Pays de la Loire is located in western France at the mouth of the
Loire. Pays de la Loire is an administrative region that was formed in
the 1950s and has remained unchanged ever since. Since the
administrative reform of 2016, it has been bordered by Normandy to the
north, Centre-Val de Loire to the east, New-Aquitaine to the south, the
Atlantic Ocean to the west and Brittany to the north-west.
The
region includes large parts of the historic landscapes of Anjou, Maine,
Le Perche, Poitou and historic Brittany. Within this landscape lie some
of the Loire's well-known châteaux, but most are in the Centre-Val de
Loire region.
Nantes is the capital of the
Pays de la Loire, though many consider it part of Brittany.
Angers is a medium-sized city
which is the capital of the Maine-et-Loire department and
has a château with an amazing set of Medieval depictions of
the end times, the Tapestry of the Apocalypse.
Château Gontier is a former
commune in the Mayenne department of the Pays de la Loire
region in north-western France, located about 30 km south of
Laval, which merged into Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne on 1
January 2019. Founded in the 11th century with a castle
built by Gunther, steward of Fulk Nerra of Anjou, it
suffered during the Wars of the League and the 1793 Vendean
occupation, and its main attractions include the ruined
13th-century castle, the 11th-century church of Saint John
Baptist, and other historical monuments like the church of
the Holy Trinity and several chapels.
Clisson is a charming city rebuilt in
the early 19th century, in the style of Tuscany towns, with
a ruined castle.
Durtal has an
11th-century castle, and beautiful gardens.
Fontenay-Le-Comte is a commune and
subprefecture in the Vendée department of the Pays de la
Loire region in Western France, located at coordinates
46°27′58″N 0°48′22″W, with a population of 13,806 as of
2022. Founded as early as the time of the Gauls, it became
the capital of Bas-Poitou under King Louis IX and was
significantly impacted by historical events including the
Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, the French Wars of Religion, and
the War in the Vendée, with main attractions including
Notre-Dame church, Saint-Jean church, Quatre Tias' fountain,
Billaud house, Museum, François Viète's house, Rivalland
tower, and the Château de Terre-Neuve.
Guerande is a walled city known for
locally produced Breton salt in Salt Marshes.
La Baule or La
Baule-Escoublac, is a city on the Atlantic Ocean coast,
in the département of Loire-Atlantique.
Le Mans is best known for its annual
24 Hours automobile race but also has a fine cathedral.
Les Sables d'Olonne is a
subprefecture in Vendee.
Montsoreau
is a small historical town, known for its château, the only
château of the Loire Valley to have been built in the Loire
riverbed. Today, it is a museum of contemporary art.
Saint-Nazaire is a port town at the
mouth of the Loire, near Nantes.
Saumur
is a small historical town, site of a dramatically situated
château and the heart of its own world-renowned wine
district.
Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud,
located in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye near Chinon in
the Loire Valley of France, was founded in 1101 by Robert of
Arbrissel as the center of the Order of Fontevrault,
featuring double monasteries governed by an abbess. It
flourished under Plantagenet patronage, serving as the
burial site for Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Richard
the Lionheart, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and
cultural center showcasing Romanesque, Gothic, and Classical
architecture.
Château-du-Loir
– A small market town on the river Le Loir in the south of
Sarthe.
Noirmoutier-en-l'Île
– A picturesque island with oyster farms, salt drying lakes,
several ancient windmills, beautiful beaches and an
interesting road through the tidal flats.
La Flèche – A town on the Loire
river in the French department of Sarthe.
L'Île-d'Yeu – An island and commune
just off the Vendée coast of western France.
L'Île-D'Elle is a commune located in
the Vendée department of the Pays de la Loire region in
western France. With a population of 1,505 and an area of
19.09 km², it features a town hall as a notable landmark,
though specific historical details and main attractions are
not provided in the available content.
