We spent the weekend of June 1, 2, 3 in Niort. Went to Coulon twice (home of the Hotel Centrale); took a ride through the canals, and rented bikes and rode along them.Some of the canls are wide and clear; others are narrow and covered with small green leaves. Went to La Rochelle for a couple of hours, where we visited the museums of automates (1880-1910 - mostly for shop windows) and "modèles reduites." The scene from St. Helena shows the depouilles of Napoléon being loaded on a ship for transfer back to France. In Nieul-sur-l'Autise we went to the bi-annual Fête de la Meunerie, which featured Vache à la Broche for dinner (unhappily, we were there only for lunch).