Day Nine, Drive to Saintes
It was after breakfast when Ray and Dona had driven off to see what Saintes was really like, to see if it was anywhere near as good as Steve and Janet said it was. It was quite a drive to Saintes, over 30 miles, which while it isn't too far at all, still took about an hour to get there on these local roads.
They parked up just over the river on Avenue Gambetta and paid for a parking ticket (Steve and Janet forgot to mention that), then walked around the corner to the riverside. Ray was going to leave the Artifact in the car boot but Dona suggested that it would be best to take it with them. If the car was stolen, they still had transport and transport that would get them wherever they wanted to be. So Ray was carrying his backpack with him, luckily it didn't weigh that much at all.
They had read up on Saintes before they had set off for the visit and here just by the river was the Arch of Germanicus, an ancient Roman arch. It is not actually in its original position, it was moved fifteen metres during works on riverside and bridge in 1843, in fact it was on the bridge. Not far passed the arch is a small museum full of Roman bits and bobs and they had a good look around. They discovered in there that apparently the Roman name for Saintes was Mediolanum Santonum, quite a mouthful.
After looking around museum, they crossed over a footbridge to the other side of the river and walked into the shopping streets. Ray really loved shopping and was very glad when Dona had had enough. They then made their way towards the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre then wandered on, looking for the Roman amphitheatre.
Started during the reign of emperor Tiberius, finished under emperor Claudius, it dates back to 40AD and in its day it could hold between 12,000 and 18,000 spectators. It looked really good but it had been quite a long walk there and neither of them could be bothered to pay to get in. They could see very well the way they had come and from the roadway outside the entrance. So after a good look, from the outside, they wandered back into town.
Back in town they had a late lunch in a cafe and then spent the rest of the time there shopping. Ray did manage to buy a couple of beers as they shopped, he would try them latter that night. Eventually they crossed over the road bridge and headed back over the river towards the car.
As they drove back towards Oléron Island it was still fairly early so they stopped off at Brouage for a look around and maybe a drink. By the time they got there though, it was getting late and it looked like it would take some time to have a good look around. So they just went into a bar for a drink and would come back for a proper visit latter on. Brouage was a walled village and it looked like you could walk around the walls, so another visit was definitely on.
So after their very enjoyable Stella Artois, they then drove back to the apartment.
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