Private Itinerary · June 2026
A Weekend at La Marine
L'Herbaudière · Île de Noirmoutier · Vendée
Plage des Dames — Sunday morning walk, Bois de la Chaize
The Table
La Marine ✦✦✦
Saturday evening · dinner only · Wed–Sat
Tasting Menu
€240 – 350
per person · wine pairing available
Passage du Gois
Low tide 15:49
Walk: 14:20 – 17:20 · coefficient 52
Sunset Saturday
21:59
Dinner finishes in twilight
First Move
Lock the table first
Everything else follows from that date
01
The Reservation
La Table
✦ ✦ ✦
Chef Alexandre Couillon
○
3 Rue Marie Lemonnier · L'Herbaudière
○
Dinner only · Wednesday – Saturday
Tasting Menu
€240 – €350
Trois étoiles since 2013. La Marine conserves its three stars in the 2026 Michelin guide [5] — the island's only gastronomic anchor.
Lead time: months, not weeks. Maison Moizeau, the chef's own guesthouse next door, must be asked about in the same call — five rooms against three-star demand means they fill immediately. [3]
02
Where to Sleep
Lodging Directory
First Choice · Chef's Own Guesthouse · Next Door
7 Rue Marie Lemonnier — the guesthouse that “touches the restaurant” [3] · 5 rooms · book in the same call as the table
per night
€180 – 275
Lead time: months
Fallback — walkable from La Marine
Bois de la Chaize (taxi range):
Villa Arthus-Bertrand,
Hôtel Saint-Paul,
Les Prateaux. In Noirmoutier-en-l'Île:
Le Général d'Elbée.
Only choose these if you need spa / pool — and pre-book
Taxi Fred (+33 2 51 39 37 31)
at the time you book the table, not at midnight after a four-hour menu. [13]
03
Saturday 6 June 2026
Passage du Gois — Tide Chart
14:20
opens
15:49 ↓
low tide
17:20
closes
19:15 ✦
La Marine
08:00
10:00
12:00
14:00
16:00
18:00
20:00
21:59 ☼
The causeway at Passage du Gois emerges at 14:20 and re-floods by 17:20 — a clean three-hour walking window centred on the 15:49 low. The 19:15 dinner sits safely two hours beyond the flood. A neap coefficient of 52 means gentler tides than a spring crossing, but the road will still be underwater outside the window. Sunset at 21:59 [17] means the long tasting menu finishes in blue-hour light.
04
Day by Day
Weekend Programme
Saturday 6 June
Morning
Arrive on the island. The Bois de la Chaize coast path winds through 110 ha of holm oaks out to the 1867 lighthouse. Renoir called it “as beautiful as the South of France.” [14]
10:00
Château de Noirmoutier — 12th-century keep, open daily except Friday. 2026 exhibit: “Hissez haut! Quand l'homme prend la mer.” [15]
12:30
Lunch at the port in L'Herbaudière. Oysters from the local beds.
14:20
→ Passage du Gois opens. Cross or walk while the seabed is exposed — return by 17:00.
17:30
Return to lodging. Change for dinner.
21:59
Sunset. The tasting menu continues into the blue hour.
Sunday 7 June
Morning
Bois de la Chaize morning loop — the holm-oak canopy, the belle-époque villa fronts, Plage des Dames at low water. [14]
Mid-day
Salt marshes and saunier visit — south end of the island. Confirm no Triathlon route impact on Sunday access first. [18]
Afternoon
Return to the mainland via the bridge, or time a second Gois crossing (check Sunday tides before departing).
05
Action Plan
Booking Sequence
The booking sequence is the whole plan. Every other choice — lodging, taxi, activities — follows from the date the table confirms.
1
Reserve the table at La Marine
Three Michelin stars, dinner only (Wed–Sat), tasting menus €240–350. Lead time: months. [1]
contact@alexandrecouillon.com · +33 2 51 39 23 09
2
Ask about Maison Moizeau — in the same call
Five rooms at no. 7, the same street as La Marine. Chef's own guesthouse, €180–275. Five rooms against three-star demand: book immediately. [2]
Ask during the La Marine reservation call — same number, same moment
3
Pre-book Taxi Fred (if not staying at Moizeau)
The only 7-days-a-week taxi on the island. [13] Do this now — not at midnight after a four-hour tasting menu.
+33 2 51 39 37 31
4
Confirm Triathlon road closures
The Triathlon de Noirmoutier runs the same weekend. Check which roads are closed before booking the saunier visit or any south-end activity. [18]
06
Planning Notes
Notices & Scope
⚠ Triathlon de Noirmoutier — Same Weekend
Road closures on the island during the race. Confirm the route before booking the salt-marsh saunier visit or any activity at the south end of the island. [18]
Tech conferences within 30 km: not viable. The nearest offering is a free monthly library soirée numérique — citizen digital-literacy [19] — and an October popular-science festival. [20] Real tech conferences start 80 km inland. Don't bend the weekend to chase something that isn't there.
Île d'Yeu: tempting — 30-minute crossing from Fromentine [21] — but a full day there breaks the tide-cued rhythm of Noirmoutier itself. Save it for a return trip. Use the Saturday-afternoon Gois window instead.