1 | Ile-d'Aix | From Germanic (Saxon) ea, island | In 1660, a big storm broke down the cliffs of Châtellaillon, severing the low-tide dry link to the island. |
2 | Ile d'Etaules | Latin stabulum, stables | Former island in the Seudre marshes, like Arvert, which is very close. The islands of Nôle and Marteau have the same origin. |
3 | Ile de Ré | Retis, Gaulish banks, Latin, arica insula, | The island is two rocky banks joined by le Martray, an alluvial strip. It is mentioned as being on the trade routes of the Lemovices |
4 | Ile d'Oléron | Ulario insula, | Mentioned by Pliny and Sidonius Apollinarius who both spent some time there. The island is separated from the Arvert peninsula and the estuary of the Seudre by the channel of Maumusson, which has grown since the Gallo-roman period. Early Mediaeval writers refer to it as a simple ditch. |
5 | Ile-d'Albe | Salt block workings at le Fourchis, at the edge of the cliff marking the old shoreline. | |
6 | Ile-Jaulin | Salt block workings on a peninsular of the old shoreline. | |
7 | Ile-Madame | The islands of Aix and Madame mark two promontaries once joined to the mainland at the mouth of the Charente. Cassini, shows them almost attached at Port des Barques by a track crossing the tidal flats. Salt block workings occupied a spur of the coast. |