Travelling to Cognac, enroute to Bordeaux

Statue in the courtyard of Palace of Counts of Poitou

Standing in the line for the Airlink Express bus in West-End of Edinburgh, I was wondering if I had done the right thing. After all, Taxi to the airport would have only cost about 25 pounds. But I wanted to travel like the way Brits do - using public transportation. So here I was, standing in the line for the airport bus, at 6am, hoping that the bus would not be late and I would not be delayed. As it would happen, the bus came on time and 40 minutes later I was dropped off right in from to the checkin area at Edinburgh Airport. Total cost - £5.50! Great to start the day with savings.

My plan was to meet Ruben and Rosa somewhere near Bordeaux, and the easiest way for me to get there was to take Ryan Air to a town called Poitiers, and then from there take the train to Saintes (pronounced Sānt). Ruben and Rosa, who were driving in from Valencia, would meet me at Saintes and we would head out from there to the town of Cognac.

Landing in Poitiers, I was picked up by my AirBnB hostess, Shaïna, a nice young lady who brought me to her property on Rue de la Tranchee. Shaïna had only recently purchased the apartment and fixed it up with the help of her father and brother, and was now renting it out. And I may have been her very first guest, for the apartment was pristine and still smelled of wall paint! Poitiers is a small town of <100,000 residents so I was surprised that there would be as many AirBnBs as there were until Shaïna informed me that the town attracted a lot of travelers on account of the many universities. 

Shaïna's home is very close to the City center, and afternoon was pleasant enough to take a walk. The first monument to send me down the historic lane to 3rd or 4th century around a wall built by the Romans. Today, just inside the wall sits the massive Maubergeon Tower of the Palace of the Counts of Poitou - Dukes of Aquitaine. Over the last 1000 years, many a residents have come and gone and yet the massive edifice stands. Alas, the castle was closed as it is being refurbished as a tourist attraction. 

However, the biggest attraction, the Notre-Dame la Grande church in city center was wide open and a great visit. This church is over a thousand years old and has withstood the test of time thru many wars and other onslaughts. The story of the church can be read here, including a funny but interesting story of the missing keys. The frescoes painted on the walls of the church and the painted columns gives the church a degree of beauty that makes the visit worth while. 

My visit to Poitiers was very serendipitous. It happened to be the only place where a flight connection was available. But for that, I would have had no reason to visit Poitiers. But once here, I realized that this region at one time had great deal of significance to the English and the French. Historically, France and England have been allys and bitter enemies, and the region has changed hands between England and France from time to time. Poitiers, in fact, is most famous for the Battle of Poitiers in which the English monarch King Edward III defeated French King John II and took him into custody. You can read the very interesting description of this battle on Britannica website.

Stained Glass Window in the Church of Notre-Dame la Grande

Painted Frescoes in the Church of Notre-Dame la Grande

Some of the interior frescoes are in bad shape and need to be repaired. Otherwise these frescoes aren't going to last much longer

The Blossac Park

One surprise find of my visit to Poitiers was the realization that this little town is full of gems like Park of Blossac. This park used to be a private garden of the Count of Blossac, Paul Esprit Marie de La Bourdonnaye, who had it constructed in the late 18th century. The garden itself is on the top of the hill with a small terraced gardern overlooking the Clain river.  I only was staying  overnight and had to catch a train at 11.30 am. So, I took advantage of the great weather early next morning, and went down to the park for a stroll. It was amazing. Very peaceful, and hardly anyone there except a few joggers. 

    

Before I knew it, the morning hours had flown by and I had to walk down to the train station to Saintes. Unfortunately, at that hour there was no direct train to Saintes, so I had to stop in a station called Niort and take a second train from there to Saintes. 

Having a little bit of time between trains, I took a walk outside Niort and looked around, but Niort was even sleepier town than Poitiers and nothing was open. So, I simply walked back to the station and grabbed a sandwich from the self serve and enjoyed it while waiting for the train.

Niort

 

Niort seems like a town in the boonies. Yet the train station was very nice, excellent construction and the train service itself was great. The train had five carriages, and as many passengers! May be the trains are busier at other times, but at this time there were hardly any passengers.  In about an hour and four stops later I was in Saintes, waiting for Rosa and Ruben, who arrived shortly thereafter and we started for the town of Cognac, our first stop on this wine and cognac tour. 

Cognac is 28 Kms due west of Saintes, and a relatively straight drive on highway N141. It took us barely 30 minutes to get into Cognac and we had sufficient time to walk around the town and get the lay of the land.  

One thing I am coming to realize as I travel around Europe, these large brands that are famous the world over, are based in small towns and are the life blood of local economies, providing jobs to hundreds of people in towns around them. While most of us have been exposed to very famous brands like Hennessy, Martell, Courvoisier, there are also these small and not-so-famous brands that are family owned and distilleries managed by two or three people. We planned to go to one of those Cognac factories, but unfortunately ran out of time so ended up spending the next morning simply walking around the town and visiting Meukow Distillery.