“The shortest hike is 4 kilometres long and the longest is 12 kilometres,” points out Élisabeth Vaesken-Weiss. Supported by her husband, Bruno Vaesken, the journalist crisscrossed Charente-Maritime with one idea in mind: to publish a collection of 30 original walks accompanied by numerous photographs and unusual and practical information, all aimed at families.
The book, published by Éditions Ouest France, is entitled “Charente-Maritime – Between land and sea” and shows incredible corners of nature, as well as the rich heritage scattered throughout the department. “It is a guide to the heritage and tourist riches of Charente-Maritime”, explains the author, who particularly appreciates hiking when it is associated with “a destination for the walk, whether historical, architectural or associated with a local legend”.
Favorites in the forest and by the sea
Having been based in Vaux-sur-Mer for around fifteen years, Élisabeth Vaesken-Weiss and Bruno Vaesken have surveyed and checked step by step the route of the 30 proposed walks. Not all of them are always marked but, thanks to this guide, you can approach places worth a detour. “Charente-Maritime has a very beautiful countryside,” notes the hiker.
In this book, the author has chosen to mention the islands of Ré and Oléron sparingly to focus on the other riches of the department such as Aulnay-de-Saintonge and its Saint-Pierre church, listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as part of the Way of Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle. Among her other “favorites” to share with children are a walk in the Haute-Saintonge forest massif, a little-known setting, and a hike in Saint-Georges-de-Didonne, to discover a Napoleonic fort and the blockhouses of the “Atlantic Wall”.