One day last week, I went into Saint-Aignan to meet a couple of Americans who were visiting the town. One of them has commented on this blog many times in the past, and this was not her first visit. Here are a few views I enjoyed as I walked up into town.
This is a street that runs from the town's main thoroughfare down to the road along the river. It's not wide enough for a car to get through. It's really just a passageway, with no shops or businesses on it. It makes a good shortcut between the bridge and town's main market square.
The main street in town is more welcoming. It's lined with shops, but there are also empty storefronts. There are sidewalks, and there is parking for cars. The town is especially busy on Saturday mornings, when the weekly open-air market sets up on the town's central square. On a Wednesday afternoon, the place was fairly quiet.
There are cafés and restaurants with outdoor seating scattered around. I met the visitors from the U.S. at this café/wine bar, called Aux Cépages, for an early evening glass of wine.
Cépages means grape or wine varietals. I had a glass of Chardonnay from the same place where I bought a few bottles a couple of weeks ago. The waiter told me it was an excellent wine, and I was able to tell him I knew from experience that he was telling me the truth. On my way back to the car, I stopped a picked up a pizza that Walt and I enjoyed as a light dinner that night.
I always enjoy photos of Saint-Aignan. The charm of the town must have played some part in your and Walt's decision to settle where you did.
ReplyDeleteWhen the real estate agent told on that December Monday in 2002 that he wanted to show us some houses around Saint-Aignan, we thought we had never heard of or seen the town before. We drove over here from Amboise the next morning, looked around, and had a good, inexpensive lunch before going back to see the agent again. Saint-Aignan was the kind of place we had in mind. I don't remember exactly when it dawned on us, but at some point we remembered that we had driven through here in 1989, on our way from Poitiers to Chartres. Something about Saint-Aignan had seemed familiar...
DeleteI like your little town. After reading your posts for years, I would really like to know the correct way, phonetically, to pronounce Saint-Aignan. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really hard question that you ask. It's almost impossible to represent the sounds of French using the English conventions and alphabet. The best I can do is something like [san-té-NYAN] — though the final Ns in French are not really pronounced; they just nasalize the vowel before them. You pronounce the T of Saint but as if it were the first letter of Aignan. The allcaps in my transcription represent syllable stress.
DeleteThat is quite a tongue twister for someone who has had problems learning French. I do get what you are saying, so I will practice each time I open your blog. I thank you. Susan
DeleteAux Cepages looks like a great little place. Thanks for sharing pictures of thew town.
ReplyDeleteLove the photos - it was a great visit. The narrow streets of St. Aignan are so interesting to wander. Thanks for meeting us for a glass of wine at Aux Cépages.
ReplyDeleteIt was really fun to meet you, Kathleen, after all these years.
Delete