Camping and mobile home holidays in the Charente-Maritime, western France.
Charente- Maritime is located, as far as it goes for camping and mobile home holiday purposes, just below the Vendee on the western coast, and just above the vast Aquitaine region. Charente is easily accessible from the northern ports of St Malo, Cherbourg and Caen.
Most of the holiday resorts in the region are on the coast, and the most popular are La Rochelle, Royan, Saintes, St Jean d'Angely, Rochefort, Île d'Aix, Île de Ré and Île d'Oléron. The area around Royan is busy in the holiday season and attracts a great many people for camping holidays, as does the nearby Île de Ré.
Be careful with the Île de Ré if you are just a visitor because there is a toll between it and the mainland which is hideously expensive, probably to reduce the numbers of people who go to the island for “cheap holidays” as this is the preserve of the wealthy French who have second homes there
The climate is mild and sunny, with less than 900 mm of precipitation per year. Average temperatures vary from 20 °C (68 °F) in summer. During the summer months, families flock from all over Europe to bask in the sun and enjoy the local seafood.
The economy of Charente-Maritime is based on tourism, maritime industry, and manufacturing with Cognac and Pineau being two of the major agricultural products.
Charente-Maritime is the headquarters of the major oyster producer Marennes-Oléron which ships Oysters cultivated here all over Europe.
Rochefort is the site of shipbulding and a French naval base. Rochefort dates from the seventeenth century, when it was created by Colbert, Louis XIII's navy minister, to protect the coast from English raids. It remained an important naval base until modern times with its shipyards, sail-makers, munitions factories and hospital. Nowadays the Brits only invade as tourists!
La Rochelle is a seat of major French industry. Just outside the city is a factory for the French engineering giant Alstom, where the TGV, the cars for the Paris and other metros are manufactured. It is a popular venue for tourism, with its picturesque medieval harbour and city walls.
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