Day 622, 16 Feb '16, Saintes - Arches, Gladiators, Saints! It never ceases to amaze us how far and wide the Romans set up camp. And cities for that matter. Saintes was the Roman city of Mediolanum Santonum and whilst a lot has disappeared in the last 2000 odd years, a lot remains - such as the stunning Amphitheatre pictured above. It's actually not usually this stunning, but due to the heavy rains which have flooded parts of the city, the arena is full of water. We think they should have been renting kayaks. Mind you, that would have involved paying to go in. Since walking about would have involved swimming, we skipped the six euros fee which paid for lunch and peered over the fence instead. With great success! This was started under Tiberius and finished in the reign of Claudius around 40 AD. Imagine it back in the day... 12,000-18,000 in the audience screaming, cheering and hooting for the gladiators facing off against animals and "les sauvages" - probably Africans or Christians. Moving on from the gory imagery, it was a pleasure to be out and about - but don't be fooled by the glorious sunshine - it was about six degrees when we took this photo and we were rugged up to the eyeballs in shearling and rabbit fur. We arrived in Saintes with a vague plan... quick stop at the Tourism Office (yay! open!), picked up a walking map (yay! in English!), then headed immediately to the majestic Arch of Germanicus on the banks of La Charente. I originally thought it was a typo when the information said it was built in 18-19 ... 18 what? 19 what? That would be 18AD in fact - literally almost 2000 years old. Then we took in the stunning flooding that is affecting the riverside walks... there currently aren't any as the Charente has broken her banks in several places. Over the pedestrian bridge and into the heart of the ancient quarter, our first visit was to the Cathedral of Saint Pierre - a gloriously peaceful church with music playing and heating. Quite unusual in our experience of French churches. There was a lovely portrait of Pope John Paul II - so perhaps there was an imported Polish priest running the show. From there we strolled the picturesque shopping streets and found a boulangerie for ham, cheese & salad baguettes - it was just too nice a day to even think about eating indoors. We landed up on a park bench in front of the Law Courts and enjoyed the flower garden. Having spent most of 2015 knocking about the Mediterraneon in the grip of a perpetual summer, we did think we'd had enough sun... but apparently not. From there we considered heading back to the car and driving to the remains of the Roman amphitheatre - but we were past the point of no return and decided to walk there instead. Well worth it as we came upon the theatre from the "exit" side and it was a wonderful surprise. One minute just pottering along a back road and following the walking route signs. Next minute - woo hoo! Jolly great amphitheatre. There are some houses in Saintes just across the road from this site that enjoy this view on a daily basis. Incredible. Post-amphitheatre, we found ourselves accidentally upon the Pilgrim Trail again when we visited the crypt at Saint Eutropius - a UNESCO listed site. There are many stops throughout France on the pilgrims' route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain - but this is probably the most striking of all with it's Romanesque columns and capitals - not to mention the symmetry and stained glass filtered lighting surrounding the saint's sarcophagus. Saint Eutropius is venerated as the first bishop of Saintes though honestly, history is a bit murky. He was either a Roman or Persian of royal descent and was sent to evangelise Gaul in either the first or second century. He lived as a hermit outside Saintes and converted the Governor's daughter to Christianity (she became Saint Eustelle/Eustella). We think there might have been a bit more than conversion going on personally. In any event, the Governor was so peeved he killed both of them and Eutropius ended his days with an axe in his head. Well that learned him. Thankfully it was downhill from the church back to the river which is where we discovered the extent of the flooding - we felt like it was Aqua Alta/High Water in Venice as we tiptoed along planks in order to reach the higher ground. We finished our walking tour with a final farewell to the Arch and a nosy through the Archeological Museum which was gratuit/free - basically where all the Roman bits and bobs have gone. Stunning stone carved colums and sculptures that piqued our imagination even more. Speaking of piqued... we have a little giggle every time we pass a pique-nique area. Kid you not. Plans? Saint Jean d'Angely for a look and if the weather holds, La Rochelle on the coast. Quite a big "if" according to the forecast...