Thursday 16th April
When I wake up I always lower the blind a few inches to see
what the weather is doing. This morning the sun was streaming through the trees
and it was really pretty.
As we drove along we passed some giant sand dunes. There were a line of people of the top of one of them, they looked like ants!
Cognac today - that’s the place, not the drink! We went last year but only stayed one night
and Richard said he would like to go back, so go back we did!
We had noticed a lot of cars with the letter A on the back.
We had a feeling it was probably a new driver but we were really surprised with
the rules the newbies have to adhere to. The A stands for Apprenti (Apprentice)
and is a legal requirement for new drivers in France. Anyone who has just
passed their driving test and is in their probationary period usually the first
3 years, or 2 years if they did "AAC" (a French initiative allowing
teens (15+) to learn to drive early, boosting success rates to 70%). There are strict rules for "A"
drivers. They must go slower on major roads. For example, while the standard
limit on a motorway is 130 km/h, a new driver is restricted to 110 km/h and
there is zero tolerance for alcohol. I’m
surprised that there aren’t more cars with A stickers on.
We made a quick stop at Cognac’s Intermarche which we had
visited last year, but it has since had a complete revamp and was pretty
amazing. I didn’t dare spend too much time in there!
Mrs Google got it so wrong after she was programmed to get
to our aire from the supermarket. The actual aire is on the river but on the
opposite bank to where Google took us!
As we had been before, between us we were able to get to the right
place.
The aire was very quiet so we had a good choice of pitch.
We took Rio for a lovely walk along the river and found a
very interesting structure in the river. Richard said they had been building it
when we were here last year. It turns
out that it is a piece of art by architect and artist Feda Wardak called “La
Maison sur le Fleuve" (The House on the River). It isn’t a house it’s a floating,
"living" work of art designed to sit on the Charente River. It is
described as a "floating unidentified object".
We walked past a building that used to be an abattoir. The
19th century saw the population of Cognac grow from 3,000 to 18,000 so new
infrastructure was needed to supply food for the inhabitants. The abattoir was
the first of these new buildings. The town's architect chose a site close to
the river since access to water was essential. A branch of the river was filled
in and replaced with a street. Two parallel roofed buildings were constructed
for slaughtering the animals; The abattoir was finally closed in 1987 and after
a period, the site was transformed into a concert hall dedicated to the music
of today. Les Abattoirs is a premier
contemporary music venue which hosts about 40 concerts a year.
The aire filled up during the evening but it wasn’t full
which is always a bonus.
Friday 17th April
Rio had to go to the vet to have his “fit to travel”
examination and worming tablet so he can get back into the UK. We have been so
lucky with the vets in the EU, they are so friendly and speak really good
English.
From the vets we walked to Les Halles, a covered market,
only it is closed! There is major
renovation work taking place which began in late 2025 and is expected to
continue throughout 2026. I have to say
that the outside looks rather sad.
Fortunately, a temporary market has been set up in a marquee and I could
have spent a fortune in there! I did
however buy a large slice of quiche and some Dauphinose potatoes with truffles
in!
We walked to the Place Francois I for a coffee. Sadly, I
guess as it’s the school holidays, the square was dominated by a children’s
carousel so we missed seeing the statue of King Francis I, who was born in the
city and who the square is named after.
I had seen that there was a lovely old house in one of the
streets so we looked it out. The Maison
de la Liutenance was the residence of Pierre Lacombe, lieutenant-general of
Cognac, from 1603 to 1624. He initiated its reconstruction, although the
sculptures on the wooden posts probably date back to the 15th century.
The other place that Jem told us to visit was the Le Jardin
Public (Public Garden). It is one of the
few English-style gardens in France and serves as a peaceful escape right in
the center of town. Spanning seven hectares, it was created by joining the
grounds of two adjacent private mansions that were acquired by the town at
different times. In 1889, the commune
purchased the Otard de la Grange mansion. By 1892, the building was transformed
into the town hall (Hôtel de Ville). The landscape architect Édouard André was
commissioned to redesign the surrounding park, where he introduced the sunken
garden style and various water features that are still visible today. In 1921, the town purchased the neighboring
Dupuy d'Angeac mansion, which now serves as the Museum of Art and History. We sat and were mesmerised by the fountains
as they kept stopping and starting. I was looking at the history of the gardens
and discovered that its historical and aesthetic value was officially
recognized in 1943-1944 when it was classified as a monument historique.
