over the place. I remember spending some nights in a garage.

The crazy flirter. I remember spending a whole summer without going a single day to the beach. I would just sleep all day long, recovering from nights spent at the disco, hunting girls for the sake of doing it. Quite a nonsense, as it never lead to reciprocal love.

The wheeling maniac. I would spend hours wheeling on anything with two wheels. Fortunately, I never owned a powerful motorbike, or else I could have hurt myself and others.

The hot off the grill sun burger. Always baking in the sun, oily and greasy like a marinated bbq steak.

The long distance swimmer. I just couldn’t resist reaching any small island, shelf or platform not too far from the coast, scaring my poor mother to death. Once, I remember racing to an island with a mate. When I got there, I was so exhausted, I had two sleep two hours before painfully swimming back.

The adventure traveler. Flying to the U.S.A. with no money, desperately looking for summer jobs.

If your our any member of your family present any of the listed symptoms, bed and breakfast, with their warm hospitality and quiet charm, could just be the right therapy, or just… the wrong place to go!

Luca Tamburelli