Best places in France for rivers/bird-watching and some sea please!

[FoxesAreFabulous]

I would be very grateful for some advice please - I am starting to think about next year's summer holiday as an antidote to the onset of autumn! We love France and have been a few times but I want to try a new part of it and don't really know where to start. We (11 year old DD and I) have been down to the south-west near Perpignan a couple of times, with friends, and twice to the Ile de Re, which we love. We want to go back next year and would like to be somewhere near the sea - although not necessarily right next to the beach - but also with a river nearby and the opportunity for some bird-watching (DD's favourite hobby) and cycling. I don't drive so it needs to be somewhere we can get to reasonably easily using plane/train etc. I am a fluent French speaker so no problem with local buses etc . I am tempted just to book the Ile de Re again but it would be nice to explore a new area. Would also like not be surrounded by loads of other English holiday-makers and don't want to be in a tent!
Any suggestions very gratefully received - thanks everyone!

Have a look at sete on south coast- there's a huge lake bit called the etang de thau nearby which has lots of birds and wildlife. Near nice beaches. I think you could probably avoid most of the 'Brits abroad' by picking the right accommodation but as its on south coast you may still get the tourists.

We have a large marais/bird reserve near us ; www.sene.com/reserve-naturelle/reserve-naturelle-sene.php We are about 10/15 minutes from the coast though, so maybe a bit far? Though you do pass through other bird watching spots to get there! We have a gite around ten minutes from the site at Sene, and the Golfe du Morbihan is also really interesting. We are however on site, but other English holidaymakers are pretty thin on the ground in the general area. Happy to help with more info if it sounds interesting.

I would suggest the Bassin d'Arcachon. It's less than an hour from Bordeaux and there are lots of lovely seaside resorts close by.
It's famous for its wildlife and there's even an island in the middle called l'Ile aux Oiseaux

Check out www.terresdoiseaux.fr and www.reserve-ornithologique-du-teich.com

Goodness, that was fast! I wasn't expecting anything so quickly, thank you all so much! They all sound like great suggestions, I shall be doing some research......jenpetronus, is your gite accessible without a car? and can you cycle to the beach/round the area?

Whoops, you can tell I'm new - my attempt to write in bold has failed!

Yes yes to arcachon, that's a nice area. If you wanted to consider northern France then the baie de Somme is great for birds.

Foxes you'll find getting around loads easier with a car, but there are excellent cycle paths nearby, depends how fit you are I guess probably tell from that statement that I'm not fit at all

I'm just looking up Arcachon (while pretending to be working) and it looks fab. jenpetronus, what's the summer weather like in Sene? I do like the idea of some decent weather - apart from anything else, bird-watching in the rain is not my favourite thing to do! We have cycled a lot on both trips to the Ile de Re although it is fairly short distances between villages there - the longest trip we did in one go was about 7km but my daughter was 10 and will be 12 when we go away next year. I'm not that fit at all but do enjoy cycling on holiday ie away from scary London traffic where I wouldn't get on a bike if you paid me! Learning to drive is still on my 'to do' list - I had lessons when younger but then never bothered. I intend to have more lessons but suspect that even if I had passed my yest by next summer, I would be too chicken to drive abroad that soon, at least not without a co-pilot!

What about the Camargue delta? Eurostar to Avignon. Aigues-Mortes is lovely, but v touristy, from whence west to the Etang de Thau, or east towards Stes Marie de la Mer. And going north, Arles, St Remy and the Alpilles, Uzes (home of Haribo) and the Pont du Gard. Flamingos, some cranes, lots of herons, and many others (no ornithologist). We had a boat there, so no help on accommodation but be aware it is a very popular region.

Was going to suggest the ile d'oleron but as you've already been to the ile de re I expect you've visited it.

Love France. Ages since we have visited it.