Vendée Food - A Salad To Savour

French salads and Vendée salads in particular is a subject I could write about all day long ... varied, colourful, delicious, refreshing and never boring!

Simple green salad is a delight, as mentioned in my last Vendée blog post but there are times when only a speciality salad will do.

This Vendée ham and cheese salad was served to us one lunchtime when we were in La Tranche-sur-Mer where there are some of the finest Vendée beaches. The restaurant became a favourite of ours on that trip - called La Phare Ouest it has a great menu and incredibly pleasant and polite staff. The owner is always there and greets his customers with a warm smile, engaging in a little conversation to make you feel at home. A super place that I can heartily recommend.

Here is what was a veritable mountain of salad with plenty of Vendée ham. The cheese had a strong aroma all its own (!) but the taste made it worth tolerating :)

If you have never visited the Vendee coast, it's worth reading our Vendée sports page where we cover kitesurfing, surfing, sand yachting and birdwatching to name but of few popular Vendée sports. We will come back to sports and leisure in the Vendée at a later date.

Vendée Food - Sensational Salads

If you enjoy salads then you will love the salads they serve in the Vendée.

From a simple green salad to speciality salads, every one is delicious. There is something about the way the salad is presented and the dressing they use. A secret French recipe if ever there was one!

Here is a simple green salad we were served in a lovely seaside restaurant in La Tranche-sur-Mer on the Vendée coast. The Vendée beaches nearby are some of the best on the Atlantic coast, popular with families and surfers alike ... but more of that another day!

Vendée Food - Vendée Ham Crêpe & Simple Salad

We had just collected my mother from La Rochelle airport and were all very hungry. So we hopped in the car and drove across the wonderful bridge to the island of Île de Ré in search of a good restaurant. The island has figured significantly in Vendée history and is well worth reading up on before you go there.

It was early afternoon, warm and sunny and we althought we don't normally eat a large lunch, when reached Saint-Martin-de-Ré we couldn't resist the crêpes on the menu at one of the wonderful harbour-side restaurants.

This Vendée ham and egg crêpe was served with a delicious side salad - what the waiter said was a simple salad ... but look at it! The customer glass of water was the perfect accompaniment. Vendée food at its simplest and best!

Vendée Food - Crêpe Canard On Ile-De-Ré

This was a delicious crêpe served with slices of duck, onions and mushrooms which my mother enjoyed on the Ile-De-Ré in the Vendée.

Look closely at the picture below and you'll see just how succulent the meat was!

Read more about Vendée food

Vendée Food - A Continuing Saga!

Vendée food is without doubt some of the best food I've ever tasted! So you will excuse me for writing a lot about it in this Vendée blog. The last post featured a delicious goats cheese salad which we enjoyed at a small hotel restaurant in Neuil-sur-l'Autise near Fontenay-le-Comte.

Today's photograph features goats cheese yet again ... but this time in a crepe which I ate personally at a super little harbour-front cafe in Saint-Martin-de-Ré on the beautiful Île de Ré.

It may not look appetizing but if you look closely you will just ssee the hidden secret peeping out from underneath the crêpe ... a pile of goats cheese with salad and a delicious dressing!

Vendée Food - Goats Cheese Salad

Vendée food and wine is something I could write about all day long! No surprise then to find that the next few blog posts are going to be dedicated to the subject.

Here is a photograph of something that the French do better than anyone else in my experience - goats cheese salad.

Vendée Food - French Bread

French food is amongst the best in the world, there's no doubt. Even the basics of bread and cheese are made with great pride by the French. Vendée food and wine is no exception.

When we visit the Vendée we are always pleasantly surprised at the quality of food basics - even to the point of taking photographs of them!

Here is a photograph of some french bread sticks (baguettes) on sale in a boulangerie on the Ile de Ré.

Anyone For Squash?

"Calebasses" was the word, hand-written on the piece of natural stone. I didn't know what it meant but when I loooked beyond to what it was describing it was obviously something akin to squash. When I got home and Google'd it the translation came up as calabash. I'd never heard of it before but, assuming it tastes similar to what I know as a definitive squash, then it probably makes for a good ingredient in vegetarian dishes or soup recipes. I wondered why it might be in a Vendée garden but after a little research found it is popular in African countries including Mauritius where, of course, there is a strong French connection. I even found a French blog with a recipe for calabash and cabbage gratin - "Gratin de calebasse et de chouchou". I already knew that this part of France had some stunning cuisine but finding something I'd never heard of before was more than I had expected!

