The best traffic-free bike rides around Le Douhet

A beautiful church with beautiful houses hidden in an ancient but romantic village, it's worth a stop. The Saint-Étienne church in Brives-sur-Charente is recent. It was consecrated in 1868 and reflects the 14th-century Gothic style. It replaced an older church, of which only a baptismal font, listed as a historic object in 1922, and a capital remain. This font, square and made of a single block of siliceous limestone, is a rare specimen of 12th-century sculpture and symbolism. Certain characteristic features, such as the draperies, allow it to be dated to the 1150s. On three sides, we discover the Annunciation made to Mary, then on the main face of the font, Christ officiating in heaven, and finally Christ descending into hell, savior of souls.

I really enjoyed this ride. I’m 46, I did it on a 40 year old road bike, it’s more suited to a cyclocross bike!

You can also spend a night at the Saint James House B&B, quality guest rooms, swimming pool and view of the Donjon 🙂

The Abbaye-aux-Dames is built around the church of Sainte-Marie, built in the twelfth century. Famous for its facade and its characteristic "pinecone" bell tower, it is one of the emblematic monuments of Saintonge's Romanesque art. After several wars and fires, the place was restored in the 1970s and 1980s and is now a hotel. When you walk through the long corridors you feel like you have been transported back to the time when the abbey was still alive.

The keep of Pons is located in the commune of Pons in the French department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. This tower is the old keep of the castle of Pons. 33 m high, it is visible from a long distance and is the symbol of the city. With the Saint-Gilles chapel, the remains of the ramparts and the main building, it constitutes the remains of the ancient castle of Pons.

Like many amphitheaters in the Roman Empire, that of Saintes was built on the outskirts of the city in a place now called "Vallon des Arènes" (Little Valley of the Amphitheater). The LTS builders took advantage of the local topography to build part of the amphitheater. Today, despite the disappearance of its superstructure, the remains give a very good idea of what this amphitheater looked like in its heyday. The site is now open to visitors all year round.

A former Benedictine abbey created in 1047, Abbaye-aux-Dames was the first women's monastery in Saintonge. These powerful women were nuns, that is to say, nuns living cloistered and having taken a vow of piety, occupying their lives in contemplation. They carried the crosier, in other words the pastoral staff of a bishop, and minted coins. Richly endowed, the abbey carried its influence well beyond the borders of the county and over time it became one of the most powerful women's monasteries in all of South-West France. With up to a hundred nuns at its peak, it was entrusted with the mission of instructing young girls, often from the French nobility, and counted among its most illustrious residents the future Marquise de Montespan, favorite of Louis XIV. The Abbaye-aux-Dames is structured around the Sainte-Marie church, built in the 12th century, famous for its facade and its characteristic “pine cone” bell tower. The premises were restored during the 1970s and 1980s and now house a Cité de la musique in which the Saintes Festival dedicated to classical music takes place each year. You can also stay in a wing of the building, the cells having been converted into hotel rooms, and leave your bike in a secure room.

With origins dating back to the Gallo-Roman era, the town of Saintes accumulates sites and monuments like so many layers of a centuries-old history. From the banks of the Charente to the height of the Capitol, there is so much to see along the streets of the city: the Germanicus arch, the thermal baths, the Saint Pierre cathedral, the Jacobins convent, the Musée de l'Echevinage , the Saint Eutrope Basilica, the footbridge over the Charente, etc. The heritage is omnipresent and offers many surprises and viewpoints.