The best traffic-free bike rides around Saint-Palais-Du-Né

A small fresco in the countryside, it's fun and unusual

The Maison de la Vigne et des Saveurs allows the visitor to understand the origin of the World of Cognac, through a scenography dedicated to the history of the vineyard and it is also a tourist information space.

These ancient windmills are the best evidence that people were clever enough to harness the power of the wind centuries ago - long before the discovery of electricity and the resulting inventions. So what is celebrated today as modern (so-called green or renewable) energy is essentially “old hat” in a new guise.

A beautiful section of gravel of about 2km which crosses the vines. You can get off the roads a bit and the gravel is quite compact.

An old windmill with breathtaking panoramic views.

An old windmill with breathtaking panoramic views.

From the 12th to the 15th century, the parish church of Saint-Pierre was part of the former diocese of Saintes. The Romanesque church underwent major renovations in the Gothic period (nave, chancel). It was largely destroyed in 1562, during the Wars of Religion and has only retained its old choir, its facade bell tower and its south aisle. A major restoration campaign was carried out in the years 1865-1868. It was at this time that the nave and the side aisles were rebuilt. The choir with a flat apse pierced by a large bay window in the Flamboyant Gothic style, is covered with a vault of warheads with liernes. It was built in the middle of the 15th century by the Valois of Orléans, whose arms appear in the keystone. A bay with four mullions and a flamboyant network to the east, and a simple lancet bay on the other sides illuminate it. On the facade, established in projection and the width of the porch, opens the door with three rollers, formed of sausages and cavets, on columns, with capitals with foliage and foliage, surrounded by a cord loaded with festoons. Above is the square bell tower, presenting to the west a foliated frieze, a cornice and a blind arcade, received by seven columns with capitals. Set back, there are two floors adorned with five columns on the corners and two intermediate ones, rising to the top. The first is pierced on each side by two semicircular arches. The second floor is open with two third-point bays, on columns. A conical spire completes the bell tower. The beautiful bell tower with a stone spire covered with scales belongs to the original Romanesque church. It was completed in the 19th century by four small pinnacles surrounding the spire. Placed to the west of the building, it now serves as a bell tower. The floor covered with a stone barrel vault opening onto the nave has two capitals from the first half of the 12th century; one of them represents two men leaning against each other whose hands are eaten by monsters. A 12th century gallery exists above the porch, the width of the nave; Originally this platform extended over the aisles which extended along the alignment of the porch. The Romanesque facade and bell tower, as well as the Gothic choir, have been listed as Historic Monuments since 1932.