June 01 – Citadelle de Brouage

We are relocating again, so after breakfast we loaded up the car and headed out.  Our sightseeing stop today was at the Citadelle de Brouage.  This Les Plus Beaux Village was unlike any of the others that we have visited over the last few weeks.  It is a town in the middle of marshland. 

Centuries ago, it was a town built on an island in a shallow bay.  Its major industry was salt with vast salt pans set up in the area.  The area eventually silted up and surrounded the town.  There is still a channel from the river that cuts through the marsh near town but it is basically landlocked. 

The town is very flat and the streets are laid out in a grid.  Unlike the other villages we visited that were hilly with windy streets.  But there were the usual cobblestones.

We saw some maps of the village that showed the grid in detail. 

We stopped to visit the little church, Eglise St. Pierre et St. Paul of Brouage.

In front of the church was a pillar, a monument to Samuel Champlain, the French explorer credited with founding French Quebec.  He was born in Brouage. 

Then we headed to the other side of town where we climbed the steps up to the ramparts and went out the gate to get better views of the walls. 

From the ramparts we had views of the marsh beyond.

And across the street there were some ponds.  Based on a street sign we think the ponds were used to grow oysters and mussels. 

Then we headed to the La Halle aux Vivres; the old food and storage hall.  It is now an exhibition hall.

We paid to visit.  The exhibition was in the lower level where there were vaulted ceilings.  The exhibition was mainly about the origins of the town and was geared to children.  But it was interesting and a half hour well spent.   

There were a few eateries open so we found one with an interesting sounding vegetarian salad and settled on that. 

On the way back to the car, we collected photos of the doors and windows along the streets.

They were most interesting and looked very well maintained, but the town looked pretty deserted while we were there except for a few shops and eateries.  But Google said about 600 people still lived here.  It was originally built for about a population of 4,000.

Then we headed out for our next destination, Libourne, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine (New Aquitaine).

We checked in and then headed out to see what we could see and to find dinner. 

The sun was beautiful on the steeple of this church. 

Unfortunately, it is Monday, and a lot of things are closed.  We had no luck with finding a restaurant that had vegetarian foods, but we did find an O’Tacos that was open.  We have seen these in many of the places we have stayed and since it was the only thing open we decided to try it.

The “authentic French Tacos” turned out to be French fries and whatever else you are adding (meats, cheeses, etc.) wrapped in a tortilla and heated panini style.  It was ok and filled the empty stomachs.  They also had cups of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream so we had dessert.

Then walked back to the waterfront (the Dordogne River) where we had good views of the setting sun on the water.