Fromentine

The Noirmoutier Bridge (French: Pont de Noirmoutier) is a bridge located on the west coast of France in the department of Vendée, built in the early 1970s to connect the island of Noirmoutier to the mainland. Before it opened, a maritime shuttle service ran between the La Fosse pier on the island and Fromentine pier on the mainland.

The Strait of Fromentine (French: Détroit de Fromentine or Goulet de Fromentine) is the maritime passage that separates the island of Noirmoutier from the mainland, connecting the south of the Bay of Bourgneuf (or "Bay of Brittany") to the north of the Bay of Biscay. Its maximum width is approximately 450 meters between the “tip of the Fosse” (commune of Barbâtre, at the southern end of Noirmoutier) and the Pays-de-Monts National Forest. It has a maximum depth of 18 m. Given its narrowness, it is subject to strong tidal currents, which typically reach 1.5 metres per second (2.9 kn) at the surface. It owes its name to the town of Fromentine, a port suburb of the municipality of La Barre-de-Monts, located on the continent in its eastern part. In 1704, a map by engineer Claude Masse referred to it as the Rade de Fromentine ("Formantine harbour") . Since July 1971, the Noirmoutier Bridge has been used to cross the strait.

La Barre-de-Monts (French pronunciation: [la baʁ də mɔ̃]) is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.

The Passage du Gois (French pronunciation: [pasaʒ dy ɡwa]) or Gôa is a causeway between Beauvoir-sur-Mer and the island of Noirmoutier, in Vendée, on the Atlantic coast of France. It is 4.125 kilometres (2.6 mi) long and floods twice a day during high tide. A road runs along the causeway. Every year, a foot race—the Foulées du Gois—is held across it, starting at the onset of low tide, though professional athletes hold off until the water is as high as their shoes.

Barbâtre (French pronunciation: [baʁbatʁ]) is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.

The 1799 Vendée earthquake (French: Séisme de 1799 dans le Marais breton-vendéen) or Bouin earthquake was a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck the Vendée area of western France on 25 January 1799 (6 Pluviôse of year VII in the French Republican calendar) with aftershocks on the following days. Its epicenter was located at a depth of 24 km in the Bay of Bourgneuf at the level of the island of Bouin. Shocks of intensity VII–VIII were felt throughout the west of France.

The Marais breton (French pronunciation: [maʁɛ bʁətɔ̃], "Breton Marsh"; or Marais breton-vendéen) is a zone géographique humide (humid geographic zone) along France's Atlantic coast. It marks the border between two traditional French provinces, Brittany and Poitou, and extends between two French departments, Loire-Atlantique and Vendée, both of which included in the administrative region of Pays de la Loire. The Marais breton is protected by levees and dunes, stabilized by the pines of the forest of Pays de Monts. Some areas, such as Bouin are below sea level and were once subject to storm surges. A valve system blocking salt water from entering portions of the marsh was also developed to accommodate the marsh waters to agriculture.

Beauvoir-sur-Mer (French pronunciation: [bovwaʁ syʁ mɛʁ], literally Beauvoir on Sea) is a commune in the Vendée department in the administrative region of the Pays de la Loire, France.

Noirmoutier (also French: Île de Noirmoutier, pronounced [nwaʁmutje]; Breton: Nervouster, Nermouster) is a tidal island off the Atlantic coast of France in the Vendée department (85).

The First Battle of Noirmoutier took place on 12 October 1793 as part of the war in the Vendée. The Vendéens under François de Charette were victorious over the republican troops stationed there.

La Guérinière (French pronunciation: [la ɡeʁinjɛʁ]) is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It lies on the island of Noirmoutier. The town is protected from winter winds on the ocean side by a cordon of dunes.

The Bay of Bourgneuf (French: Baie de Bourgneuf, French pronunciation: [bɛ də buʁnœf]) is a bay situated on the French Atlantic coast, at the border of the Loire-Atlantique and Vendée departments. In the Middle Ages the bay was known as the baie de Bretagne or baye de Bretagne (Bay of Brittany or Brittany Bay).The bay of Bourgneuf is a vast maritime arc on the French Atlantic coast running from the Pointe Saint-Gildas (south of the Loire estuary) to Beauvoir-sur-Mer and is enclosed by the island of Noirmoutier up to the île du Pilier. It thus includes the south coast of the Pays de Retz, the shore of the Marais breton ('Breton Marshes') and the east coast of Noirmoutier, the latter being connected to the mainland by the notable Passage du Gois and, to the south, the bay connects to the north of the Bay of Biscay by the Strait of Fromentine, crossed by the Noirmoutier Bridge since 1971. Until the Middle Ages the bay extended over a far greater area. Its shores reached the ports of Machecoul and Challans and was dotted with several islands, notably the Isle of Bouin. Silting of the bed of the bay followed by the creation of the polders and salt pans of the Marais Breton and Noirmoutier, significantly reducing the bay's area.