Today, we cross the Loire River and move from Northern France to Southern France. It will be noticeable. While the north was cool, green, Celtic and quaint, the south is so very Mediterraneanish. Vino! Villas! Voila! Here we go!

We’re driving from Nantes to Bordeaux and stopping in one place in between – Saintes. Just north of Saintes is this funky little quarry with art carved into the stone walls. It’s an active art project where artists are invited to spend the summer carving whatever they want.

Quirky quarry quickly becomes quietly queer so we must quit and continue our quest.

Saintes

It used to be a Roman capital so it has Roman ruins including an arena. It has an abbey that’s actually a school for music research, so there are music festivals. It’s not very big but it’s a funky little town that has a lot to offer. It’s our kind of place. And we’re in luck, it just happens to be the Festival de Saintes