Belle Époque charm at the centre of the island: a seafront planted with tamarisks, two markets and an unspoilt gentleness of life.
Born of the fashion for sea bathing, La Couarde-sur-Mer has kept from the Belle Époque its villas with their fretted wooden friezes, its shaded Mail facing the ocean and an art of strolling that has never wavered.
The property market here is an intimate one: period villas waiting to be restored with taste, village houses in the old town, a handful of properties in the front row of the dunes. Rare properties, keenly awaited, which find their buyers discreetly.
Originally a village of wine growers and salt workers, La Couarde changed course at the end of the nineteenth century: the first holidaymakers discovered its great south-facing beach, and seaside villas blossomed along the Mail. This is where the island invented its own way of taking a holiday.
From that golden age there remain the airy layout of the seafront, the beach huts and the tamarisks: a precious seaside heritage that the village maintains faithfully, down to the two markets that still set the rhythm of summer in La Couarde.
At the heart of the old town, the church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Annonciation, rebuilt in 1865-1867, carries on its pediment the republican motto “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité”, a rarity for a church in France.
The tree-lined promenade facing the ocean, the heart of the resort since the Belle Époque: benches, tamarisks and horizon.
Fretted wooden friezes, verandas and walled gardens: the architecture of the first summers on Ré, jealously preserved.
The market in the centre and the one on the Mail: a peculiarity of La Couarde, halfway between village market hall and summer promenade.
The great sandy beach facing due south, with lifeguards in season, and its sailing and surf schools.
To the north, the quiet bay of the Fier: shore fishing, small sailing boats and sunsets over the marshes.
Half a dozen old dials, one of them dated 1779, punctuate the façades of the old town: a discreet treasure hunt along the lanes of La Couarde.
La Couarde is lived between two waters: the ocean and its great beach to the south, the gentleness of the Fier to the north, the village in between. You get about on foot or by bicycle, from one market to a café terrace, from a villa to the Mail.
The chic open-air café spirit of the early days remains, and year-round life is gaining ground here as in every village on the island: shops, a school and local associations keep the old town alive in every season.
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Request a valuationDreaming of a life in La Couarde-sur-Mer? BARNES Île de Ré offers a selection of Belle Époque villas, village houses and properties close to the plage du Peu Ragot and the Mail, at the centre of the island… See prices village by village · Our properties for sale in La Couarde-sur-Mer
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