91 kms. Route etc.
Zut alors! It's absolutely beautiful round here. Today's ride down the D114 between Surgeres and Saintes was just a procession of charming little villages and towns set in glorious countryside. St Savinien sur Charente, for example:
never heard of it before, and there's no reason why I should have, but it's a simply lovely little riverside town. The Charente was lovely virtually throughout, in fact.
And Saintes, where I an staying tonight, isn't half bad either. Older than I had realised, it was apparently an important town in Roman times. In consequence one can't escape a bit more architecture. In 1047 another Martel (Geoffrey, Comte D'Anjou, no relation to the great Charles, as far as I can see) founded a Benedictine abbey here for women. Unsurprisingly, it's very Norman in feel.
Abbaye des Dames, Saintes
The main doorway alone is worth five minutes of one's time:
and it provided a surprise entry for the "best flying buttress of the trip" competition.
As you may gather, I've had a good day. Better than I expected, in fact. I was feeling pretty tired at breakfast and thought I might be wise to have a very easy day. So I considered just making the short hop to Rochefort, about 35km. But I felt great once on the bike, and the 91 gently undulating kilometres to Saintes were pure pleasure.
I keep making random cultural observations as I go along. The cafes that double as bookmakers are everywhere, loads of them have PMU as well as FDJ terminals. And (entirely unrelated) there is massive enthusiasm for organic farming. Ever since Poitiers, virtually every village I have passed through has proudly declared itself "Terre Saine" - a community without insecticides.
3 comments:
Might be a bit late, this comment, but Jan & I visited Saintes on a Sunday and there, by the river was a scene from the old Come Dancing show, with old & Young twirling round the dance floor to the sound of a French accordion. Surreal, but an experience!
Almost glad I missed that...
This trip is becoming quite a revelation. The weather obviously helps, but rivers and towns and churches with blue sky behind them lift the spirits and that's just from the pics. That west (?) door at Saintes is something else. Just one for noting, on your way back, if you want Norman, the Abbeys Aux Hommes and Aux Dames in Caen, and the ruins at Jumiege not that far away, have to be seen.
Post a Comment