La Tremblade
for your holidays

Presentation

The inhabitants are called “Trembladais and Trembladaises”. Since a long time this town has combined the tourist industry, fishing and oyster- farming which has been already put into practice by the gallo roman people.
Ronces-les-Bains is a classified seaside resort. It is situated in the northern part of La Tremblade and offers 15 km of beaches. Some of them are protected by the Isle of Oleron and the other ones are wild face to the ocean and next to a state forest of 6000 ha with cycle tracks and foot path. “The wild coast” facing west forms a long beach which is exposed to the currents and breake waves. It is the reason why it is the “Mecca” of surfing in this area.
In Ronces-les-Bains you will discover the “Belle Epoque” villas, the fun fair, sailing, surfing... and in La Tremblade the oyster-farming sheds along the channel, the little typical houses, the barges and the fishing-boats.

Informations

Activities and cultural heritage

"Sacré-coeur" church is a neogothic edifice which was built in 1880 to take the place of an ancient protestant temple which was used for catholic services.
The steeple surmounted by an octogonal arrow was built in 1886. The church was consecrated on June 21st 1894 by his Grace Bonnefoy who was a bishop in La Rochelle. A ceremony took place for the centenary in 1994 in the presence of the bishop of La Rochelle and Saintes, his Grace David. In 1999 the steeple was damaged by a storm and renovated some months later. The church takes the form of a latin cross. The nave is divided into six bays. The church windows represent scenes from the Old and New Testament. The walls are decorated with contemporary paintings. The way of cross was made by an artist whose name is Michel Genty.
The front is composed of a porch-steeple topped by a thin arrow according to the process at that time.
A Statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is standing on the first floor.
 
The protestant temple was built in 1823. It looks like a vast rectangular room divided into three sections. The front is very sober in the neoclassical style. A first edifice was built in 1610 and confiscated in order to be used as a church. In 1810 the Consistory thought of a modern temple and started a fund in aid of a new building in 1820. The temple was dedicated on 24th August in 1823 for the anniversary of the massacre of Saint Bartholomew in the presence of different clergymen, the prefect, the sub-prefect, the mayor and some key figures.
 
The lighthouse in La Coubre is situated in the north of the town. It was built in 1905 according to the plans of an architect whose name was "Alexandre" . It looks like a red and white tower. It is 64 m high (only 4 m lower than Cordouan). The range of its electric light is about 80 km. A secondary fire (called “Barbette”) is situated halfway up. You can visit this lighthouse and go up the 300 steps...
The breaker waves and the sandbanks make sailing difficult. This lighthouse was first built 2 km far from the ocean but now it is only 250m away because of the erosion.
 
The bridge on the river “Seudre” was built in 1972 to make people and goods movement easier . The river was first a barrier in spite of the modern craft. So it was decided to build this bridge which is only 10 km far from oleron Bridge. They have both got some floodlights (blue and green) at night.
 
The old railway station was built in 1876. It was a meeting point for the passengers to Marennes-La Tremblade. But it was also a good way to transport the goods and particularly the oysters which could be delivered more quickly. The line is now used for the tourists : a little steam train named "the seagulls train" (le train des mouettes) operates a shuttle between La Tremblade and Saujon.
 
In 1944 the engineers from TODT organization started building the future Gironde battery but it was never finished. It has been registered at the historic monuments since July 24th in 2002.