Water Feature & Well In A Vendée Garden

Apart from the humming bees that caught my eye in the wonderful medieval garden mentioned in previous posts, there were lots of unusual plants, flowers and herbs which offered a 'riot' of colours and smells. Walking amongst them, I absorbed the delicious aroma but then my eyes were drawn to two pieces of stonework. One was a water feature set against a side wall under a canopy of vines. The other was a stone well cited towards the back of the garden and which you could see whilst standing under the shade of the vine canopy. They both complimented the garden beautifully and added enormously to its character.

Flowers & Bees In A Vendée Garden

One of the things I enjoy about writing a Vendée blog is to be able to share photographs of places in the Vendée. Somehow words are not enough to convey the essence and atmosphere of a place. The medieval garden mentioned in my last blog post is a VERY special place. Here is a photograph of flowers in the garden that were positively 'humming' with bees!

Medieval gardens are a fascinating subject. Follow the link to learn more!

Vendée Medieval Garden

One of the highlights of our visit to the Bazoges-en-Pareds donjon was sitting in the medieval garden which is adjacent to the donjon.

We were fortunate in that it was near the end of the tourist season, with only a few people around. The sun was shining and as we sat under a canopy of vines by a water fountain, the only sounds we could hear were those of the trickling water and the hum of bees as they busied themselves amonst the still flowering herbs and plants.

The glorious colours and smells of that place in that moment of time, along with the sense of tranquility that pervaded the garden, will stay with me for a long, long time. A truly beautiful place, well tended and much loved .... a place I can highly recommend.

In my next Vendée blog posts I intend to share with you more of the photographs taken.

Donjon and Medieval Garden in the Vendée

One of the things about the Vendée is its wonderful history. There are medieval castles, churches, priories and cathedrals at what seems like every turn. The architecture of some of these buildings is still remarkably intact and well worth a closer inspection.

We heard about a medieval castle in Bazoges-en-Pareds and when we arrived we were not disappointed. The magnificent donjon is still there, towering above the village. With the interior renovated it is open to the public during certain times of year and you can go inside. Climbing the old, medieval stone steps to the top is a thrill and the view once you get there is nothing short of breathtaking.

Down below we watched a gardener tending the herbs in the medieval garden and decided that would be our next port of call ... but that's a story for another day!

Here is a video clip of the donjon which I filmed.

Vendée Ice Cream - Crêpe Avec Glace Vanille

I have a passion for ice cream and wherever I go, I try to eat some locally made ice cream. I never cease to be amazed at how popular ice cream is, irrespective of where I go. The Vendée proved no exception - ice cream is really popular here!

I took many photographs of ice cream in the Vendée - from ice cream cones to ice cream sundaes to ice cream parlours and I plan to share these with you throughout this Vendée blog.

Today's photographs were taken at a pavement café in La Tranche-Sur-Mer. It was late afternoon and my family and I were in need of a drink. When we saw the big ice cream display cone on the pavement and then read the menu with a long list of crêpes with different combinations of fruit, sauce and ice cream .... well, we couldn't resist!

In the Vendée, you will find many cafés have ice cream on the menu. Crêpes are really popular because they offer a wonderful combination of taste and texture when served with fresh ice cream, fruit and sauce. What's more, you can vary the ice cream flavour, vary the fruit and even vary the sauce so the number of combinations is almost endless.

The most popular ice cream flavour I saw being served with crêpes was vanilla - glace vanille. Here is a photograph of a delicious

"crêpe avec sauce chocolat, glace vanille et chantilly"

which my son enjoyed at the aforementioned café in La Tranche-Sur-Mer.

I also found ice cream cakes being sold in patisseries and there were some excellent ice cream parlours in several Vendée towns and cities we visited ... but more of that another day!

The Vendée - A Blog

Vendée - A word that many people have never have heard of
Vendée - A place that many people have never visited
Vendée - An area with a colourful and unique history

I had never been to the Vendée until recently ... and I can't wait to go back. It is a special place. The relaxed pace of life and the friendliness of its people make you quickly feel at home and its unique and colourful history is intoxicating. From Eleanor of Aquitaine and her husband Henry II to their son Richard The Lionheart - they all left their mark here.

The Vendée merits a blog of its own and, using the photographs I took and videos I filmed whilst there, I hope to be able to share with you some of the spirit of this much under-rated and little known part of France.