The best road cycling routes around Ternant

It is an absolutely beautiful village.

Small town with a special charm along the Charente.

The Aulany forest covers approximately 2,000 hectares, shared between Charente-Maritime and Deux-Sèvres. Composed mainly of oaks and beeches, it is home to quite rich flora and fauna. It was also one of the most remarkable beech forests in the region, before the storm of 1999. The massif, under reconstruction, is one of the Natura 2000 sites in Charente-Maritime. You can discover remains from the Neolithic period, particularly around Aulnay.

A vestige of a prehistoric forest, the Chizé forest extends over more than 3,000 hectares. Very popular with hikers and cyclists, it is crossed by the GR36 and the GR de Pays de la sylve d'Argenson. Mainly made up of beech trees, it is also home to numerous oak trees, including the Emperor's oak tree. More than 250 years old, it measures 27 meters high. Natura 2000 Zone and Natural Area of Ecological Fauna and Flora Interest, the forest is home to numerous mammals, reptiles, birds, butterflies and amphibians.

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Located on a rocky spur overlooking the Charente, Taillebourg has one of the oldest castles in the province of Saintonge. It was also one of the most important in the region in the Middle Ages. This stronghold will allow the city to assert its power and prosper thanks to its port and control of trade throughout the Middle Ages. According to a chronicler, the Château de Taillebourg hosted the wedding night of Louis, future king of France under the name Louis VII, with Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine. Louis IX (future Saint Louis) made the castle his fortress to launch the attack against the King of England, Henry III. This victorious battle of July 21, 1242 became famous and was represented several centuries later by Delacroix, whose painting can be seen in the Battles gallery at the Palace of Versailles. The castle which had endured all the sieges during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion was taken and destroyed during the Fronde in 1652. During the Revolution, it was sold in lots as national property. Having suffered from lack of maintenance, the building was the victim of a fire in 1822 and was largely destroyed. All that remains now are the ruins with the ramparts and a tower standing like an emaciated being. It now houses a park which is a haven of peace. To access it from the banks of the Charente, you have to take a small detour through the town.

The Saint-Savinien church is a Romanesque style building built between the 12th and 13th centuries. The current sanctuary succeeds an ancient priory, cited in a charter of 1039, of which no vestige remains. The adjoining square is pleasantly decorated with statutes representing the apostles.

Labeled “Small town of character”, but also “Village of stones and water” (an expression which describes this village very well), Saint-Savinien-sur-Charente is a small picturesque village in the Saintonge Romane nestled in a meander of the Charente, nestled between the river and a limestone cliff. The town is remarkable for its houses built right on the water on the banks of the Charente, its district of troglodyte dwellings in the heights, some of which date back to the Gallo-Roman era, its river port, its old buildings and its churches, including the magnificent Romanesque church dating from the 13th century.