If you base yourself in the historic market town of Saint-Jean-d’Angély, you can explore the peaceful, unspoilt countryside of the Vals de Saintonge, the buildings in the luminous local white stone and the waterways once used for transporting the region’s produce on the flat-bottomed barges known as gabares. From Saint-Jean-d’Angély food, wood, wine and cereals would be delivered to Rochefort, and salt and quarry stone were floated there from Saint-Vaize and Saint-Savinien.

One of the biggest sightseeing draws is Saint- Pierre-d’Aulnay, north-east of Saint-Jean-d’Angély, possibly France’s most beautiful Romanesque church and a UNESCO world heritage monument. Built in the late 12th century, its elegant lines contrast harmoniously with the rich ornamentation of the capitals and the tympana. The Saintonge Sermon over the main entrance is intricately detailed, with figures of daily life in the fields, the zodiac and parables.

Nearby is the Château de Dampierre, a Renaissance marvel set in luxuriant gardens with a box hedge maze and a Garden of Symbols. Apprentice magicians will be interested in the exhibitions on alchemy held here – the château was the alchemy centre in the Ancien Régime.
In the same town you can also visit the Asinerie nature reserve, where the local shaggy breed of donkey, the Baudet du Poitou, is kept from extinction.
Aulnay forest is great for walking, and the Charente and Boutonne rivers are both stocked with a wide variety of fish.