Mediterranean highlife in the Atlantic

Ile de Ré, accorded this moniker by the Parisian press, is just off the French coast; courtesy of Flybe, you can be there in only 75 minutes, at real low-cost fares. At La Rochelle/Ile de Ré International Airport, pick up your hire car just a few steps after touchdown; in no time at all you have paid the (hefty - but they're trying to keep out the day-tripping hordes) toll charge to cross the sweeping modern bridge that anchors the island to the mainland. The traffic quickly disperses as soon as you are over the bridge, but in any case those staying for any length of time tend to dump the car and get around by pushbike.

Cycle-hire is big business here - there are 90km of cycling and walking paths - and every town and village has hire shops. So what's the attraction of this sliver of land, flat and largely featureless, stretching 30km into the Atlantic? The informality and laid-back charm draws the discerning visitor - including, according to Paris Match, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Johnny Depp, and Vanessa Paradis. They'd certainly wait in vain to get noticed here - not a paparazzo in sight.

Not surprisingly, it's at its busiest (and most expensive) in July and August, when the majority of its 100,000 summer tourists descend, but it is also a wonderful destination too at other times - the unique microclimate delivers 2,600 hours of sunshine annually, which is as much as on the Mediterranean coast. Grassy dunes lead on to broad sandy beaches, which - at the quieter western end - back on to pine woods.

Then there's the food! Myriad excellent restaurants compete to offer the best of shellfish and fish; and the markets provide further opportunity for les 'Retais' to show off their harvest from the sea, with its famous oysters and langoustines leading the crustacean array on the stalls most mornings.

They are very proud of their potatoes here too - and not forgetting the salt, still harvested, using traditional methods, from the centuries-old marshes (the donkeys used to carry the salt wear gingham culottes, designed to stop the mosquitoes biting them). Finish your dinner with a cognac, or pineau (cognac blended with fresh grape-juice, invented' accidentally in 1589).

The island is home to a mere 16,000 locals year-round, with the capital', Saint-Martin-de-Ré, situated on the northern side roughly half-way along. Its jewel of a harbour was built in 1681 to protect it from invasion by the dreaded Anglais; now we are welcome, and the castellated walls offer protection to a vast array of yachts. Few floating gin-palaces though: as someone said, the difference from St Tropez is that here they are owned by people who know how to sail them.

All the buildings on Ré are restricted to two storeys (though on the cobbled streets and quays of St Martin they seem to have got round this with an extra floor or two) and are required to incorporate the typical local features of whitewashed walls, orange pantiles and wooden shutters, painted green (mostly), white or pale grey. In summer the narrow streets and alleyways are strewn with hollyhocks and wild flowers.

During Roman times, Île de Ré was an archipelago of three small islands: the space between them was progressively filled, by a combination of human activity (the salt fields gained from the sea) and silting-up.

One of the prettiest villages is Ars-en-Ré, with the long black-and-white steeple of its church rising above the sunflower fields. It has been likened to a rocket on a launchpad (though that seems far too modern an analogy) but it serves a major purpose as a landmark for boats entering the bay.

Near Saint-Clément-des-Baleines (baleine meaning whale - apparently so named because they used to run aground here) stands the most powerful lighthouse on the Atlantic coast. The climb up the 250 spiral stairs around its inner walls is well worth the effort for the panorama from the top - breathtaking for different reasons is the view straight down the middle to the 1854' picked out in black and white tiles at the bottom.

Almost the only time that style standards drop is on the stalls selling tourist trinkets, though the bizarre custom of dressing the local donkeys in pink or blue gingham culottes must run it close. Eating al fresco is the thing though - whether breakfasting on fresh baguettes or scrumptious tarts, picnicking on the beach with wonderful pates and cheeses, or dinner at the terrace tables of a quayside restaurant.

Night-life? Part of the charm is that there is very little; though a little window-shopping in the chic boutiques complements the best activity of all - watching the human traffic from a pavement table. Before you return, seek out the smart town of La Rochelle and its historic old harbour - one of the best-preserved port towns in France and home to an array of restaurants serving wonderful seafood.

The town centre is mostly pedestrianised and it is easy to wander the eighteenth-century streets and admire the arcaded shopfront. The odd thing, though, is that some shops do not open at all on Saturdays - and many close for a long lunch. The market is everything a market should be - all kinds of lovely fresh stuff with displays that are works of art.

In nearby Place de Verdun, stop at the mirror-clad Café de la Paix - quintessential France. Somewhere for the weekend? Just perfect.

FACT FILE: Martin Cowell flew with Flybe (www.flybe.com) from Birmingham to La Rochelle (they also fly from Southampton; Ryanair www.ryanair.com can be a cheaper option, but then you have to cope with the ridiculous queues at Passport Control on your return).

CAR hire from all the major companies is available in the small-but-functional airport at La Rochelle. Martin chose Hertz but his pre-booked car was not ready and was dirty when it did arrive .... (TIP: fill your tank whenever you see a petrol station - they are scarcer then hen's teeth, and there are none anywhere near the airport).

IT'S an easy hop to La Rochelle (and its very walkable town centre) and to the Ile de Re bridge (the summer toll of 16.50 euros return is intended to deter the riff-raff; it goes down to nine euros in winter).

MARTIN stayed in St Martin de Re, at Hotel le Galion - winter rates are 80 euros per room, and the prices are significantly higher in the summer - which is a few yards from the harbour. For the grandest stay at more than double the price, try the Hotel de Toiras www.hotel-de-toiras.com, right on the quay.