We awoke to a misty river, blanket grey. A solitary fisherman was casting into the former mill leat below our window and the Pont Napoleon reflected its arches in circles. But by the time we were off and out things were clear. It had been a good hotel, quite luxurious in some ways with a fabulous french window overlooking the water and big comfy king bed and single bed.
The objective first off was a breakfast so we parked up by the railway footbridge and walked down through the abbaye onto the main street. I might have mentioned in years gone by that the 19th century rail freaks just chopped their way through this ancient building!
Anyway we found a café just down the street that had three viennoiseries left and served good coffee and waited until just after 9 when the cloisters opened. Adam and I had a half hour mooch round.
A lot of yesterday and today was driving through intensive fruit production - much of it apples, mostly an unappetising creamy pale pink colour. We imagine they must be for juice - every now and then there was a DIY distributor unit at the end of the netted rows. Also some kiwi fruit and pears…oh and vines, vines, vines!
As we got into Aquitaine there were more and more of those disused tobacco drying sheds once used for Gauloises and Gitanes. And then my surprise treat! I’d woven our way a bit off piste to Le Mas d’Agenais, a small bastide village, and the church which houses the only Rembrandt not in a museum or private collection.
Christ on the Cross.Wonderful and so low key.
After that really it was just a few hours up through the vineyards and rolling Charente Maritime to Ibis Rochefort. Via the snails bien sûr! Crêpes and galettes for supper and then flake out. We’re here two nights for R and R🤗.
