The Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) at Ruffec.

Ruffec to Mansle. North Charente.

A route to the north.

This is an area which sees the transition from the plain of Poitou to that which will (in our adjoining area of Central Charente) eventually become the chalk rich downs that nurture the vines of the brandy industry. Communications going north and south are good with the near-motorway standard N10 bisecting the region and capable of wafting you quickly to Poitiers airport. On either side of it there is an instant transition to quiet country roads.

Nanteuil-en-Vallée, a small hillside village near Ruffec.

An alpine flavour.

Traversing the area from the east Champagne-Mouton is a spacious little town and you travel through quite hilly, broken, countryside with by- roads that would please the rolling English drunkard and which owe nothing to the idea that French roads are straight. This is not the area popularly called 'the little Switzerland of Charente (see our neighbouring area of 'South and East of Angoulême') but the character of some of the architecture seems distinctly 'alpine'.

Seeking out the scenery.

Verteuil-sur-Charente announces that you have reached that river's course. You could tally for many hours exploring its banks and the little villages it passes on its tortuous way from Ruffec to Mansle. The scenery surrounding the roads that follow it can be stunning. After crossing the N10 the countryside is gentler reflecting one's approach to the southern parts of the pastoral Département of Deux-Sevres.

A monster hose-reel for crop irrigation.

No place for a cholesterol-phobia.

That does not mean to say that Charente is devoid of produce other than brandy. Ruffec is well known for its cheese and a resulting cheesecake while the butter of Poitou-Charente is said to be a must in every decent chef's larder. As ever in France most local communities are proud of their locally produced foodstuffs - and long may it remain so.

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