Les-Sables-d'Olonne marina

Les Sables-d’Olonne – Introduction

Les Sables-d’Olonne is a seaside town with a healthy tourist industry, but they are far more known for being the start/finish point of the grueling solo round-the-world sail race with no stops; the Vendee Globe. The race is held every 4 years.

The city with its 45,000 inhabitants is divided into two areas, the old and low build city and the more high rise and modern beach front. The city itself was founded in the year 1218.

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Modern high rises on the beach front of Les Sables-d'OlonneModern high rises on the beach front of Les Sables-d’Olonne
Restaurants alongside the modern high rises on the beach front of Les Sables-d'OlonneRestaurants alongside the modern high rises on the beach front of Les Sables-d’Olonne
Beach the modern high rises on the beach front of Les Sables-d'OlonneBeach the modern high rises on the beach front of Les Sables-d’Olonne
High rises on the beach front of Les Sables-d'OlonneHigh rises on the beach front of Les Sables-d’Olonne

The sea plays a very important part of the city. Signs are everywhere that you are in a large port city:

Small lighthouse alongside the harbour waterways at Les Sables-d'Olonne
Small lighthouse alongside the harbour waterways at Les Sables-d’Olonne

The Buildings

We’ll not be looking at the high rise part but more the older part of the city. The houses are all low buildings, one or two floors, many of them with restaurants or small hotels.

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Houses and restaurants at Les Sables-d'OlonneHouses and restaurants at Les Sables-d’Olonne
Shops and restaurants at Les Sables-d'OlonneShops and restaurants at Les Sables-d’Olonne
Restaurants at Les Sables-d'OlonneRestaurants at Les Sables-d’Olonne
Community hall and restaurant at Les Sables-d'OlonneCommunity hall and restaurant at Les Sables-d’Olonne
Community hall at Les Sables-d'OlonneCommunity hall at Les Sables-d’Olonne

The biggest and most visible building in the older area is the castle:

The chateau (castle) Saint-Clair at Les Sables-d'Olonne
The chateau (castle) Saint-Clair at Les Sables-d’Olonne

Click here to read more about the Castle Saint-Clair

Saint Nicolas church

Quite close to this castle/fort, there’s a church (there would be of course). The church is called the Saint Nicolas church (Eglise Saint Nicolas) and the church is dedicated to the fishermen.

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The Eglise Saint Nicolas church in Les Sables-d'OlonneThe Eglise Saint Nicolas church in Les Sables-d’Olonne
Close up of the Eglise Saint Nicolas church in Les Sables-d'OlonneClose up of the Eglise Saint Nicolas church in Les Sables-d’Olonne
The steeple of the Eglise Saint Nicolas church in Les Sables-d'OlonneThe steeple of the Eglise Saint Nicolas church in Les Sables-d’Olonne

Mural Paintings

But it’s not the church that caught our attention. It’s the square the church is on. There, you will find several very well done mural decorations, some quite difficult to distinguish from reality. They reminded us of the many mural decorations in Lyon (click here to see the Lyon ones). Just look at the first photo above, you’ll be able to see the paintings on the right.

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Mural paintings on Les Sables-d'OlonneMural paintings on Les Sables-d’Olonne
Mural paintings on Les Sables-d'Olonne next to the saint Nicolas churchMural paintings on Les Sables-d’Olonne next to the saint Nicolas church
Cute mural paintings on Les Sables-d'OlonneCute mural paintings on Les Sables-d’Olonne

Streets

The streets in the older part of the city are very, very narrow!!! Alongside the water they are fine, but if you need to go to a hotel one or two streets up, you’ll need to have a very small car to be able to do it:

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Narrow streets at Les Sables-d'OlonneNarrow streets at Les Sables-d’Olonne
Very narrow streets at Les Sables-d'OlonneVery narrow streets at Les Sables-d’Olonne
Very, very, very narrow streets at Les Sables-d'OlonneVery, very, very narrow streets at Les Sables-d’Olonne

Les Sables-d’Olonne are dominated by water (outside the city you’ll find massive marshes that can be hiked).

