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The region slowly recovered from the devastation of the Vendée Wars. Vast areas of pine and "chêne vert" (holm oak) were planted from the mid-19th century to anchor the shifting sands along the coast around St-Jean-de-Monts, Les Sables-d'Olonne, and Longeville. The coming of the railways in the 1860s helped to develop tourism around the ports of St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and Les Sables-d'Olonne where you can still see some fine examples of Victorian-period seaside architecture. The railways also provided a means of escape for many of the inhabitants of marshland farms, leading to a rural exodus around the turn of the century. From the late 18th until the mid-20th century there was a coal-mining industry at Faymoreau-les-Mines, north-east of Fontenay-le-Comte.
For more than four years of World War II the Vendée was occupied by German forces, who commandeered the coastline and denied access to many villages along it. Vestiges of their reinforcements can be seen on the beaches at Pont-Jaunay, Jard and other places.
Tourism has today taken the lead as the county's main money-spinner. Close behind come agriculture (beef and dairy cattle, pigs and poultry in the woods and hills of the "bocage"; cereal-growing in the plains; sheep and cattle in the marshes; and early vegetables on the island of Noirmoutier); fishing (sardines, tuna, sole and langoustines, oysters and mussels); manufacture of clothes and shoes; boat-building (St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie is the home of the world-famous Bénéteau yachts); food-canning; and the construction of agricultural machinery.
Copyright Angela Bird. (Angela is author of the guidebook "The Vendée")
Extracted, with permission, from her website - www.the-vendee.co.uk
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