Montreuil-Bellay is a commune in
the Maine-et-Loire department in the Pays de la Loire region
of western France, located approximately 15 km south of
Saumur on the Thouet River. It is famous for the Château de
Montreuil-Bellay and was historically the head of navigation
on the Thouet until the early 20th century, with navigation
works initiated in the 15th century by the lords of
Montreuil-Bellay under letters patent from King Charles VII
allowing a tax on passing wine.
By plane
The largest airport in the region is Nantes-Atlantique;
there are also direct flights from German-speaking countries. If the
destination is in the north or west of the region, a flight to Rennes
can also be considered; if it is in the southwest, you can fly to La
Rochelle. Following flights to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, you can
take the TGV directly from the airport station to Le Mans (1 hour 40
minutes), Angers (2 hours 20 minutes) or Nantes (just under 3 hours).
By train
The TGV Atlantique high-speed line runs from Paris to Le
Mans, allowing speeds of up to 300 km/h. With the TGV from
Paris-Montparnasse, you can reach Le Mans in 55 minutes approximately
every hour, Angers in a good 1½ hours and Nantes in around 2:10 hours.
The TGV on the Paris-Rennes line stops in Laval eight times a day; the
travel time from Paris-Montparnasse is just over 1½ hours. A TGV runs
five times a day from Paris to Saint-Nazaire, the journey takes an
average of 2:45 hours also the station has to be changed.
By bus
Ouibus, the long-distance bus division of SNCF, offers bus services from
Paris to Le Mans, Angers and Nantes. These are significantly cheaper
than a train journey (from €7), but also take much longer.
Flixbus offers long-distance bus connections from various German cities
to Angers and Nantes (change in Paris).
From provinces to departments
In 1790, the various administrative
and religious territorial divisions of the kingdom of France were
replaced by the departments.
Most of Anjou forms the department
of Maine-et-Loire.
Brittany gives birth to five departments:
Côtes-du-Nord, Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-Inférieure and
Morbihan.
Maine formed the departments of Mayenne and Sarthe.
Poitou has formed three departments. Its western part, Bas-Poitou,
formed the department of Vendée and part of that of Deux-Sèvres.
On
March 9, 1957, the department of Loire-inférieure took the name of
department of Loire-Atlantique.
Region training
On April 5,
1919, on the proposal of Étienne Clémentel, Minister of Trade and
Industry, the government instituted “regional economic groups” or
“economic regions” based on the perimeter of the chambers of commerce.
These groups were formed according to the will of the local authorities.
The grouping centered on the city of Nantes included Morbihan and
Indre-et-Loire in addition to the five departments of the current
region. Morbihan was first placed in the Rennes region but later
preferred to join the Nantes region.
In 1941, the government of
Marshal Pétain grouped the departments into “regions” placed under the
authority of a regional prefect. He created the region of Angers
including Loire-Inférieure, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe and
Indre-et-Loire. The Vendée is not one of them.
In 1955, the Edgar
Faure government created “regional action programs”. The ministerial
decree of December 6, 1956 specifies the composition of the regions
concerned, including that of Pays de la Loire.
In 1960, the
Michel Debré government decided to create regional action constituencies
and confirmed the Pays de la Loire region.
Finally, on January
16, 2015, the law relating to the delimitation of new regions confirms
the Pays de la Loire region in its current composition.
In comparison with the gross domestic product of the European Union,
expressed in purchasing power standards, the region achieved an index of
99.0 in 2006 (EU-27 = 100).
In 2017, the region ranked 8th in
France in terms of population and gross domestic product.
Its
greatest strength is the agri-food industry. In 2017, this sector
employed 47,500 people (2nd region of France) and had a turnover of 13
billion euros (3rd region of France). The region also ranks third in
meat production (51%), milk production (19%) and grain processing (20%);
67% of the territory is occupied by agriculture. The Pays de la Loire is
the most important region in France for the production of beef, poultry
(red label), rabbits, ducks and second for milk, poultry, pork and
potatoes.
