The best road cycling routes around Merpins

There are e-bike chargers here

I really enjoyed this ride. I’m 46, I did it on a 40 year old road bike, it’s more suited to a cyclocross bike!

HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF HINE In 1791, Thomas Hine (1775-1822), then aged 16, left his native land on the south coast of England to go to France… in the middle of the French Revolution. He went to Jarnac, Charente, where he was hired as a clerk in the Ranson et Delamain trading house, which produced his father’s favourite cognac. James Delamain (1738-1800), a Huguenot who had emigrated from Ireland, founded the trading house in 1763 with his father-in-law Jean-Isaac Ranson. On 3 October 1797 (13 Brumaire Year VI), Thomas Hine married Françoise Élisabeth Delamain, daughter of James Delamain and Marie Ranson. In 1817, the Ranson et Delamain house was liquidated, the heirs having been unable to agree on the succession. The eponymous son-in-law founded Thomas Hine & Co, and his cousins Paul Roullet and Henri Delamain (James' grandson) founded the Maison Roullet et Delamain seven years later, which would become Delamain et Cie. The links between the two Protestant Jarnac families remained close, and Thomas Hine's great-granddaughter, Adrienne Hine (1850-1922) married Philippe Delamain (1847-1902) - they had sons Jacques and Robert Delamain. Today, as in Thomas Hine's time, the Hine establishments line the banks of the Charente in Jarnac. The logo is inspired by Hine's speaking arms, hind meaning doe in Old English. He is lying down, his head turned backwards, symbolically looking towards England2. In 1962, Hine was granted the Royal Warrant of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and became the official supplier of cognac to the Court of England. In 1987, the company was bought by Moët Hennessy. In 2003, it became the property of the CL Financial group, which emerged from the Angostura group. The House was bought in 2013 by the Edv company. TYPOLOGY OF HINE EAUX DE VIE The House of HINE is located on the banks of the Charente, in the heart of the Cognac region. In the cellars, which ensure the protection of the precious vintages under seal, little has changed in more than 260 years. From the neighboring quays once began the journey of HINE cognacs around the world. This house is one of the oldest in Jarnac. Cognacs exclusively from the Grande and Petite Champagne vintages, a distillation with the lees, and an aging in fine grains with a light to moderate heating. Here, every manufacturing detail will be revealed to you. > To find out more: - https://hine.com/fr - Address: 16 quai Orangerie 16200 Jarnac - 05 45 35 59 59 - Visits, Tasting and Purchases possible - Opening periods: From 01/04 to 31/12 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Excluding public holidays. Full price: from €20. Free for children under 18. (Subject to change)

HISTORY BOURG GRAVES SAINT AMANT Like its neighbor Angeac, the parish of Saint-Amant-de-Graves was a dependency of the seigneury of Vibrac. During the Revolution, the commune of Saint-Amant-de-Graves was provisionally called Amant-Charente. On January 1, 1997, the commune of Graves merged with that of Saint-Amant-de-Graves which then took the name of Graves-Saint-Amant. HISTORY CHURCH GRAVES SAINT AMANT The village of Graves is home to a parish church, the Saint-Martin church built in the 12th and 15th centuries. The latter contains in particular a mural painting (main shades red and yellow) dating approximately from the 15th century apparently representing a biblical scene (restored in 1977), which is classified as a historical monument as an object. The church has been listed as a historical monument since 1986. The church of Saint-Amant was given in 1124 by the Bishop of Angoulême, Girard II, to the Abbey of Savigny, who gave it to the priory of Bouteville. The latter kept the parish until the end of the 15th century. In 1460, Saint-Amant was the seat of a priory of its own. Unfortunately, the Wars of Religion were detrimental to it, and it was suppressed in 1580. The church of Graves, which formerly depended on the archdeaconry of Saintes, occupies a picturesque site on the left bank of the Charente. It forms a long rectangle in plan. The nave is composed of a long single bay under a barrel vault, originally Romanesque, but rebuilt at a later date. A square bay under a bell tower follows it. It is vaulted with ribbed liernes. A similar bay, whose vault bears a large, crude shield as a keystone, forms a choir with a flat chevet. Its axial bay is slightly offset to the north. The façade, high under an obtuse triangular gable, bears a cornice with modillions decorated with animals and human masks. The portal has two bare semicircular arches, separated by a chamfered joint cover with large sculpted flowers. The capitals of the side columns have been redone. Between the top of the portal and the level of the pediment, four large stone corbels once supported a canopy. Below, an enigmatic relief, probably late, shows a bearded face between the sun and the moon. The side walls have flat buttresses ending in glacis. They show that the nave, before its renovation, had two short bays. The bell tower is a beautiful piece of architecture. It has a bare base and an openwork floor with two semi-circular bays on each side. A spiral serves it in the southwest corner. Its bays were once separated in two by a small column that supported a small monolithic bare tympanum notched with two arches, and surmounted by a circular opening. This arrangement has been partially preserved. The exterior of the choir has bays from the end of the 12th century, and others probably after the Wars of Religion. Furniture: in the north wall of the bay under the bell tower, a painting shows a kneeling donor on the left, three figures against a background of yellow and red flowers, and, on the right, a priest saying mass near a kneeling altar boy. Despite the state of wear, which has made the inscriptions accompanying the scene illegible in particular, one can see the "Mass of Saint Martin", patron saint of the church. On the north wall of the choir there is another painting showing several scenes from the Passion: Jesus in the Garden of Olives, the arrest of Christ, Christ before Pilate, and the flagellation. These paintings are late, popular in style and somewhat naive.

