Jessie has done a project on tourism in Vendée and included in her research an interview with M. Nicolas Gendrot, Director of the Office de Tourisme des Sables d'Olonne (a very important person for all of us in WVU-V).  She has gathered a wealth of information, including the fact that on average 120,000 tourists visit Les Sables each week.  This phenomenon began in 1866, when the first train from Paris arrived in the station of Les Sables...  At that time the idea of bathing in the sea and lying out in the sun was a novelty.  Now it's the life's blood of the local economy.  Jessie notes very astutely that much of the tourism in modern Vendée comes from a very intelligent policy of promoting local identities and traditions.