Charente & Brittany

Bonjour from Port Chalmers.

We are back from France and are now over the jet lag and thinking about 2026.  Although we will not be going next year, we already have clients booked for May and June.  By booking early, they had the greatest choice of boats, accommodation and cycling options as well as the best prices.  After all the researching and discussions, there is nothing more frustrating than to find that your preferred boat, cruise, accommodation, etc. is not available for your dates.   

For our recent trip, we booked Le Boat's Vision 4 a year in advance, in September 2024, to secure the best price and our first choice of boat. The refurbished Vision boats are ideal for the Charente river and the staff at Jarnac went out of their way to help us when we had to change the start base.  That meant a change of itinerary, but when boating you need to be flexible and our friends readily adjusted.  

The weather was good enough for regular swims in the river, our cyclists escaped on bikes to explore villages, churches and a dolmen and being in cognac country we had to sample the local tipple.  We also enjoyed some wonderful meals ashore, of which the best was dinner at L’Iode in Saintes.  We were too busy enjoying the food, wine and company to take notes, but it was a Gault Millau review that lead us to it -  

"Benjamin Girard's specialty may be the sea, but the chef, who has worked with Thierry Verrat and Philippe Etchebest, is just as good on land.  Benjamin and Justine's restaurant is a welcome addition to the city's offerings, adding a touch of modern, well-crafted bistronomy. The €35 menu offers honest value for money, with an interesting chicken moelleux, blanquette and yellow wine sauce, bread tuile and apple-walnut brunoise, a well-cooked pollack, braised endives, orange and grapefruit sabayon, and finally cabbage, crème diplomate and salted butter caramel ice cream”.    

The apricot dessert was the star for Robert as the photo shows.  The fondant shell was flavoured with dried apricots and inside a light delicate mousse surrounded an apricot puree centre.  It looked and tasted superb and was accompanied by a refreshing sorbet.

After the boat we had three days in La Rochelle, a lovely city deserving more time, then drove north to Brittany, ending up on La Belle Ile.  A very appropriate name.  It’s the largest of Brittany’s islands and a short ferry ride from Quiberon (or a longer one from Vannes).   Its wild west coast with cliffs and jagged rocks contrasts with the beaches of the east and its 85km coastal trail attracts lots of walkers.  The circumnavigations takes five days, but the excellent bus service means lazy walkers like us can unwind with a short stroll followed by lunch at a restaurant.  We stayed in the main town of Le Palais and our longest bus journey was 25mins to Locmaria where we enjoyed a delightful lunch at Le Suet.  It was only 12mins north by bus, to the charming village of Sauzon. Its port is lined with seafood restaurants including Cafe de la Cale, which offers a delicious, bargain-priced lunch menu at 23€ for two courses (27€ for 3 courses).

That’s enough reminiscing and day-dreaming for now, but please get in touch if we can help with your travels in 2026.

Bien cordialement

Robert & Barbara