Never have an easy journey when you can turn it into a complex one. It isn’t
actually out motto but it might as well be considering the start of our journey
to Portsmouth to join the FolkMog trip to Charente-Maritime. We had decided
to visit some friends on our return from France so we needed to transport
my golf clubs to Tunbridge Wells and then carry on to Titchfield to return
a walking stick to my uncle who had left it behind after a recent visit.
So despite leaving at eight-thirty we were by no means the first to arrive
at the ferry terminal. We were lucky up to that point as we had missed most
of the rain although we had the roof firmly attached. By seven-thirty we
were through security and waiting 
again. At this point I thought I would
add the stickers on my headlights. I managed one before the heavens opened
again and there was no way I was going to be able to keep the headlights
dry while I put the other one on. I gave up and climbed into the car and
waited. Luckily we did not have to wait too long and we were soon aboard
and I managed to complete the headlight job before retiring to the Piano
Bar where we sipped wine with some other Folkmoggers as the ferry cast off
for the journey to St Malo on time at half past eight.
The crossing was smoother than we expected and we were woken from our slumbers
in time to join the others on the car deck before the journey to La Tacherie.
The weather forecast had suggested rain so we left our roof on for all of
a mile before the actual sunshine drove us into a lay-by where we found the
Middletons and the Davidsons with the same idea as us - to remove the roof.
Folkmog are not, generally speaking, into convoy driving so we all had our own plan for the journey south, intending to meet at our destination between four and six that evening. Despite this we kept on meeting other Morgan drivers on the journey down, notably at elevenses, lunch and in a supermarket. How do we do it? Is there some form of Morgan flocking instinct?
Our destination was a couple of gites run by Lyn and Graham Peek who were
once in AngleMog and now live full time in La
Rose des Vent in La Tacherie
in the Charente-Maritime. The Charente-Maritime came into existence during
the French Revolution when it was called the Charente-Inferieure. This was
changed to Charente-Maritime in 1941. Lyn and Graham have moved to permanently
to La Tacherie and after a few days one can understand why. As the name would
suggest it is on the coast and is bordered on the North by the Vendee and
the South by the Gironde. To the East is Charente where the delightful Cognac
may be found. La Tacherie is on the border of the Charente-Maritime and the
Charente nicely close to Cognac.
We arrived at about four forty-five to find several cars already there and
a lovely cup of coffee supplied with cake by Lyn. It was an enchanting spot
in a secluded courtyard with a lovely garden. We were introduced to the area
by Lyn and given a folder containing information about visits that had been
arranged for us as well as descriptions of scenic runs that we could try.
Of course the two gites at Lyn and Graham’s place could not hold us
all so after the introduction Graham led us on the five minute drive to Mesnac
where Bob and Jane Todd ran some splendid gites in the Moulin
de Chazotte where the rest of us were to stay.
We settled in to our gites and fairly quickly bottles of wine were opened
and we met up to regale each other with tales of our journey down. This did
not go on for too long as we had to ready ourselves to go out to dinner.
Dinner was to be in the Chateau Mesnac in the village. We set off in convoy
as only Simon and Sylvia knew where to go. We arrived at the chateau to be
greeting by a 
young girl who welcomed us and guided us to our table and once
seated asked us what aperitif we would like. Luckily we had been told about
a local aperitif called Pineau des Charentes which we all ordered and it
was so much enjoyed that several of us brought bottles back with us. The
meal was not one where one chooses from a menu but one where you eat what
is cooked for you and an excellent meal it was too. By the end of the meal
we were all feeling tired after what seemed to be a long day and we sloped
off back to our gites for a well earned sleep.
The next day we all took a leisurely time to rise and breakfast. Maurice and Eileen arriving hoodless in a downpour and insisting that it had been sunny when they set out a few minutes earlier sparked a communal coffee session as they were taken on a guided tour of all of the gites. We shared our gite with Roger and Linda Coverley, while either side of us Simon and Sylvia Rayfield and Roger and Chrissie Tatton had single bedroom gites. Round the corner at the end of the building Pat and Alan Braithwaite and Rob and Carol van der Sande shared the final gite. We learned later that we were actually in Bob and Jane’s normal home that they had vacated so that we could stay there.
