Aulnay de Saintonge on a Sunday morning

The Sunday morning market in Aulnay de Saintonge in the Charente Maritime department of SW France has been a regular haunt of ours over our 20 years of living here and it's still as popular as ever.

This bar/restaurant 'Le Colombier' on the market square is where we sit and enjoy a drink and watch the world go by both on a hot summers day and a cold crisp sunny day in mid winter. The first time we went we asked for a croissant (or three) to dip in out hot chocolate, as all good French people do. To our surprise they did not (and still don't) serve croissant and suggested we pop over to the boulangerie on the other side of the square to purchase some - which of course we did and still do.

The market itself is quite small - I often tell guests they could hold their breath walking around it ! Its not quite accurate but it isn't a huge market - but it's quality not quantity that matters and in this delightful small market town you can purchase anything from a mattress to mussels, or fennel to flowers.

Over the years a number of British ex pats have started up businesses here, you can buy English books from Bens book store to beautiful hand painted cards from Angela Berry designs; even the famous 'Popsy' started out here selling takeaway Indian.

The Brits have not in anyway taken away from the French nature of the market at all, there is still a majority of very French owned stalls selling oysters and octopus; garlic and grillon, saucisse and snails.

The flower stall is one of our favourites and you'll always be faced with a long queue to purchase a beautiful bouquet for an amazingly low price, the owner does the Saturday morning market in Saint Jean d'Angely too. Just ask him to make up a bouquet for 20€ and you'll be amazed at what you get.

This is also the place to purchase your Sunday 'fruit de mer' platter, choose from an array of delicious seafood, fresh fish, oysters and mussels.

Aulnay de Saintonge was founded in the 1st century AD as a Roman Camp known as Aunedonnacum as it lies at the crossroads of some important Roman roads. Centuries later it became an important stop for pilgrims on the route to Saintiago de Compostela. The beautiful church was built in the mid 12th century but the graveyard surrounding it is much older and the discovery of over 1500 sepultres (tombs) under ground led to the inspiration for the garden.

The garden itself is actually two gardens in one - superimposed over each other. The most obvious is the medieval style garden with geometric shapes and built from materials of the era. It is planted with medicinal and herbal plants as well as fruiting trees and vegetables as it would of been in that period of history. The 'second' garden was inspired by the archeological finds of ultrasound of the area surrounding the church which revealed an unknown chapter in the history of ancient Aulnay.

The metal sculptures symbolise the sarcophagi in stone beneath your feet and the clusters of small bushes, the tombs made from materials such as wood which have of course since perished but their trace can still be picked up on the ultrasound.

After your hot chocolate at the market you could take a stroll along to the church and these gardens (to walk off the croissants !) then maybe head over to the little playground .An ideal Sunday morning outing when staying at our family friendly holiday cottages La Grange du Moulin and Les Vallaies here in the Charente Maritime, France. Then why not have a leisurely lunch at your holiday cottage with all the delicious charcuterie, fresh salads and seafood you have purchased before heading over to St Savinien 'port miniature' - an absolute must for families with young children.

Content by Wendy Blakeman