The Island of Aix, often called Island Dais or Island of Ay in a distant past, has the shape of a green and sand crescent with a slightly marked relief which stretches on 130 hectares with beaches, creeks and rocks. Three kilometers long and 600 meters wide, its central part is sometimes covered by the spring tides. You can stride around it in two hours at a brisk pace, and in less time on horseback or by bicycle... Near its shores, the Fort Enet and the impressive Fort Boyard, made known up to Quebec through a successful television game show, watch over Aix, the most meridional island of the Ponant. With 200 permanent residents at the last census, the Island of Aix is now one of the smallest communes in France, it is beyond any doubt one of the most interesting. Its mild climate, the beauty of its landscapes, its great nautical potential, but also the art of living explain the choice of those who, somehow or other, have decided to settle down here to live the insularity adventure. And the choice of about 250 000 visitors who , every year or rather every summer, stroll through the few streets with low houses which are surrounded with sumptuous hollyhocks. The past of the Island of Aix which was, by turns, French and English, catholic and protestant, is astonishingly rich. If the Napoleonic Period is well known - it's on this land that the Emperor was finally forced to give himself up to the English without glory, but not without panache. This period cannot eradicate the other great historical moments which are often little known or forgotten: from the prestigious epoch of the Cluny monks to the sinister days of the Convention, from Saint Malo to Montalembert and Choderlos de Laclos, from Condé to Lafayette, from the conquest of colonies to the detention of Ben Bella. The History of the Island of Aix and of the people who have trodden its soil, is tightly tied to our national history, to its greatness as well as to its dramas. Its future, which was uncertain for a while, is better assured. Trough the years, the touristic and cultural vocation of the Island has asserted itself (this has been recently illustrated by the restoration of the "Fort de la Rade" and the Guardhouse, and the project for restoring the stately Poudrière ). Whereas viticulture and fishing were diminishing, a significant recrudescence of activity in oyster-farming and agriculture was made possible through courageous initiatives. Quite recently, plots of land, which have been abandoned for many years, are again enjoying their pride through a few vine plantings. Big projects will in due time develop the nautical vocation of the island and take advantage of the enviable situation of one of the most famous pleasure boating areas in Europe. The Island of Aix has all it takes to face with confidence the next century. But, here more than elsewhere, the balance between people and things is very precarious. Without any doubt we need a good deal of vigilance to conciliate the essential contribution of steadily growing tourism and the preservation of a site which, at one and the same time, is exceptional and frail.