Walking in Charente
When people ask what it is I like about walking in the Charente I’m tempted to sing a walking version of ‘my favourite things’. Mostly I resist temptation because it’s a fair question that demands a real answer, so here it is…..
I think we all have lurking inside us an idea of the ‘country’. A green and sunny upland where the weather is kind and sheep may safely graze. Cows chew the cud, butterflies flit and all you can hear is the sound of singing birds and humming bees. There’s usually a fragrant breeze rustling the trees and an abundance of sleepy meadows, golden corn and rustic kindness. It’s a dream that taps into a deep seam of the love of nature and nostalgia for a past golden age.
Don’t get me wrong. I share the dream. Somewhere between ‘Larkrise to Candleford’ and ‘Wind in the Willows’ is the country of my heart. While I’m not sure if it ever really existed, I do know that one the reasons I love walking here in the Charente is because it’s as close as I can get to that idea of the ‘country’ without time travel or living in a book. Let me share with you some reasons to be cheerful about walking in the Charente.
World enough and time
You have room to breath and time to relax. We can walk all week on well-travelled paths and not see another walker. The locals you meet on the way are always friendly and usually up for a chat. This is both fun and sometimes mutually confusing. The fields are well kept and the tracks are clear but the sleepy limestone villages often appear to be deserted. It’s as if you have France entirely to yourself. Except that this is a living, working countryside. That distant tractor in the background is saying ‘life goes on’, but with a minimum of fuss. This actually is a clue to the character of the natives. The Charentais were ‘cool’ before anybody wondered what that meant. They preserve a laid-back, humorous lifestyle against all modern odds. The ‘Charentais ¼ hour” is justly famous. It can be anything up to four hours and sometimes not at all.
Unruly sun
The climate is kind, spring is early, autumn is late and the sun deliciously warm. Our air is Atlantic Ocean clean and the light is sometimes so good you see every leaf on every tree for miles. On hot high summer days when the UV count is high, we may choose shady forest and woodland to walk in. Diving through the dappled tunnels of beech in the Brâconne Forest is like travelling through wooden wormholes back to a time without pesticides and traffic.
A Festival of the senses
Walkers can see seasonal changes close-up and personal. Unspoilt countryside like this is a real festival of the senses for those who walk. The Charente will make you a present of cowslips and bluebells in spring and orchids in early summer. I love the scent of flowering sweet chestnut and acacia trees when the best honey gets made. You will pass by armies of sunflowers, regiments of corn and waving fields of wheat. It’s as if the land was a big canvas for farmers. Changing the colours and texture as they plough, grow, crop and harrow. It’s a treat for the eyes with all those lines, patterns and shapes.
To everything there is a season
We have treats for taste buds too. As if the food at the Château wasn’t enough, you walkers also get to live off the land. The wild strawberries for instance. To have those rich, red flavours cascading round your mouth is a wonder to be savoured. We can get quite excited about wild strawberries and walks at wild strawberry time take longer than they should. The wild cherries a few weeks later have the same effect. Wild Cherries are sharp, assertive and have hints of ancient woodland. Alexandra sometimes puts in an order for the kitchen and we all look forward to a haunting Magret de Canard avec Cerises Sauvages that evening. As summer slowly slides into autumn you get the pleasure of ancient plums and historic peaches. Tucked away in abandoned corners and, like the grapes plucked from the forgotten vines, cunningly organized towards the end of sunny walks. Often just in time to refresh the parts other walks cannot reach.
It’s a long, long time. From May to September
No it isn’t. It whips past. Guiding walks and looking after a Château is the quickest way of passing time I know. It’s a lovely thing to do and you meet good people but there is never quite enough time to do all you want. There isn’t even enough time here for me to tell you the other reasons to be cheerful about walking in the Charente. I must leave the wildlife, the Neanderthals, Romans, Vikings, architecture, magic springs, farm animals, legends, gossip and enormous woodpiles till the next time.
Better still of course, you could come Walking and I will show you – John 🙂