In the afternoon we set off for Cognac where we were due to go on a guided
tour of the Hennessy distillery. It had been arranged that we could park
on the road outside the distillery but we were not sure where this was and
some confusion ensued until Alan Braithwaite took the bull by the horns and
asked someone inside. Then much shuffling of cars was carried out. Obviously
we had by now been joined by the rest of the party consisting of Maurice
and Eileen (Folkmog organisers par excellence), Simon and Cathlyn Davidson,
Phillip and Sandra Middleton, Brian and Jennifer Turner and last, but certainly
not least, Ian and Elizabeth Young. There was a brief wait before the tour
so Diana and I took a quick stroll around the town and a very pretty place
it turned out to be. We arrived back having missed the group photo call but
in time for the tour. The first step on the tour was to embark on a brief
river trip across to the other side of the Charente where the main distillery
buildings were. We were taken on a step by step guide through the process
of making 
Cognac from growing the grapes through making oak barrels all the
way to the cellar master’s art of blending the perfect Cognac. Hennessy
has had the same family of cellar masters for the last seven generations
and they have a very special Cognac at a mere six thousand Euros a bottle
to celebrate this fact. A sobering (strange word to use in a distillery)
thought was that during the maturation process they lose twenty million litres
of eau de vie through evaporation. This is known as the angel’s share.
Makes you want to be an angel! The tour ended with a tasting of the basic
Cognac but I could not resist purchasing a taste of the rather more expensive
(a thousand euros a bottle) Paradis. It was significantly smoother and I
was glad that we decided to take a short walk along the river bank before
driving back!
That night the whole party were to eat in La Courtine, a restaurant in Cognac
on the river. From our group Roger Tatton claimed he had already located
the restaurant so we all followed him. He was using his satellite navigation
system and it took us on a strange route that neither we or for that matter
Roger expected. Despite this odd route we actually found the restaurant without
any trouble and had a pleasant meal even if some of the wine was a bit strange.
Lyn’s plan for the next day was a visit to the Illes de Re followed
by a visit to La Rochelle. Few of us managed the suggested nine o’clock
start but by half past we were on our way. Two cars from La Rose and one
from the Moulin followed the Peeks while we were followed by Alan and Pat
Braithwaite and Rob and Carol Van der Sande. We arrived at the Illes de Rey
just after eleven and found our way to a car park short of the harbour at
La Flottte from where we walked to the enchanting port. We sat in a café sipping
coffee in a quayside bar basking in the sunshine, while suppressing an urge
to go sailing. Gradually others arrived to join the happy throng. We drank
our coffee and went for a walk around the town. This is something I like
about Folkmog holidays. There is certain looseness about them. Everyone is
pleased to see you when you arrive and they are never insulted if you want
to wander off and do your own thing and nor does anyone mind if you join
them in what they are doing.
After a look round the town we moved on to St Martin where we managed, more
by luck than judgement, to find the car park. We discovered afterwards that
we really should not have driven through the harbour area as this privilege
was reserved for residents. Already there were Rob and Carol, Simon and Cathlyn
and the Peeks. We went off to find some lunch and found it in a nice restaurant
on the quay. I had a bucket of moules and Diana a light meal of sardines
and by the time we finished this we did not really feel much like exploring
but we did. The town had lots of small streets and shops which we walked
around for a while before coming across a church with a tower we could climb.
The view from the top was excellent.
Upon our descent, made difficult by the extremely narrow staircase but eased
slightly by a traffic light system for climbers going up or down, we decided
to wend our way to La Rochelle. Lyn had told us where there was a good car
park and we located it without trouble. You may remember that La Rochelle
was the city besieged by the three musketeers (not on their own you understand)
in the eponymous book by Alexander Dumas. This is a lovely city and we rather
wished we had longer to explore but we were also feeling a little tired so
after looking round for a while we headed back to Le Moulin where we enjoyed
a quiet evening drinking wine and eating fresh bread and salad.
The sun was out early on the following morning, somewhat earlier than us
certainly but it was not to last. The clouds gathered and a fairly impressive
thunderstorm happened. We were feeling rather pleased with ourselves for
not going on the scenic runs suggested for the day. Some of the group in
La Tacherie were hardy souls and got going on the scenic runs early and got
a tad wet but they enjoyed them nevertheless. In the afternoon the sun came
out which had the reverse effect than that expected. Instead of getting us
up and driving we navigated ourselves to the pool and enjoyed an afternoon
of swimming reading and sunbathing – so decadent.
Alan and Pat Braithwaite had been much more energetic and sent a message
to all of us at the Moulin that he was returning with bar-b-q for all.
We all set to finding things to add to the repast; wine, cheese, nibbles,
wine, salad, wine, bread and a bit more wine. Ian and Elizabeth Young arrived
with some French Tarts which we all enjoyed after the barbeque. It was one
of those wonderful impromptu evenings that Folkmoggers are so good at and
much enjoyed by all.
The following day, Wednesday, we were to go to Chateau
Chesnel and we had
to be there at ten for a photo call in front of the Chateau. We were, of
course, late and the rest of the Moulin crew left on time at nine forty-five.
We were five minutes behind them and drove like Frenchmen to catch up. Going
into the village we found ourselves driving across the noses of the others
as they attempted to turn onto the road we were on. So it was that we led
the way, and we still do not know quite how, into the most glorious chateau.
I say led but in fact the party from La Tacherie had arrived before us. We
parked in front of the main chateau and paused to chat and take photographs.
