24th
June - the wheat harvest commences with heat and dust-click on pictures to see-wretched machine-MB
Mike and Jenny's Website
and woods north of the Gironde estuary
midway between Cognac and the sunny beaches and picturesque islands
off the Atlantic coast. The sun grows higher and hotter - when
we see it!The prices of our various gites and B & B are here TARIFF.html
Other pages of interest can be found by clicking on the links.
For an aerial view try below and play with the image. We are on the junction of rue du Peu and rue des Barriéres http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&t=h&ie=UTF8&ll=45.880568,-0.681238&spn=0.027545,0.05785&z=14&om=
21st JUNE 2008
It seems to be my habit to blether on on midsummer's day and here we go again, not, to be frank that this is the height of summer. Two days ago the journal announced the first day of Summer which gives it six days in total. I refute this calumny and though partial and intermittent, I feel that summer is with us.
A sign of times moving on is the replacement of hands upon our newly refurbished church clock dial.After a short pause whilst the chiming and sonorous Angelus have been retuned- and programmed – the clock now shows the correct time. Hooray, the moving digit moves on. The church tower is a residence for many pigeons and has been clocked by a local buzzard
which has taken to circling the clock faces and creating consternation. The picture shows it harrying the pigeons though, as yet, we have not witnessed a strike. Entertainment for watchers from the courtyard as indeed have been the owls. Many guests have spent the odd hour on the balcony with a glass of rosé and a view of the owls emerging from a hole in the church and returning to feed their noisy and voracious brood As usual in the early summer days we visit the Isle d'Oléron with its restaurants and harbour. We also dropped in to see a local church
which, though not competing, must be one of the smallest.
Quite why and for whom we have yet to divine, The fish and shellfish,
particularly oysters, are as good as ever though the fisherman have manifestations on the price of diesel. Don't we all wish to?
A “manifestation” involves a day of parading, perhaps with mild violence, around the town-e.g.la Rochelle with a small band, banner waving and the odd protest chant. Yesterday was a “greve” which is a strike in the terms of withdrawal of labour, in this case the local nurses protesting about pay, working conditions, the cost of motor fuel and in favour of a general desire for anarchy. Plus ca change.......One thing which, as a gardener, brings joy to Jenny's heart is the lush growth of fauna, from the vine, wisteria and acanthus in the courtyard to the alliums
in the garden, there is a wealth of colour and growth.
French life is a different culture with much to admire and more to enjoy; the style is certainly laid back and, for all our grumbling, local countryside, food and the climate all combine to welcome visitors as our guests this year will avow. I know that the pound is weak and travel a luxury, but we all deserve a break to re-charge. Come and join us. Jenny and Mike
The residence, No 9 Rue des Barrieres is in the small town of Saint Savinien sur Charente. this region is famous to many as it has a micro climate with warm summers and mild winters - one reason we have moved here from the North-East of England
Another is the location. Saint Savinien is known locally as "tranquille". It is about four and a half hours from St Malo where Brittany Ferries dock at 8.00 a.m after a pleasant meal and a nights sleep on board. It is twenty minutes from the A10 autoroute at St Jean d'Angely. As a holiday destination it has much to offer. We are in comfortable reach of the Atlantic coast, Royan with a ferry across to the vineyards of the Medoc, Rochefort with its naval history and present construction of an 18C frigate and the delights of Saintes.
The hinterland has much
to offer. The region is proud of its Gallo-Romain background
and the architecture of its many churches,
often dating back to the 12th Century when this area was busy
with pilgrims to St.Jacques de Compostelle as Fenioux to the right.
Twenty minutes to Saintes with a Roman arch and amphitheatre,
the pedestrian streets with bars, restaurants, shopping and all
facilities of a large town with hypermarkets and on the motorway
only 90 minutes to the centre of Bordeaux.
The food is another plus. The Charentais melon is famous; our local aperitif, Pineau des Charentes, well known, and seafood live and jumping (the oysters are somnolent) in the markets. Local wine is inexpensive and enjoyable as is the cognac. The hypermarkets are full of other regional wines at decent prices together with anything you may need for the holiday or to take home and make the neighbours jealous.
Click here for an itinerary for TOURISTS in the TOWN
Saint Savinien is on a curve of the river Charente. A canal was constructed to cut off the "D" and create a leisure island. This has, in season particularly, a child's boating lake with miniature ferries, stern wheelers etc a boules court, a bistro restaurant - le Bec Fin- swimming pool, crazy golf and plenty of space for picnics and bike riding. The town itself is on a limestone hill which has been quarried for the lovely stone which is used in all the main houses, constructed in the mid 19th C. It is a very pretty traditional Charentais village with a Saturday market and shops, pizzeria, banks, doctors and many local festivities as, in August, the wine fair.
We are close to the XIVc church at the top of the town with a five minute walk down to the river, bakers, tabac and the Ile de la Grenouillette ( little frog) in the bend of the river.
Click here for TOURISTS ROUND and ABOUT
Mike Boustred and
Jenny JamesDue to the difficulty in removing the lingering smell, we prefer our guests to smoke, if they must, outside the rooms.
Note my continuing address -You are welcome to send e-mails from here
by snail mail, 9 RUE des BARRIERES, 17350 SAINT SAVINIEN, FRANCE.
Phone number :-0033 5 46 90 85 12- from England
This and other properties may be viewed on http://www.rent-a-holiday-home-in-france.info
and also on http://www.whereonearthgroup.com/
http://www.worldvacationrentals.net/docs/e/index.html">Vacation Rentals around the World</a><br>
