All aboard to Aubeterre!!

Sunday, April 29th

The group awoke to another grey, rainy morning. Paul, Dan, Cullen and Alice shouldered umbrellas and headed into the rain for Paul’s weekly 9 KM stroll with Sydney, the 11 year old Labrador that is never far from Paul’s side. The stroll took the group through some lovely countryside spotted with cattle (les vaches) and down to the lake where they took a small break for coffee at the clubhouse and spa, Etang Vallier. The countryside leading to the lake resort is a mixture of textures: swaying grass and herds of cows border vineyards and rolling hills topped with stone houses and fields of flowers.

After coffee and respite from the rain, le petit group continued up to the center of Brossac by way of the Petanque court where Paul and the locals have a friendly game every week. In the Village Center the group stopped again at one of the local restaurants, Le St Bernard, and partook in drinks and friendly banter with the local patrons and owners. The owner and workers not only sat and spoke with the group but helped the group read through the horoscopes and tease each other in French. This interaction with the French people and language is one of the most effective ways that the group can practice the level of and amount of French they feel comfortable with, as well as use what was taught during the weekly French lessons on Friday.

While at Le St Bernard the group learned that, though the record amount of rain that has fallen has been beneficial in filling the lakes and watering some of the crops, it has left Chalais flooded and many businesses closed.

Market in Chalais flooded from the rain.

In the afternoon the group took an excursion to AUBETERRE-SUR-DRONNE, Charente. With its red-tiled roofs, steep cobbled streets and typically French town square lined with linden trees, it is one of the most popular of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. The once fortified town saw battles against both the English and the Huguenots during the Wars of Religion and was a stopping point for travellers on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Little known to many people, the small village was the birthplace of Roger Vivier, the inventor of the stiletto. However, it is the beauty of the village, with the pottery and other crafts of its local artisans, in combination with its pilgrimage history that make Aubeterre a well known and much visited town.

The group sat in Place Trarieux, a tree-lined square named after Ludovic Trarieux, the founder of the League of Human Rights who was born there, and had crepes and coffees while watching the world bustle by. Gerard, the owner of the clubhouse and spa in Brossac, met the group and he and Paul led a small tour of the town, as the rain had stopped and the sun had come from behind the clouds. C’etait une bonne journee.