France's Île de Ré is an unspoiled paradise

Let the party people keep the Riviera. Just a few hundred miles to the west sits the alluring little island of Île de Ré, and its unspoiled pastures and vineyards, writes Alexandra Marshall.   

Ever since the international playboy billionaire class decided to park their yachts in the Côte d’Azur, well-to-do French vacationers, desperate to look away from the vulgarity, have turned their gaze westward.

On the Atlantic Coast, the water is choppier than the Med, the air sometimes more bracing, but the company is a lot more familiar, favouring sailor shirts and espadrilles over sequins and Versace.