return to the Charente region, in western France
This time we stayed at the home of the Chantereau family. Jean-Paul is the brother of Danielle in Saintes, so it all stays in the family!
Recently my friends bought an ancient stone house in the village of Saint-Sornin, to the west of Saintes. In May 2008 we paid them a visit and spent a weekend wandering through the surrounding countryside, with its fascinating churches and fortresses.
SAINT-SORNIN
This is my friends' newly-acquired house in Saint-Sornin. The "glycine" or in English wisteria (I thought it was a lilac until I was sharply corrected) is in full bloom on the western wall...
...as we can see here!
Saint-Sornin is a sleepy place, and you can walk about without seeing a soul. At the end of this street stands the village church...
...a fine example of the charentaise romanesque style.
BROUAGE
Not far away, is the 17th century fortified town of Brouage. It once stood on the water but the Atlantic has long since receded, leaving its ramparts high and dry. Just type Brouage into Google Earth and you'll see how it is now surrounded with marshy flats.
Brouage was purpose-built in the 17th century by Cardinal Richelieu, laid out in a grid - a modern, and model town for its time. It was meant to be used as a naval base against the Protestants who had their stronghold just north in the great port of La Rochelle. Champlain and other great explorers set out from here for Canada, as well as many Protestants fleeing persecution at home.
The town was of strategic importance in the struggle with the English and, also, with their allies the French Huguenots, during the wars of religion. But soon after construction, the sea level subsided and the bay silted up, leaving Brouage high and dry.
Our guide Jean-Paul is admiring Valentino and Wijjie is struggling with August, while I contemplate the past splendours of Brouage. You can see here how the tidal flats around the town turned into meadows, criss-crossed with canals.
TALMONT
Overlooking the Gironde Estuary and the open sea is the medieval village of Talmont, originally created by the English. Its Romanesque church, Sainte-Radegonde, overhangs the tidal flats.
The tide is low, but the water will soon rise up to the ramparts
Ten miles across the water lies the southern shore of the Gironde, which seems as wide as the Amazon River. From here, the French had a gull's eye view of enemy vessels entering the estuary.
These wooden shacks called carrelets are a common sight on the Gironde. They are built out on piers and used by fishermen, who lived in them when the fish enter the estuary and throw their nets at dawn into the sea below.
Boats moored in a channel, at low tide. When the water is in, comes in, you can board by using the wooden walkways. When it is out, as in this picture, you use the same walkway and then crawl down the ladder to wherever the boat is.
My old friend Soledad with August, in a garden of Talmont. She wanted to show me this garden and the house behind it because it is where she first met her husband Jean-Paul during the summer of 1967.
OTHER ROMANESQUE CHURCHES
A charming lady, Christiane, who paints and loves the artistic treasures of her region, took us on a fascinating tour of the churches, one in each tiny village...
The church of Corme-Écluse
The church of Rioux - the madonna is framed in a curious relief called a "mandorle", because of its almond-like shape. The Virgin is often shown in such a frame, and I personally think that it has an intentionally vaginal shape, since Mary was the eternal Mother.
The church of Rétaud
The Abbaye des Dames, in Saintes
Fénioux
The church of Fénioux
The "lantern of the dead" near the church of Fénioux. There are many such curious towers in the ancient cemeteries of the region, and in varying styles in other parts of France too. A fire was kept alight inside the "lantern" at the top. Some say they are a Celtic tradition, which lit up the way of the souls to heaven.
August and I made it up to the top - a very tight climb, especially when you have to hoist a 30-pound infant up before you, on each very high step!
Soledad made it too, and so did her neighbour, Christiane. But they are smallish, not to say slim...