Quaint French offshoot boasts fantastic food and biking

TWO wheels rule on the Ile de Re. Everyone is on a bike on this exquisite island, and they all take it nice and slowly.

It helps that this little patch of land off  France’s Atlantic coast, which is only 19 miles long  and three miles wide, is flat.

And that it is criss-crossed by the best network of cycle paths I’ve ever seen.

Whole families ride past — parents towing babies and dogs in trailers, teenagers on tandems. It really is the best way to get around.

Re is French seaside chic at its most relaxed. Everywhere you look are cobbled lanes and whitewashed houses with green or grey shutters. Tall hollyhocks bring splashes of colour, and lavender bushes add their scent to the salty air.

There are only ten villages, and we’re staying on the northern side in La Flotte, which has a 12th-Century covered market and a pretty harbour lined with restaurants.