When you think of France most thoughts turn to food and drink. Our location, being halfway down the country, means we are able to enjoy the best produce from both the North and South – from the finest Normandie cheese and butter, and Breton pork and vegetables to the delicate summer fruits, such as white peaches and mirabelles (a small, sweet plum with a short season) grown in the South, all arrive here at their peak.

Flavour has always been the key to French cuisine and you could say the ‘joie de vivre’. For some time purveyors, including supermarkets, have been following the idea of traceability, where individual suppliers are identified, recognized and celebrated for their skills.

One of the more famous local crops is the Charentaise melon and during the summer these are available from roadside stalls, as well as markets and supermarkets. As you would expect, they are picked at their peak giving a sweet, flavoursome and aromatic melon. Once you have tasted a perfect Charentaise melon it will be difficult to appreciate other varieties as they will fall short in flavour and scent.

Being close to the Atlantic coast, fresh fish and shellfish arrive daily. During the appropriate months oysters and mussels are plentiful and reasonably priced. As well as producing some of the finest oysters, the region also has two other products at the high end of the gastronomy scale – truffles and free range fois gras. Local land owners, with help from the local government, have developed Perigord truffle woods with the harvest being sold to the public at a market locally in February. Local restaurants also often hold truffle evenings at this time of year and if this year's gastronomic 6 course feast we attended was anything to go by we will certainly be attending again next year! Well worth a visit.

The Poitou Charentes pastures suit Charolais cattle, along with the more local Limosin and the rare Parthonaise, all of which produce some of the tastiest steak and beef available. As free range poultry and eggs are commonplace, we have become used to eating fantastic chicken, that actually tastes of chicken, and eggs that not only taste good, but have lovely deep yellow yolks.

Cheese lovers are well catered for, with a popular local speciality being a goat's cheese from neighbouring St Loup. This is sold as a more mature cheese and comes either in the traditional log form or in a camembert style round, which is a great introduction for those who are unsure about goat's cheese, as well as being a fantastic cheese in it's own right. The region also has a cow's milk cheese, called Motin, which is a mild creamy soft cheese.

Airvault has a honey producer who, along with plain honey, produces honey which he adds a small amount of fruit to, which gives a different take on a traditional product.
Not forgetting wine – synominous with France – the region has some very good, if lesser known vineyards. There is a small estate in Oiron, producing a range of wines. Some of the vineyards of the Anjou region are within a 45 min drive, and whilst most people are aware of the rosé it also produces a very good light red. The region around Saumur and the Loire are renowned for fresh whites, both still and sparkling. Heading south takes you to the Cognac vineyards with the centre of the region being about 1½ hours drive away. There are tours available of some of the better known Cognac houses but it is worth looking at the smaller houses. Brandy is not the only product of this area as it also produces an excellent aperitif, Pinneau des Charentes, available in both white and rosé. It is sweet, like a port, but drunk locally before the meal slightly chilled.
Orange, surprisingly, features in a number of drinks, some sweet and some bitter, with Cointreau coming from Angers and Duhommard being a local Thouarsais aperitif.