Some Bar in Ile De Re

Saint-Martin-de-Ré has extensive fortifications, reflecting the strategic importance of the Île de Ré. During the Wars of Religion in the 1620s, Cardinal Richelieu ordered that the island be fortified as a counterweight to the Protestant nearby city of La Rochelle on the French mainland. This included a citadel at Saint Martin. After La Rochelle had been subdued, Saint-Martin's fortification were largely demolished to remove its potential threat to royal power.

In 1627, an English invasion force under the command of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham attacked the island in order to relieve the Siege of La Rochelle. After three months of combats in the Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré against the French under Marshal Toiras, the Duke was forced to withdraw in defeat.

Later, in the 1670s, the French engineer, Vauban was commissioned to review and overhaul the island's defences and, as a result, Saint Martin was enclosed by extensive and modern walls and embankments. This was done in three major phases ending in 1702 and the end result was an enclosed town capable of housing the island's population for a long siege.

After that they started to build some bars !! And the Roulstone’s arrived :-)

Saumur Cavalry School Bar

The French cavalry school has been in Saumur since 1768 and of course cavalry regiments have long since abandoned the horse in favour of horse power, so now it is essentially a tank school. But horses are still used for all the official pomp and ceremony. Anyway that’s the end of the history lesson :-)

Both Lesley and myself  having a military background soon found the bar the army guys used and what a great time we had.
We went back later in the week on the Friday for an evening meal which we booked after this session. After the meal we realised we had been the only people eating there all night, he had kept the bar open for just us ! Friday of course, all the army guys had gone home for the weekend. Must have been cus we mentioned we had been in the Navy but the hospitality was second to none. We will return :-)