Cognac to Saintes

May 21, 2019

Yes, it rained

I woke in a fog this morning, literally. Everything felt damp in my tent, even my phone when I picked it up to check the time.

When I looked outside, I saw why. There was a mist everywhere. It hadn't rained at all, but I still had a wet tent to pack--along with a damp sleeping bag and mat. So much for finishing the drying of my laundry this morning too.

I checked the weather. Fog wasn't mentioned, but there was some precipitation forecast and no sun. I booked a room in Saintes. Then, since Cognac to Saintes is only around 40 km, I bought a ticket for the 10:30 English tour of Hennessy Cognac. Yesterday Elaine had told me that Otard had the best tour, in her opinion, because it's in the Château Royal, but their first English tour wasn't until 1:30. Also, I'd noticed last evening that Hennessy had a new, purpose-built visitor centre...

I packed my wet stuff and rode into town. The fog wasn't thick, but it was thick enough that I thought I should have put my taillight on. I was wearing my yellow rain jacket with its reflective trim, so I didn't stop.

I stopped at a small market for lunch supplies and then at a boulangerie in the old town for a croissant and small café au lait. The croissants were marked as AOP, which I didn't think applied to croissants, but mine was very good. So good I decided to have a pain au raisin too.

Then it was off to my Cognac tour and tasting. Our guide, Megan, first took us across the street to one of the two river tour boats I'd seen last night, named Richard Hennessy I and II. The warehouses are across the river.

I locked my bike right under the sign. The woman I spoke to yesterday when I came in yesterday to inquire about the visits saw me later and said they'd kept an eye on it.

The tour started with a boat ride across the river.

First we visited the warehouse that's been completely renovated for tours. It was well done. Then we entered another that is still in use as a warehouse. We could smell the alcohol! Then back on the boat to return to the right bank, to yet another building. Here we saw a short video about the company's tasting committee, and then we got to taste.

Barrels and barrels in this working warehouse.

I asked about the bouquets on random barrels. Apparently when new (I didn't catch the name of the position), they get to roll their first barrel into the warehouse and it's saved for them. The bouquet is part of the tradition. Clearly I didn't catch the details!

Behind a locked gate are some special cognacs. Some have had enough contact with the oak barrels and are now being aged in glass demijohns. Zoom in to see some of the dates!

There are some barrels behind that locked gate too. The one on the end of the second row is dated 1893!

I didn't catch all the blending info, but cognacs are distilled twice. The products of the first distillation, the various eaux de vie, are blended and then distilled again, and the cognacs are aged and blended multiple times. I got a bit lost in the description. Look it up if you really want to know. Or visit one of the big Cognac houses.

I really can't remember if the giant barrels come after the small ones in which the aging (mostly) takes place. They did in the tour so I presume so. More blending happens when the big barrels are filled.

And back across the river we went. Almost all of the buildings shown here belong to Hennessy. I'm not sure about the little ones on the far left.

Each visitor (who's not a minor) gets two cognacs to taste. On the basic tour, these are V.S. and V.S.O.P. First you taste them neat, in the stem glass, and while you are doing that, an assistant comes by and puts two perfect ice cubes in each tumbler. Then you taste them "on the rocks". Adding ice (or water) has a very noticeable effect on the taste.

Megan demonstrating. Everyone gets a spitting gizmo as well, but Megan *has* to use hers.

Exit via the shop, of course. I would have bought one of the little sampler packs, but I didn't want to carry it for the next 5 or 6 weeks. I think the individual bottles might have been small enough, but how do you get a bottle of booze through security? I certainly wouldn't want it in my checked bag! But I remember only giant bottles of booze being available in duty free. A litre of Cognac would last decades in our house!

Leaving Hennessy I turned downstream and rode along the river. I didn't get far before I saw a sign marking La Flow Vélo, the bike route I've been following on and off down the Charente. It's quite new, having opened just last year.

La Flow Vélo was well-signposted, meaning I didn't lose the marked route. However, this section was almost entirely on unpaved tracks. My Pangea handles this well enough, but I should have read the review on Freewheeling France (a useful resource in English). Here's a quote about the Saintes-Cognac section: "The route appeared to have been devised with the ambition of maximizing off-road sections that were segregated from cars at the expense of rider comfort."