As the gardens were made a historical monument during WWII,
we wondered what part, if any, Cognac played during the war. In fact it occupied a strategic and often
tense position within occupied France. Because of its famous namesake spirit
and its proximity to the Atlantic coast, the town was of significant interest
to the German forces. Many of the grand
merchant houses and châteaux were requisitioned to house German officers and
administrative offices. The
Cognac-Châteaubernard airbase became a vital installation for the Luftwaffe. It
was used as a base for long-range maritime patrol aircraft, such as the
Focke-Wulf Fw 200 "Condor," which targeted Allied shipping in the
Atlantic. Because of the airbase, Cognac became a target for Allied air raids.
The most significant strikes occurred in 1943 and 1944 as the Allies sought to
disable German aerial capabilities before and after D-Day.
The cognac industry faced a unique challenge. The Nazis were
highly interested in France’s wine and spirits, not just for consumption but as
a source of foreign currency. A key
figure during this time was Gustav Klaebisch, the German Sonderführer
(specialist leader) appointed to oversee cognac production. Interestingly,
Klaebisch had a background in the spirits trade and was relatively protective
of the region's stocks. While the
Germans "purchased" vast quantities of cognac (often with occupation
currency), the efforts of local producers and sympathetic overseers like
Klaebisch helped prevent the total pillaging of the oldest and rarest
"Paradis" cellars.
The Charente region had an active Resistance movement. Local
groups worked to sabotage German rail lines and gather intelligence on the
movements at the airbase. Resistance
members frequently targeted the infrastructure supporting the Luftwaffe base,
providing coordinates to British intelligence for bombing runs. After Cognac was liberated in September 1944
the FFI (French Forces of the Interior) and local citizens reclaimed the town.
After our history lesson we went back to the Place Francois
1 for lunch. A Croque Madame each and we were ready to walk back to Kiwi where
we spent a very relaxing afternoon in the shade.
The quiche and Dauphinose potatoes were excellent 😃
You are looking at the portal of the former Hôtel de
l'Indivision, located on Rue de l'Isle, right in the heart of the old town
(Vieux Cognac). This archway is a classic example of the 18th-century
"Grand Siècle" style that characterizes much of the town's wealthy
merchant history.
Saturday 18th April
Last night the internet was full of the fact that UK
citizens can no longer use EU pet passports. This was all because of a letter
that was released from the APHA (Animal and Plant Health Authority) saying
this. However the EU haven’t released this and their website still says that a
current pet passport can be used until it is full then a new one will not be
issued and that from April 22nd no new passports will be issued to non EU
residents. The next few weeks could be
interesting.
We left the aire and headed to the Intermarche but the car
park was rammed, hardly any car spaces let alone a space for a motorhome.
Mrs Google took us a very scenic route to get to the
motorway. It was lovely though, as we were driving through acres and acres of
vines. Some were very advanced and some looked as if they had only just woken
up after winter.
Once we got to the motorway the traffic was very heavy, we
drove into one service areas and there wasn’t anywhere to park - the whole
place was heaving.
We needed one last supermarket visit before going home and I
wanted it to be a Carrefour. I found one that was 1km off our route, which was
handy. In one of my previous Carrefour visits I had bought a wooden box which
has been really useful and doesn’t slide around the floor. We had decided that
two more would be useful. The Nantes Carrefour was HUGE but I couldn’t find any
wooden boxes anywhere. I was really p****d off as I had seen them in the last
store I had been into. C’est la vie!
Our aire was in a town called Blain, just north of Nantes
and on the edge of the Nantes-Brest Canal which is one of the most ambitious
engineering feats of 19th-century France. Stretching roughly 226 miles, it
winds through the heart of the Breton countryside, offering a mix of wild river
valleys, medieval castles, and tranquil towpaths. Work began in 1806
under Napoleon I and was opened in 1842. The goal was to provide an inland
supply route for the port of Brest to bypass the British naval blockade during
the Napoleonic Wars. It originally featured 238 locks to navigate the
varying elevations of Brittany’s "interior spine." However in
1923, the construction of the Guerlédan hydroelectric dam flooded a section of
the canal, effectively splitting it in two. Today, the canal remains
unnavigable by boat for its full length, though the towpath remains continuous
for cyclists and hikers.
We walked along the canal to the little port of Blain. There were a couple of nice “house” boats but
the rest looked pretty tatty, including one very strange one! You can hire boats on the canal and then go
onto the River Vilane in Nantes. I don’t think that is for us.
There are 17 pitches on the aire and up until 8pm we were
the only ones there until a French van joined us.
