Les Petites Maisons dans la Prairie

This peaceful part of France is within easy day trip distance of the Vendée coast, its beaches and its watersports, as well as island options like Noirmoutier and the Île d'Yeu. It's excellent biking land too, as the Vendée's 1,100+ kilometres of biking trails over 66 routes is the most extensive in France. Track down a copy of the Sentiers Cyclables de la Vendée cycle paths leaflet and maps to find where best to pedal nearby, such as the scenic local option between the ports of Saint-Jean-de-Monts and Saint Gilles Croix de Vie. Both towns deserve some leisurely hours at them after the cycling: Saint-Jean-de-Monts for its eight-kilometre beach, boat trips, fishing and the freshest of local produce at its Saturday market, and Saint Gilles Croix de Vie for its fresh sardines (thoroughly famed in these parts), the Maison du Pêcheur museum, and vintage tinned sardines millésimées to bring home as handsome souvenirs. From Saint-Jean-de-Monts, sail out to the Île d'Yeu for more peaceful and beaut bike paths; from Beauvoir-sur-Mer, it's a four and a half kilometre walk along the paved sandbank of the Passage du Gois to reach Noirmoutier, to see its 12th-century castle and ninth-century Château de Noirmoutier. (And did you know that Noirmoutier has the most expensive spuds in all the world? Tis true: La Bonnotte potatoes are harvested on the island by hand, yield only about 100 tons per year, and can cost up to 400 or so British quid for one teeny kilo.)