The timeless beauty of the Charente Islands

Known for its mild climate and “sand plants,” the four islands of Charente are located just off France’s Atlantic coast. Condé Nast Traveler’s Antonia Quirke said the country had long attracted holidaymakers with its “absolutely beautiful” port town, stunning oyster beds and salt marshes.

However, even though it has been “buzzing with life” since early summer, it has maintained an “enduring tranquility” and a “perfectly civilized” atmosphere. The best known is the Île de Ré, the second largest at 33 square miles and the smartest island, favored by wealthy Parisians, so “thoroughly Gallic” and “as if staged by props.” Oleron, the largest at 67 square miles, is busier and “less bourgeois,” but like the smaller Aix and Madame, it is “full of fresh air” and has an “energetic atmosphere.”