Notre-Dame de Royan is the town's great post-war statement: a vast reinforced-concrete church built between 1955 and 1958 after the old neo-Gothic church was destroyed in the bombing of 1945. It is severe from some angles, graceful from others, and impossible to ignore.
Inside, the height and stained glass soften the concrete. Even travellers who usually skip modern churches should look in, because the building explains Royan's reconstruction better than any museum panel could.