We Become Ecotourists in The Green Venice

We had a wide range of food to choose from at breakfast: coffee in big blue bowls (Don opted for a mug and saucer), juice, cereal, all sorts of breads and brioche, toast, pureed fruit, fresh fruit, cheeses, butter, and Francoise's homemade cherry preserves from the tree in the back garden. (There also was a jar of homemade plum preserves from her neighbour.) We tried to eat as lightly for breakfast as we could since the lunches and dinners were always sumptuous.

Dominique was working the night shift and hadn't gotten in until 5:30 a.m. and Alexandre had left for school at 7. Francoise, who wasn't working that day, joined us for breakfast, drove us in to Cognac and went with us on the day's outing.

We all had to be in Cognac city centre by 8:15 on Thursday morning for the day's tour of Le Marais Poitevin (the Marshes of Poitou), France's second-largest wetlands. There are several types of marshes: wet, dried, maritime, and the Green Venice. After a 2-hour coach ride we arrived at the town of Coulon right on a canal (actually, the Sevres Niortaise River).

Our first stop was the House of the Wet Marshes, former manor home of the toll collectors who, until the late 18th century, collected tolls for all goods transported on the river. The tolls paid for the maintenance of the waterway but also lined the pockets of the lord of the manor of Coulon. Now the manor houses a museum, information centre, and gift shop. The museum area includes a one-room mansion from the 19th and early 20th centuries, rather like an old Scottish butt and ben with just one room serving the inhabitants as well as providing shelter for animals. We learned from a video presentation the history of the marshes which consist of 110,000 hectares: 70,000 hectares of which are wet, 30,000 hectares of which are dry, 3 rivers that come inland from the Atlantic, and smaller rivers that meander through the area. The marshes have evolved for roughly 10,000 years, through times of flooding, drying, wars and occupation, development, agriculture, and navigation. In fact, piers and clay dykes from the Middle Ages are still maintained. The Marais Poitevin is divided into 3 areas, all governed separately and with different policies, making a comprehensive and cohesive preservation approach to this valuable resource difficult to forge.

After the tour of the centre, we had some free time to stroll through the town before meeting at the restaurant right on the canal for luncheon. Aperitifs awaited us, quickly followed by plenty of wine to accompany our three courses plus cheese and coffee.

After our meal we boarded three grande barques for an excursion through canals and waterways, narrated by our guide-bateliers. Fortunately, our barques had awnings. The weather was off and on rainy but that didn't dampen our spirits as we boated past numerous fishermen, hamlets of beautiful old mansions, stands of elegant trees, lovely flowers both wild and formal, a bevy of graceful swans, grazing brown cows, a few horses and even a donkey or two. Goodness only knows what else was around and beneath us that we didn't see. Just before we got to our destination, Saint-Hilaire-la-Palud (a place whose name is far larger than its area), our bateliers demonstrated the methane level of decomposing leaves which had fallen into the canal by stirring up the sediment below us with their oars and then lighting the water on fire with cigarette lighters. (These were only small and brief fires.) At Saint-Hilaire-la-Palud, we turned around and followed the same route back to the landing spot in Coulon.

After a short rest stop for buying postcards, ice cream and coffee, we returned to the coach for the scenic tour back to Cognac through a series of charming villages.

We took a short rest after arriving back at Chez Guillen. When we went into the house for dinner, we were greeted by Alexandre and Dominique. They saw to it that we had Pineau aperitifs and snacks while Francoise was preparing the meal. I wish I could tell you about each meal we had, but I can't remember what we had which night or what came with it. I can tell you that we had some delicious food, prepared differently, and presented home-style. There were many courses, lots of fresh pate before the meal, lots of cheese after, lovely desserts and much wine before, during and after.