In Cognac :
Just across the bridge from the house you are in Old Cognac with the Chateau des Valois, birthplace of King François 1, the cellars of the cognac producers, the Museum
and the port. Walk along the towpath of the Charente. Take a river trip on “La Dame Jeanne”, (the traditional Charentais
flat-bottomed boat called
a “gabarre”) or hire a “penichette”, a little barge.
Annual festivals : Detective Films, July-“Blues Passions”, September-Street Theatre, November “ Salon
of European Literature”...
Around
Cognac :
Near Cognac the golf du Cognac in Saint-Brice.
Less than 1 hour by car : Angoulême (Comic Strip festival) , Chateau
of Rochefoucauld, Jarnac (birthplace of François Mitterrand), Aubeterre-sur-Dronne (subterranean church), Saintes (Abbaye aux Dames and Gallo-Roman sites), Rochefort (the
Royal Rope factory and Museum Pierre Loti), Royan and the coast.
Do not forget the local vineyards with tastings
and direct sales, routes of Romanesque art and “Paleosite”, the interactive prehistory centre at St Césaire.