The apartment is lovely, clean, well lit and equipped to a high standard. Highly recommended. It is big enough for a family but very spacious for two. The balcony is much larger than it appears in the photos, lots of room to eat or sunbathe. In fact the photos really don't do justice to the apartment at all. A few steps outside the door and you are in the heart of the port with a good beach just a couple of hundred metres away. There are plenty of restaurants worth visiting and food shops within an easy walk. There is a small supermarket in the village and a daily market. Hypermarkets are within a short drive. No real negatives as long as you realise that this is a working fishing port and you are only a short way from the boats. If you leave the windows open at night you might get some noise from the boats - they depend on the tides you know. If, like us, you like proper British-size mugs for your drinks, bring your own. Each year we forget and take home two more mugs as souvenirs. They're cheap anyway. There is no parking with the apartment but there is a public car park just across the road. We left the car there for two weeks with no problem. €5 per day for parking. If you've never been to Oleron before, do give it a try, it's a mixture of pretty towns and villages, sandy beaches and some wild coastline. We've been coming here for years and still haven't had enough. La Rochelle can be reached by ferry and is a great day out.