1656 - Birth of the BRILLET House The Brillet House is located in Graves-Saint-Amant, in a place called Les Aireaux, in an enchanting setting, on the edge of the bucolic Charente. The story begins in 1656 with the birth of Guy Brillet, founding father of the wine estate in the very heart of the Cognac region. 1850 - Creation of the Négoce Vivien Brillet, 7th generation, inaugurates the trading house in 1850, creating a distillery and cellars. This is the beginning of the growth of the Brillet House that Raymond and his son Jean will develop at the turn of the 1920s, creating their own brand of Cognac, in Petite and Grande Champagne (the first two Cognac vintages) and Pineau des Charentes. Thus, 10 generations of the Brillet family succeed one another, passing on and passionately keeping the family heritage alive. 1985 - Creation of a Cognac and Pear liqueur Belle de Brillet It was in 1985 that Jean-Louis Brillet created Belle de Brillet, whose name pays homage to his "Belle", his wife Isabelle. Together, they worked passionately to promote Belle de Brillet, a unique liqueur combining Pear and Cognac with its distinctive pear-shaped bottle. Very quickly, it established itself as the flagship of the House. 2020 - Acquisition of Maison Brillet by the Rémy-Cointreau Group, which also cultivates 50 hectares of vines in Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne. Its Cognac comes from a single vineyard, certified HVE3, planted with the traditional Ugni Blanc grape variety. It is located in an atypical terroir of Fins Bois, on hillsides overlooking the Gironde estuary, and benefiting from the temperate influence of the Atlantic Ocean. These eaux-de-vie are the result of a double distillation without lees in a traditional Charente still, and are aged partly in new oak barrels. They have round, fruity and floral notes, ideal for a harmonious marriage with pear eaux-de-vie. > For more information: https://belledebrillet.com/ > Address: “Les Aireaux” 22 route de Graves 16120 Graves-St-Amant. > Visit, Tasting and Purchases possible: Opening Hours: Monday - Saturday: 9:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Private & professional contact visit: contact@brillet.fr / +336 76 01 10 10

The Giraud d'Anqueville, lords of Bois-Charente, built the castle in the 16th century. The main building has a 16th century tower and extensions dating from the 19th century. In 1680, the castle passed through marriage to François Goulard, lord of La Faye, and it became the property of Jean Thioulet, gentleman of the king, at the beginning of the 18th century. Bois-Charente belonged in 1900, at the beginning of the 20th century, to Jean Fougerat known as Élie, a wealthy owner and benefactor for the development of the Cognac vineyard. The Charente pharmacist and winegrower Jean Fougerat (1863-1932) made a fortune by exploiting several pharmaceutical specialties, in particular the famous Rami syrup to treat the bronchi. This bachelor amassed a "considerable fortune", part of his income came from the exploitation of large vineyards that he had acquired around Graves-Saint-amant, his native land. Indeed, after the phylloxera, in 1897, he replanted 350 hectares of vines on his land acquired in the communes of Graves (logis de Bois Charente), Champmillon (domaine de la Chapelle), Saint-Preuil, in 1897 and Lignières-Sonneville between 1898 and 1901. In 1906, he harvested 22,000 hl of wine and produced 3,000 hl of brandy. He developed the logis de Bois Charente and enlarged its park. He planted more than 500 different species there. He set up a wine station where, with his colleagues, he prepared future plantations and improved the distillation processes. In the absence of immediate outlets, he distilled and aged the eau-de-vie and built numerous ageing cellars in Champmillon, Saint-Preuil and Bourg-Charente. When he died, Fougerat donated his estate and his Bois-Charente manor to the city of Angoulême, the universal legatee. She set up an "Institut de la viticulture charentaise" there (soon renamed the "Bureau interprofessionnel du cognac" and repatriated to Cognac in the 1980s). The Manor was active until the early 1980s, then between 2003 and 2016 it became an educational center for young people in judicial protection. The educational support was based on a high-end application restaurant, with the preparation of CAP and BEP certificates as a key. In his will, Jean Fougerat also had an imposing monument erected in Bois-Charente to the glory of Charente viticulture and cognac. Created by the sculptors R. Lamour de dieu and Émile Peyronnet, the work represents "six figures engaged in viticultural work, in bronze bas-relief; a distillery is engraved in marble". Jean Fougerat gave his name to a street in Angoulême and to his foundation, based in Graves-Saint-Amant. The latter supported the Institute of Viticultural Research in 1936, then currently supports the educational center with the CCAS.

Visit of the quarries on request. From September to May: visit at 3 p.m. From June to August: visit at 5 p.m. A walk of about 2 hours allows you to contemplate the facade of the quarries, the church, the washhouse, the communal oven, the castle, the porches and the wells. 05 45 81 92 28 smpatrim@gmail.com Meet at the post office square A link to find out more: https://pierre-et-carriers.haute-saintonge.org/la-pierre-et-ses-carrieres/237-pierre-et-carrieres/868-saint-meme-les-carrieres

In Saint-Meme-des-Carrières, you will find access to the quarries which can be visited with a guide. These limestone stones are visible on many buildings in Charente, and internationally.