In 2001, the Pays de la Loire region was the largest
region in France in terms of horticultural area and number of people
employed in the sector, dominating the production of flowering or leafy
pot plants, bedding plants, perennials, aromatic and aquatic plants, and
ornamental and fruit nurseries. 600 companies are active in this
economic sector, employing almost 6000 people and generating a turnover
of over 600 million euros.
The gardens and parks in the region are part of the European Garden Heritage Network. In addition, part of the Loire, more precisely from Sully-sur-Loire to Chalonnes-sur-Loire, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
UNESCO describes the Loire Valley as follows:
"The Loire Valley is
an exceptional cultural landscape encompassing historic towns and
villages, great architectural monuments - the châteaux - and cultivated
lands shaped by centuries of interaction between people and their
physical environment, including the Loire itself."
A part of the
region has been classified according to the criteria (i) (outstanding
architecture), (ii) (cultural landscape, harmonious development of the
interaction between people and their environment over a
two-thousand-year history) and (iv) (numerous cultural monuments that
exceptionally reflect the ideals of the Renaissance and the
Enlightenment) declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the
designation Val de Loire. The site, listed as a Historical Monument,
extends across the department of Maine-et-Loire, from Montsoreau to
Chalonnes-sur-Loire. The classification enables the protection of the
cultural heritage of the Loire Valley (parks, Loire châteaux and towns)
shared by the Centre-Val de Loire and Pays de la Loire regions. The
region is home to some important Loire castles: Montsoreau Castle, the
only Loire Castle built on the Loire river bed, Montreuil-Bellay Castle,
Saumur Castle, Brissac Castle, Le Lude Castle, the Castle Baugé, Serrant
Castle, Angers Castle and Le Plessis-Bourré Castle.
The cities of
Angers, Fontenay-le-Comte, Laval, Le Mans, Guérande, Nantes and Saumur
bear the villes d'art et d'histoire ('Cities of Art and History') label.
The villages of Montsoreau, Sainte-Suzanne and Vouvant are part of the
association of the most beautiful villages in France (Association des
plus beaux villages de France). The region has an exceptional cultural
heritage with numerous museums and art galleries such as the David
d'Angers gallery in Angers, the Musée de Tessé in Le Mans, the Musée des
Sciences in Laval or the Musée Jules-Verne in Nantes. The region's
museums include exceptional heritage such as the Apocalypse tapestry,
the Song of the World by Jean Lurçat or the world's largest collection
of works by Art & Language at the Montsoreau Castle Museum of
Contemporary Art, repatriated by Philippe Méaille in December 2017 .
The main cultural element of the region is the Orchester National
des Pays de la Loire. It has ten thousand subscribers and hosts two
hundred concerts annually, attracting almost 200,000 spectators a year.
The Orchester national des Pays de la Loire is one of the most popular
orchestras in Europe. It is financially supported by the Regional
Council of the Pays de la Loire, the Ministry of Culture, the five
departmental prefectures and the five general councils of the region.
Declared a World Heritage Site, the Loire Valley allows the natural
spaces on the banks of the Loire to be protected. The great variety of
biotopes of the river and its banks: banks and sandbanks, gravel islands
covered with vegetation, wooded floodplain banks, protective dams, river
bed terraces, forests shelter a great variety of natural habitats from
which a rich and luxuriant flora and fauna benefit. The
Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Natural Park, located between the cities
of Angers and Tours, is included in the Val de Loire classification.
The Normandy-Maine Regional Natural Park allows the protection of
fauna and flora in southern Lower Normandy and northern Pays de la
Loire. It includes the highest point in the region, Mont des Avaloirs
(416.3 m). Set up at the top of the mountain, the Belvédère des Avaloirs
offers a panoramic view of the surroundings.
The Brière Regional
Natural Park is located north of the Loire estuary and includes a large
marshland. It extends over 490 km² and is home to numerous animal and
plant species.
