Église Notre-Dame (Échillais) walks

Starting from Échillais, you can first admire the beautiful 12th-century façade of the church. Then you will pass in front of "La Limoise". This residence is described at length by Pierre Loti in "Le Roman d'un Enfant" (A Child's Novel). This house belonged to the Duplais family, friends of the Viaud family (Julien Viaud being Pierre Loti's real name). He would spend his Thursdays there, walking from his house in Rochefort (now Pierre Loti's house) to La Limoise, crossing the Charente by ferry. There was no transporter bridge at the time. The Seudre Canal to the Charente (also known as the Bridoire Canal) is 27 km long and was dug in the 19th century from Saint-Hippolyte to Marennes. You will also cross Île Maurice, although it is much smaller than the one we usually think of.