The timeless beauty of the Charente Islands

The four islands of Charente, known for their mild climate and “sandy botany”, are located near the Atlantic coast of France. “Ridiculously beautiful” port towns, stunning oyster beds and salt marshes have long attracted holidaymakers, says Antonia Quirke at Condé Nast Traveller.

But although they have been “teeming with life” since the start of summer, they maintain a “robust calm” and “impeccably civilized” appearance. The most famous is the Ile de Ré – the second largest, at 33 square miles, and the most luxurious, beloved by wealthy Parisians and so “utterly Gallic” that it seems as if it had been “set up by decorators.” Oleron – the largest, at 67 square miles – is livelier and “less bourgeois”, but it is also “full of fresh air” and “good cheer”, as are Aix and Madame, which are tiny in comparison.