Luckily Cathlyn Davidson speaks French so she was able to answer the questions
of the newspaper reporter that were there. We ended up in two newspapers
that week.
Following much chat and photograph taking the Countess de Roffignac took
us on a guided tour of some of the rooms in the chateau. We learnt that the
chateau built in the early seventeenth century had remained in the same family
ever since the name of the family only changing when a daughter inherited
the land. This is a marvellous achievement especially when considering the
revolution. The tour was great fun, informative and ended with a tasting
of the chateau’s Pineau des Cherente and their Cognac. We all declared
it much better than that tasted on Sunday and there was a brisk trade of
bottles after the tasting.
We returned from the tour and tasting the scenic route back to the La Tacherie
where Lyn and Graham had prepared the most sumptuous buffet to be eaten on
a huge table in the garden. We started with an aperitif of Congac and tonic – yes
I know this sounds strange but it was really nice with some ice – just
don’t use your best Cognac. The meal was fantastic and the company
even better and consequently we found that it went on a long time. It felt
exactly like a meal of this nature should and we eventually broke up at about
five in the afternoon to return to the Moulin for a swim and a sit in the
evening sun with, and I know you will be surprised about this, a bottle of
wine and friends. Such a joy to be part of.
On Thursday we went to Rochefort, a town built specifically for the purpose
of building ships for the French navy. One of which was the Hermione, but
more of her later. We arrived in Rochefort after a few mishaps of navigation
and were met by Graham Peek who had led the ‘La Tacherie’ group
with Lyn and was waiting to take us to the corderie. This is the place where
ropes for the ships were made from hemp. This visit was slightly disappointing
as we had hoped to the see the full length of the building from inside and
a lot of it had been occupied by offices. However, our disappointment was
soon overwhelmed with joy at visiting L’Hermione, a replica of the
frigate that took Lafayette to the Americas. She is still being built and
they hope to sail her across the Atlantic to Boston to duplicate Lafayette’s
journey in 2012. The visit was fascinating and we all sort of hoped that
we could be in Boston to 
welcome her or in Rochefort to see her off when
the time comes. After the visit we joined Roger and Chrissie Tatton in a
nice little restaurant for lunch and soon found ourselves surrounded by other
Folkmoggers. After a quick look round the town we attempted to go back to
the Moulin but found the swing bridge closed against us. Diana navigated
us round first this and then a second bridge to get us back on the road home
and on the way we replenished our stock of wine. As soon as we got back to
the Moulin we opened said wine and found ourselves with six others having
a bring and share meal. Near the end of this meal the others pitched up and
joined us to round off the evening.
Friday
was a nice clear day and everyone choose there own amusements. Some went
off on scenic runs while others, us included, opted for the pool. The afternoon
brought the sad task of packing up and cleaning the gites. The evening was
a splendid return to the Chateau Mesnac for our end of holiday meal. We were
joined this time by the crew from la Tacherie. 
As
before we were greeted by a young French waitress but Lyn called for the
chef and the other waitress and we all posed for pictures outside the chateau.
The meal was yummy as before but this time we were not too tired to stay
for the end of meal brandy served by the owner in person. It was a lovely
evening and everyone had a chance to talk to several others as Maurice moved
us around after each course. Maurice had also provided enough champagne for
a toast to the success of the holiday. The following day was going to see
us heading up towards Caen to catch our ferry home.
The journey to the ferry was uneventful and we arrived at the ferry port,
actually in Ouistreham just North of Caen, in plenty of time to park the
car and have a meal before proceeding to the ferry terminal. We were still
first to arrive but we were soon joined by the Middletons, the Braithwaites,
the Cooks, the Davidsons, the Turners and the Youngs. You will note that
there seem to less returning with us than went. This is not because we bumped
them off over there, but because they all had others to visit while they
were in France. Once on board, at midnight, we immediately retired to our
cabin for some much needed sleep and we fell into a dreamless sleep until
we were called to vacate our cabin.
So we were back in England and it was a nice morning, if a little foggy.
We went off to visit our friends in Tunbridge Wells where I played and won
my game of golf, which was nice. Finally we did not go straight home but
called in to a garage near Diss to pick up our new car (a Morris Traveller)
which was very exciting.
This was a fabulous holiday. The organisation was first class and the welcome we received in La Tacherie and La Moulin was second to none. Lyn and Graham Peek’s preparations were also much appreciated as a lot of work seems to have gone into the trips and researching the scenic runs. The roads were generally not in the least crowded so driving was a joy. The company was excellent. I could not have wished for a more fun bunch to stay with. Many thanks to Maurice and Eileen and Graham and Lyn.
Thanks to Alan Braithwaite and Graham Peek we have lots of photographs of the holiday. Far too many, in fact to place on the web site. If anyone would like a CD with all of the photographs on please let me know and Diana and I will produce one.