The first three stages of the 2011 Tour will be held in the Vendée.
The Vendée tourism website has lots of practical Tour de France info – unfortunately Emoticonsmuch of it is in French only.

Here are some key points:

Places to stay: There's a downloadable list of campsites, hotels etc (though expect many if not all to be fully booked) - click the box with 'hebergements disponibles'

Camping cars / motorhomes

There's a downloadable list of suitable parking places

Map: There's a map of the three stages in the Vendée.



Poster: There's also a downloadable souvenir poster.

3-day 'before the Tour' celebration (at the Parc des Expositions in Herbiers
(avenue de la Gare) runs from June 29-July 1 and features exhibitions
and displays by Tour sponsors; a behind the scenes look at the Caravan
as it prepares for the Tour; photo exhibitions; the chance to meet
riders and get autographs; local produce markets and stalls; information
on local cycling routes. Entry is free. 29 June - 4pm-9pm; 30 June
10.30-8pm; 1 July 10.30-6pm.

For French readers there are more details here.

Traffic changes /road closures

Saturday, July 2 - La Barre de Monts – Fromentine: From 6am-2.30pm travel will only be possible on foot or by bike in the centre of Fromentine. There will be road closures and disruption to parking and motor traffic flow from Thursday. Noirmoutier bridge will be closed to cars, cyclists and pedestrians from 9.30am-1pm at the roundabout of Libaudière. The crossing of Beauvoir sur Mer, will be possible only before 9am.

Parking in central Fromentine will not be possible at: Place de la Gare from Thursday evening to 2.30pm Saturday; Place de la Chapelle all week until Tuesday, July 5; Avenue de Lattre de Tassigny from Thursday evening to 2.30pm Saturday.

Areas of free parking available (2.5 km from the starting line): North: Le Querruy, Le Pont Neuf, Le Beaumanoir; South: Route du Pont de Noirmoutier; Le Francinière.
Disabled parking will be on avenue de l’Estacade (access before 8am.

Guarded/secure bike parking from 8am at Fromentine: on Rue du Parc des Sports; Chemin des Ostréiculteurs (near la Petite Plage).

Les Herbiers – Le Mont des Alouettes
Car access to the Mont des Alouettes banned Thursday at 8am-Saturday 9pm.
The road is closed from the gyratory at La Sablière to near Chambretaud
July 2: the closure extends to the entrance of the commercial centre at La Tibougère (avenue de la Maine). Access to shops is possible.

See the downloadable boxes on the right-hand side of this page for information specific to the various towns involved.