My lunch spot. It was sunny and there were these nice dry rocks, so I took the opportunity to dry some stuff.

View from my lunch spot. Beautiful! A couple of storks (?) flew overhead but I was laying out my tent at the time so I just watched rather than try to get my camera out.

Typical view today. Average road; some sections were better and some were worse.

See where it says "Chaniers par bac"? My escape! This was just a few metres from the ferry (bac) terminal.

The instructions say to call the ferry by flashing your headlights (phares). The ferryman had just made a crossing and looked back so I waved and he came across for me.

When I came to the little chain ferry and the opportunity to cross the Charente to Chaniers and a direct, paved road, I took it. The last few km went by quickly, even though they included the only actual climb of the day.

Once in Saintes proper, I stopped to retrieve the address of the lodging I'd booked and see if Garmin could find it. No luck, so I used Google maps and put my phone in my jersey pocket. I hadn't gone far when I felt raindrops. I was riding through a park at the time so I stopped to dig out my rain jacket, put it on, and move the phone to the chest pocket.

By the time I'd gone 50 metres the sky had opened. I joined a couple of people taking shelter under some trees and saw others sheltering under the few building overhangs and even several under the nearby pedestrian bridge. Did I mention there were actually people out and about in Saintes?

We waited for the rain to die down but it only intensified. The raindrops were coming down so hard they bounced in the puddles. Then there was hail. Everywhere there was at least a cm of water on the ground and flowing across it. The arched pedestrian bridge was a river, with water flowing more than 5 cm deep. I looked at my phone. My lodging was two minutes away (said Google Maps) and everything below my jacket (but not underneath it) was soaked through. So much water had run down my legs that my shoes were swimming pools. I couldn't get any wetter so I set off, riding through streets that were shallow rivers. No photos of the rain, though. I thought my handlebar bag might have flooded if I opened it to get out my weather-resistant camera!

On a side note: last night when I was sitting in my tent, trying to upload my ride, there was a weather alert on my Garmin. Flood warning, it said. What? Although there's a weather function, I have that turned off since it requires phone data (which is expensive at home) and battery power (problematic when camping). I was camping quite close to a river so I looked on a couple of weather apps. Nothing. Now I'm wondering just what goes on in Garmin's little electronic brain...

My hostess brought me and my dripping gear into her garage. I got settled into a lovely room in a very interesting house while the rain slowly abated. By the time I was ready to go out for a walk around Saintes and to find a place to eat, it had stopped and the sky was bright.

One end of my bedroom in a lovely old house with a very complex layout.

Looking out from my bedroom door at the landing at the top of the main stairs to this level (two flights up). You go through that door and down three steps to another landing area...

... and through another door is your gigantic private bathroom! There were two other doors off the same landing, but I have no idea where they went.

Street view of the house (on the left; you can see the "chambre d'hote" sign). The gate leads to a courtyard and there's another courtyard or garden in the back. To the left of the photo are two doors to a big double garage. That's the tower of the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre.

The Roman Amphitheater. I'll come back tomorrow when it's open. I got to the entrance just as they were closing up at 7.

For the parts on the river, I was in a boat!

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Today's ride: 39 km (24 miles)
Total: 1,090 km (677 miles)

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Keith ClassenHi Jacquie - that’s quite the day you had. I just read your entry from your French Alpes blog riding up Ventoux loaded... very very impressive! Hope things go well for the solo part of your trip. To me that’s impressive as well. One thing I guess decision making is a bit easier.
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonI’m really glad you’re taking this route. Really enjoyed this region and along the coast. Great to see some of these images again. But the rain!
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5 years ago

Jacquie GaudetTo Keith ClassenI have discussions with myself! But actually, Al and I usually find ourselves choosing the same option when touring.
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5 years ago

Jacquie GaudetTo Scott AndersonIt’s now a couple of days later and the rain seems limited to a small possibility of afternoon showers for the next few days. Fingers crossed!
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5 years ago