Noirmoutier-en-l'Île

The Château de Noirmoutier is a castle on the Île de Noirmoutier in the Vendée département of France. It dominates the town of Noirmoutier-en-l'Île with its almost 20-metre-high (66 ft) keep. The castle is very well preserved and a fine example of 12th-century medieval architecture.

L'Épine (French pronunciation: [lepin]) is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It lies on the island of Noirmoutier.

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 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.

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).

Préfailles (French pronunciation: [pʁefaj] ; Breton: Pradvael) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.

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.

La Plaine-sur-Mer (French pronunciation: [la plɛn syʁ mɛʁ] ; Breton: Plaen-Raez) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.

Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer (Breton: Lokmaria-Pornizh) is a former commune in the Pays de Retz, situated in the Loire-Atlantique département and in the French région of Pays de la Loire. From 1973, it was absorbed by the neighbouring commune of Pornic and from 1 July 2007 it became a subdivision of this commune. The commune forms a part of Brittany, in the traditional county of Retz and in the historical Pays Nantais. The inhabitants of Sainte-Marie are known as the Sanmaritains and Sanmaritaines.

The Château de Pornic is a restored castle in the commune of Pornic in the Loire-Atlantique département of France, 50 km from Nantes. It is also known as the "Château de Barbe Bleue" (Bluebeard) because it belonged to Gilles de Rais.

Pornic (French pronunciation: [pɔʁnik] ; Pornizh in Breton, Port-Nitz in Gallo) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. In 1973 the commune of Pornic absorbed the neighbouring municipalities of Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer and Clion-sur-Mer.

The Haute Perche Canal (French: Canal de Haute Perche), despite its title, is a natural river, the Rivière de Haute-Perche, that has been slightly canalised to improve navigation between its mouth in the Bay of Bourgneuf at the port town of Pornic and the upstream settlements of Le Clion-sur-Mer, Chauvé and Arthon-en-Retz. It is located in the Pays de Retz in the Loire-Atlantique department and the Pays de la Loire region. It has also been known as the Canal de Pornic since the 16th century and was sometimes called the Étier de Haute Perche. Historically, it was called the Rouet, after the wheels of the water mills in the port.