A Beautiful Part of France - South Charente

The Southern Charente is situated at the crossing of Perigord, Dordogne and Gironde and it takes about an hour to get to the coast.

Once you are here you will find that it is only a short drive away from the Bordelais, which is one of the greatest wine growing regions in the world.

The Charente region is also very famous for its Cognac and Pineau, a blend of eau de vie and grape juice.



The Charente river runs about 360kms through the most beautiful countryside in the Poitou-Charente and it finishes on the French Atlantic Coast.

Between Angouleme and the Atlantic coast, it winds through rolling vineyards and past ancient water mills, through sleepy villages and beside Romanesque churches.

For centuries, the Charente was busy with commercial traffic but today it’s one of France’s most popular rivers for pleasure cruising.

Take a cruise boat with commentary from Cognac, Jarnac or Saintes, or pilot your own self-drive cruiser.

The Charente is easy to navigate downstream from Angoulême to Rochefort, a distance of around 171 beautiful kilometres.

Get close to nature and watch wildlife.

Explore riverside villages and browse colourful markets for delicious local produce.

Once you explored the South Charente on the river, come back on land and have a look at all the Mills you will find across the countryside.

For quite a long time these Mills contributed to the local economy.

As you can imagine not all of them have been restored to former glory but a few are worth a visit.

There is Moulin du Grand Fief in Condeon, which is a wheat producing windmill and has only recently been restored.Le Moulin de la Gravelle in Lagarde sur Ne and Le Moulin Sartier in Salles Lavalette, just to name a few.



And of course you will find many lovely Villages, Restaurants, Churches and Museums to try out and explore.

I hope this gave you just a little bit more information about the lovely South Charente and might make you feel you would like to come and have a little holiday here.



Looking for somewhere to stay? No problem, check out 'La Petite Maison'. Maybe it's just what you are looking for.

As Always Enjoy!!

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