Local Area

Shopping

Mirambeau, three miles away, has two supermarkets, a butcher, baker, bank, tabac, hotels, restaurants, a boulangerie/coffee bar, a drinks bar and a large chateau, now a hotel. There is a local market on Saturday mornings selling fish, meat, fruit, vegetables and other produce.

Most supermarkets do not close for lunch but other shops do, normally from 12.00noon until 2.00pm. The supermarkets in Mirambeau are open on Sunday mornings until 12.00noon.

Jonzac, in the opposite direction is a larger town about eight miles away. This has out-of-town supermarkets and shops. It is a thriving town with varied retailers and restaurants. The large local market here is covered and opens on Friday mornings. There is a railway station that operates trains to Bordeaux, Saintes, La Rochelle and the surrounding area.

Saintes is a large town with street markets, shops and restaurants as well as out-of-town shops. There is a Roman museum as well as the remains of an amphitheatre and church.

Bordeaux is a beautiful city with fascinating architecture and miles of shopping arcades and restaurants. There is an excellent tram system operating in the city. It can be accessed very easily by driving to the outskirts (detailed info. provided in the gite). Parking in the Park and Ride scheme is very inexpensive with access to the tram system alongside.

Restaurants

There are over a hundred restaurants in the near vicinity, excluding those in Saintes and Bordeaux. Many of these are listed in the gite and further details are provided wherever possible.

Places To Go

The Charente-Maritime beaches are well known. They are generally beautiful, unspoilt and fairly uncrowded depending upon where and when you go. The area has the second highest number of hours of sunlight after the Cote d’Azur. The main beach areas are:

Meschers, has five superb sandy beaches and also has several pretty villages nearby. There are bars and restaurants around, either for a quick snack or a long lunch for which the French are famous.

St Georges de Didonne has a long sandy beach, restaurants and a quaint town.

Royan is a large seaside town with long sandy beaches and trendy shops. This also has night clubs, free beach concerts on specified dates and a casino.

St.Palais is a pretty resort very popular with French holidaymakers. There is a long sandy beach, together with restaurants and shops.

La Palmyre is another beautiful beach resort and beyond this lies the Cote Sauvage. This has a pine forest surrounding the beach area.

Many of these beaches provide children’s clubs operating during the high season. They have English speaking staff and are very reasonably priced.

Other Swimming Venues

Jonzac has "Les Antilles" (French West Indies). This is a fabulous indoor/outdoor swimming area with jacuzzi’s, steam and sauna rooms. It is very large, beautifully maintained with sandy outside area’s and is suitable for children or adults alone.

There is also a lake at Jonzac with children’s activities and eating areas.

Montendre has a large lake for swimming and boating. This has life-guards and eating facilities including a Thai restaurant.

Sight-Seeing

There is a ‘green route’ well signposted which goes through pretty villages and a coast road that accesses the ports along the Gironde estuary. Talmont is a beautiful old fishing village overlooking the Gironde. This has a Romanesque church and narrow twisting streets that now have interesting craft shops and restaurants.

Pons is a historic walled mediaeval town with much to see and many restaurants. Saintes and Cognac are also beautiful old towns well worth visiting. There are many beautiful rivers in the area and a boat trip is a good way to see the sights.