La Flotte (; sometimes locally La Flotte-en-Re), is a commune on the ÃÂle de Ré off the western coast of France, administratively part of the department of Charente-Maritime within the larger Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.
It is the largest municipality on the ÃÂle de Ré by area, and the second largest by population, second to Sainte-Marie-de-Ré on the southern tip of the island.
La Flotte was declared one of the most beautiful villages in France by the eponymous independent tourism organization Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, and since 2011, the town has been a part of the departmental government's "Stone and Water Villages" tourism initiative to promote notable coastal and waterfront locales (i.e., where the stone (city) meets the water (sea, river etc.).
The commune of La Flotte contains the town proper and a marina. La Flotte is an urban municipality, part of the urban unit of La Flotte, which also contains the commune of Saint-Martin-de-Ré. In addition, the municipality is part of the attraction area of La Flotte, covering 4 communes.
The shoreline of La Flotte is bordered by small cliffs, and is home to Arnéult Beach, an artificial beach that has to be re-sanded each year.
As it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, La Flotte is a coastal municipality as defined by the Coastline Act (1986). As a result specific town planning provisions apply in order to preserve the natural spaces, sites, landscapes and the ecological balance of the coast, including a prohibition on construction along the coastline.
A sizable amount of the land in La Flotte is agricultural, 47% in 2018, down from 55.1% in 1990. The detailed breakdown in 2018 is as follows: forests (34.3%), permanent crops (18.3%), urbanized areas (17.9%), heterogeneous agricultural areas (15.9%), arable land (9.1%), meadows (3.7%), artificial green spaces, non-agricultural (0.5%), coastal wetlands (0.4%).
In 1627, an English invasion force under the command of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, attacked the island in order to relieve the Siege of La Rochelle. After three months of siege, the Marquis de Toiras and a relief force of French ships and troops managed to repel the Duke, who was forced to withdraw in defeat. The English lost more than 4,000 out of 7,000 troops during the campaign. After repelling the English assault, the French Guards retreated through the town of La Flotte, and burned three English vessels there in the port and returned to Fort La Prée.
La Flotte was the home of Gustave Dechézeaux (1760-1794), a member of the National Convention. A victim of the Reign of Terror, he was guillotined at Rochefort on 17 January 1794 for his vote against the execution of Louis XVI. He was later given a posthumous pardon by the Convention on 3 May 1795.