A warm welcome
Our plan was to drive down the western side of France to Blaye and spend some time exploring the countryside around there and Bordeaux.
But we didnât do that. For a start, the countryside around our en route stops looked too interesting to leave quickly and â when we did eventually reach Blaye â well, Iâll tell you about that laterâŚ
Having overnighted at Saint-Martin-dâAubigny, conveniently close to Cherbourg, we drove to Le Langon, just outside Fontenay-le-Comte. The warm welcome at this site made us reluctant to leave. Fontenay-le-Comte, just under nine miles away, looked appealing as well.
The Place Viète in Fontenay-le-Comte is an enormous free car park right on the edge of the town centre and, from here, we could look down the wide, straight road that completely bisects the town. The interesting part of Fontenay-le-Comte is on the left.
We arrived on market day; the appropriately named Place du Commerce full of bustle and friendly banter in a setting lined by handsome houses. Close by is the Place Belliard with its seventeenth century arcades. In the Middle Ages this was the central open space, used for markets, public announcements and executions.
The nearby cathedral has been looted, destroyed and rebuilt over the years, but its splendid spire dominates the skyline. I think that the best
