The Payré Estuary

A testament to the Ice Age! Three rivers meet a short distance from the coast to form the Payré estuary, or as it's known locally: the Havre du Payré.

It was here that the sands of the Loire River came together from the Massif Central, forming the beginnings of what human hands would later shape in the 19th century to develop its oyster farming activities. Beyond its natural appearance and biodiversity, the Payré estuary is astonishing for the colors of its landscape—turquoise blue, oak green, sand—and precisely for the contrast offered by the gray dunes of Morocco, the perched dunes of Les Grottes, the wooded dunes of Le Veillon, and other places like the Veillon coastal strip, where you'll love swimming in an island atmosphere.

The Vélodyssée invites you to discover the Payré estuary by cycling from Les Sables d'Olonne to La Tranche sur Mer.