Several national nature reserves allow the
protection of other areas in the region:
the Basses Vallées
Angevines in the departments of Maine-et-Loire and Mayenne;
the
Marais poitevin (also known as "Green Venice") and the Bay of Aiguillon;
the territory extends over the regions of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Pays de
la Loire and the departments of Vendée, Deux-Sèvres and
Charente-Maritime;
the Marais breton-vendéen between the departments
of Loire-Atlantique and Vendée;
the lake of Grand-Lieu in the
department of Loire-Atlantique.
The Pays de la Loire region covers 32,082 km2. It takes its name from
the Loire which crosses two of the five departments that make it up
before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. The last tributaries of the
river irrigate the region: the Loir, the Sarthe and the Mayenne which
come together to form the Maine at Angers, the Erdre to the north, the
Thouet and the Sèvre Nantaise to the south. In total, there are 18,000
kilometers of waterways in the region.
The relief of the region
is made up of the hills of Vendée to the south, to the north of Sarthe
and Mayenne by the Coëvrons, the Alpes mancelles, the forest of
Perseigne and the hills of Perche. The highest point is the Mont des
Avaloirs (416 meters). The Sillon de Bretagne, which is the continuity
of the Landes de Lanvaux du Morbihan, ends at the promontory of the
Butte Sainte-Anne in Nantes. Most of the region is located on the
Armorican Massif. Only the eastern part is on a sedimentary basin: the
eastern half of the department of Maine-et-Loire and the department of
Sarthe to the east of the heights of Coëvrons, i.e. three quarters of
this department. This part of the region is topographically very close
to the central region.
The region is bordered by the Atlantic
Ocean for a length of 368 kilometers and has two important islands: the
island of Noirmoutier and the island of Yeu. The coasts are alternately
rocky and sandy, Côte Sauvage north of the mouth of the Loire, Côte de
Jade between the Loire and the island of Noirmoutier, Côte de Lumière in
Vendée.
Several marshes reclaimed from the sea over the centuries
punctuate the coast: the Brière near Saint-Nazaire, the Marais Breton to
the north of Vendée and the Marais poitevin to the south.
The
region is the 7th largest in metropolitan France in area.
Aléop is the region's public transport service managing the region's
buses, coaches, trains and boats.
Destineo is an information
website for travelers in the region.
In 2014, the Pays de La
Loire Regional Council, in partnership with the French National Railway
Company (SNCF), created a transport card (TivA card) reserved for all
young people aged 15 to 25 residing in the Pays de la Loire, whatever
their status. This TivA card cost 25 euros and offered a 50% reduction
on all trips in the region.
It has been replaced by the Mezzo
card accessible to all, available in two versions, one under 26 and
another over 26. Those under 26 cost 20 euros per year and those over 26
cost 30 euros per year. They both offer -50% on all trips by regional
express transport (TER) and allow you to have three companions at half
price on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and also all summer long.
With three children under 12 it's free.
In 2017, the region ranked 8th in France for population and gross
domestic product.
Its main strength is the food industry. In
2017, this sector employed 47,500 people (2nd French region) for a
turnover of 13 billion euros (3rd French region). It also ranks 3rd for
meat production (51%), milk (19%) and grain processing (20%); 67% of the
territory is occupied by agriculture. The Pays de la Loire is the first
French region for the production of beef, poultry (red label), rabbit,
duck and 2nd for milk, poultry (simple), pork and potatoes.
In
2001, Pays de la Loire was the leading region in France in terms of
horticultural area and the number of jobs in the sector, thus dominating
in the production of plants in flowering or leafy pots, bedding plants,
perennials, aromatic and aquatic, and ornamental or fruit nurseries. Six
hundred companies work in this economic sector, employing nearly 6,000
people and generating more than six hundred million euros in turnover.
Since 1994, Commequiers station, in Vendée, has been the starting
point for a 10 km long cycle rail route allowing you to discover the
hinterland of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie as far as the town of Coëx. .
Puy du Fou, in Vendée, is the most visited tourist site in the
region.