A little hillside village overlooking the Charente, Saint-Simeux offers magnificent viewpoints and is a privileged spot for walkers.

An eel-fishing past

The listed site of Les Essacs is unique in the département. The village’s identity is an unusual cross between viticulture and eel-fishing. The village and its winding streets overlook the Charente on one side and on the other, a plateau dedicated exclusively to viticulture.
Les Essacs or the fisheries of Saint-Simeux are the remains or a commercial fluvial activity where eels on downstream migration were caught. They live in the river but between the ages of 10-15 years swim off to the Sargasso Sea to reproduce. The fry take three years to return to the river.

Barge on the Charente river seen from the sky
Damien Garcia
Barge on the Charente river seen from the sky
Damien Garcia
Barge on the Charente river seen from the sky
Damien Garcia
A heron in a rapid in the middle of the river Charente near Mosnac Saint Simeux
Charentes Tourisme- Jean-Claude Brunet
A heron in a rapid in the middle of the river Charente near Mosnac Saint Simeux
Charentes Tourisme- Jean-Claude Brunet
A heron in a rapid in the middle of the river Charente near Mosnac Saint Simeux
Charentes Tourisme- Jean-Claude Brunet
The Flow Vélo cycle route along the Charente in Cognac, passing through St-Simeux, cyclists on the banks of the Charente at Les Essacs in St-Simeux.
Aurélie Stapf – Porteur de songes
The Flow Vélo cycle route along the Charente in Cognac, passing through St-Simeux, cyclists on the banks of the Charente at Les Essacs in St-Simeux.
Aurélie Stapf – Porteur de songes
The Flow Vélo cycle route along the Charente in Cognac, passing through St-Simeux, cyclists on the banks of the Charente at Les Essacs in St-Simeux.
Aurélie Stapf – Porteur de songes
fisheries, essacs for eel fishing at Saint Simeux on the banks of the river Charente
Damien Garcia
fisheries, essacs for eel fishing at Saint Simeux on the banks of the river Charente
Damien Garcia
fisheries, essacs for eel fishing at Saint Simeux on the banks of the river Charente
Damien Garcia

What is an Essac ?

Well, it’s an eel-fishery built on a dyke. When the eels descend the Charente, they are trapped in a bourgnon, a kind of large basket with a net; all the fishermen had to do was to lift the basket with the winch.

Damien Garcia

The Essacs association

A group of some sixty supporters for preserving local heritage have created an association that restores and maintains the fisheries’ site.

Association des Essacs

Time for a break

The lock at Saint-Simeux has a perfect view of the village!
Discover Géoferme, an organic micro-farm that, in summer, holds Cucurbites evenings beside the Charente.

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