A YEAR ON THE ILE DE RE | TF1 | Reportages

They call it the Pearl of the Atlantic”. Its beaches stretch out of sight its white houses and its hollyhocks have made it one of the most desirable islands in France. However, the Ile de Ré is much more than a postcard. Over a year, the people who live their daily lives there opened their doors to the Grand Reportages crew and revealed the, sometimes surprising, reality. “The first ticket of the year is a double escape!” Benoît, warrant officer at the Gendarmes station in Saint-Martin-de-Ré, still can’t believe it. At the start of the year, two highly dangerous detainees escaped from the Ile de Ré prison. Benoît led the manhunt… In spring, the beach fishermen wait impatiently for the tide of the century to gather tons of shellfish. For Sophie and Caroline, who run the oldest hotel on the island, it’s non-stop activity. But there’s one person who is concerned over the event. He’s Jean-François, oyster farmer: sometimes not-so selective fishermen serve themselves from his oyster beds. So, he stands guard… In summer, Mickaël, with 2000 bikes to rent, works 15 hours a day. But that’s no great change really… because for the rest of the year he’s a volunteer firefighter, microlite pilot, kite-surfing monitor, kayak monitor and also… helicopter pilot. And this year he has a crazy project: to build his own flying machine… so that every day from the skies he can finally admire his many-cultured island.”