“L’Île de Ré, c’est un privilège,” I was informed on a recent visit by an oyster vendor at the daily market in the village of La Flotte, scenically tucked beneath wooden arcades that date back to medieval times. And that’s just what the small Atlantic island, some three hours by train from Paris, feels like: a privilege, a discovery, a well-kept secret even among French visitors.
Only 19 miles long and three miles wide, Ré is often called France’s version of Nantucket. And the two islands do in...