There are three main harbours in the city;

  1. Fishing harbour

    Fishing boat
    .
  2. Industrial harbour (shipbuilding etc)

    Shipbuilding industry in Les Sable-d'Olonne
    .
  3. A massive pleasure boat harbour (where the Vendee Globe sails from)

    Very big pleasure boat marina in Les Sable-d'Olonne
    .

But do watch it, they take unwanted visitors very serious…

Gun deck on the Moroccan patrol vessel
Gun deck on the Moroccan patrol vessel

… sorry, just joking… this is a Moroccan patrol vessels on a port call. They were just cleaning the guns.

To make it easier and faster to go between sections of the large harbours, they have a regular boat shuttle service, a bus boat/ferry:

Nice place to wait for the ferry shuttle
Nice place to wait for the ferry shuttle

At the Water Edge

When you travel towards the edge of the water, at the harbours entry, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Harbour entry waterway at Les-Sables-d'Olonne
Harbour entry waterway at Les-Sables-d’Olonne

Once at the end, you’ll find a very long pier…

Long pier bringing you to one of the Les-Sables-d'Olonne ligthouses
Long pier bringing you to one of the Les-Sables-d’Olonne ligthouses

The Harbour Lighthouses

… at the end of the pier, you’ll find two lighthouses….. the left one at the harbour entrance

Left lighthouse at Les-Sables-d'Olonne
Left lighthouse at Les-Sables-d’Olonne

…. and the right one…

Lighthouse on the right at Les-Sables-d'Olonne
Lighthouse on the right at Les-Sables-d’Olonne

There is also a long seawall from the right most lighthouse to the land.

Seawall at Les-Sables-d'Olonne
Seawall at Les-Sables-d’Olonne

As you may notice from the above photo, the smallest bit of wind will whip up the waves onto the seawall, and not only there….

Waves hitting the lighthouse at Les-Sables-d'Olonne
Waves hitting the lighthouse at Les-Sables-d’Olonne

….. the waves often hit the lighthouse, even when there’s no storm. You’ll find plenty of signs around the lighthouse warning you about rogue waves hitting the area, and you’ll see that it’s almost always wet there.

Massive waves hitting the lighthouse at Les-Sables-d'Olonne
Massive waves hitting the lighthouse at Les-Sables-d’Olonne

WARNING: I can not warn you enough about these waves, since it caught me by surprise. A windless and sunny day, I ventured to the edge, and was nearly thrown into the sea by one of these waves. My cameras was pretty much ruined, as were my car keys.

Saint-Nicolas Priory

Built close to the seawall and lighthouse, you’ll find the Saint-Nicolas Priory:

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The Saint-Nicolas Priory at Les-Sables-d'OlonneThe Saint-Nicolas Priory at Les-Sables-d’Olonne
The Saint-Nicolas Priory at Les-Sables-d'Olonne seen from the lighthouseThe Saint-Nicolas Priory at Les-Sables-d’Olonne seen from the lighthouse
Part of the fortified wall of The Saint-Nicolas Priory at Les-Sables-d'OlonnePart of the fortified wall of The Saint-Nicolas Priory at Les-Sables-d’Olonne
Main building of the Saint-Nicolas Priory at Les-Sables-d'OlonneMain building of the Saint-Nicolas Priory at Les-Sables-d’Olonne
Rear part of the main building of the Saint-Nicolas Priory at Les-Sables-d'OlonneRear part of the main building of the Saint-Nicolas Priory at Les-Sables-d’Olonne

The priory was built in the 11th century, and after being pillaged several times over the centuries, in the 18th century it became part of a fortress.

On the property you will find 7 18th century cannons.

The place is open all year and can be visited.

Conclusion

Les Sables-d’Olonne is a nice place to visit even if you are not into sailing. There are several castles and other monuments to see, the lighthouses are pretty and photogenic and the older part of the city deserves a walkaround.

Outside of the city you will find the “wild” marshes, dunes and beaches.

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