I have just got back from a trip to the Charente region staying near Angoulême in a small village called Crotet.
A couple of gigs and a bit of a break as well which and its been nice to be somewhere else, and to take walks among the fields and get a bit of sunshine on the aching bones and also to just have a bit of solitude, and less sound and fury for a while. Its been very hot, consistently above 30c from about the second day.

We did the journey in 2 stages from London down and on to the Shuttle then off at Calais and down to Rouen and then to Le Mans for an overnight stay at Chambre de Hote just by the Cathedral which was very comfortable. We went and found a suitable restaurant just a short walk away and had a couple of very welcome Belgian beers and a pretty good meal too. The youngish guy serving us was very in to music and we had along chat with him about all sorts of stuff including Jimmy Hendrix. The part of the city we were in is the old walled part and quite a something to see. There was a spectacular view from the room across the river and down across to the newer part of town, and the loo was in a turret, and it also had quite a view.
Plus a stained glass window in the second room.

If your staying down that way I would highly recommend

La Demeure de Laclais

4 bis Place du Cardinal Grente, 72000 Le Mans, France. This 17-century hotel is located in the historic center of Le Mans. Central Le Mans is full of sights, which guests can explore such as, the Roman ramparts (city walls) and 50 yards from Saint-Julien Cathedral. They do a very good breakfast too.

The next day we drove down to Les Amis The Gite at Crotet 16170 Saint Medard De Rouillac which is basically a hamlet surround by crops and Vineyards, though it does have a transport depot full of trucks not far away, but they are out all week and only return at the weekends. Part from the two gigs both on Sundays mostly I went for stroll around the fields each day and we played music in the house and in the garden, rehearsed some new stuff.

We took a trip to the local Super U most days for supplies. We went into Angoulême to eat on a few evenings. We have have also gigged at the Kennedy Bar on previous visits there. Angoulême is another city that has a lot of history and ramparts with spectacular views.
Formerly the capital of Angoumois in the Ancien Régime, Angoulême was a fortified town for a long time and was highly coveted due to its position at the centre of many roads important to communication so therefore suffered many sieges. From its tumultuous past the city, perched on a rocky spur, inherited a large historical, religious, and urban heritage which attracts a lot of tourists.

Nowadays Angoulême is at the centre of an agglomeration which is one of the most industrialised regions between Loire and Garonne (the paper industry was established in the 16th century, a foundry and electromechanical engineering developed more recently). It is also a commercial and administrative city with its own university of technology and a vibrant cultural life. This life is dominated by the famous Angoulême International Comics Festival that contributes substantially to the international renown of the city.

I managed to forget a lot of the French I had learned in practice, but we managed OK ish

The place Pub Gabariers that we played at is in a really fab location called St Simuex and its on the river. The first gig was great fun but the second one was hard work as 7 days later the temperature was hitting 38 to 40c and almost too much. We were playing on a sort of veranda type area with shade from the direct sun but it was hard going by the end.