Cédric stared downwards, focusing his gaze on his sneakers. “I’m not the best player in Saintonge,” Cédric muttered in a tone that was of a mix of embarrassment and awkwardness. He then looked up at her with puppy eyes. “I mean… you just beat me, so that means I’m a loser.”
His face brightened up with an idea. “You know what, since I lost, I will pay up by giving you a short tour of this area. How does that sound?”
“Sure!” Netanya answered.
Cédric and Netanya picked up their jackets and went out of the hotel for a stroll in the Saintes night.
* * *
Cédric showed Netanya around the area. As they exited the door of the hotel, he pointed to the building across the street, where they held the tournament earlier. “So, the building where played is
Les Halles des Guildes, Santonian for ‘the Guild Halls’. It used to be the central meeting area and administrative centre governing the mediaeval guilds of the city of Saintes. Now it’s a convention centre and conference hall.”
The old-fashioned streetlights of the area were designed to mimic the gas lamps that used to illuminate the old city. Only now, it was more reliable, brighter LED bulbs that produce the light instead of burning, flickering gas. The light illuminated the mediaeval façades of the buildings of the old city.
“I’m sure you’ve passed by the Guild Hall many times this week, and in the central lobby, there are the coats-of-arms and seals of the 360 guilds in the city of Saintes,” Cédric continued.
“Where are those guilds now?” Netanya asked.
“They’re now converted into social, charitable organisations,” Cédric answered. “Even though most are mediaeval, there are modern ones too. The most recent one was established in 2004, when the Worshipful Company of Refugee and Aid Workers was established.”
Netanya smiled. “Sounds appropriate for Saintonge.”
“It is,” Cédric replied, feeling proud of his adopted home country. He then added: “Some of the livery companies became important later on in the history of the city. Like the Worshipful Company of Labourers – which was erected in the 18
th century to protect manual unskilled labourers from exploitation by the rich.”
“So, you mean, like… a proto-union?”
“In a way, yes,” Cédric chuckled as he led Netanya down the cobblestoned streets of the old town. “Tomorrow you’ll be getting a tour of the old town aboard the Saintes streetcar. You will notice that many of the stops have names related to occupations… like
Plombiers (“plumbers”),
Selliers (“saddlers”),
Blanchisseurs (“launderers”),
Gantiers (“Glovers”), or
Forgerons (“blacksmiths”). It’s because the stops are near the guild houses – the headquarters of the individual guilds.”
Cédric led Netanya across through a narrow alleyway to emerge in another street, with another mediaeval building with a small church beside it. “Most of the guild houses built or sponsored a church, usually in honour of their patron saint. This is the guild house of the Worshipful Company of Bankers… and this is their guild church.
Saint-Matthieu-des-Banquiers. Saint Matthew of the Bankers.”
After several more minutes of strolling through the darkened city, the pair reached a part of the medieval city that was undoubtedly more colourful than the earthy tones of the old town. Still recognisably medieval in structure, the building in front of them were painted in dappled colours. The pair approached the building. It wasn’t modern latex or acrylic or elastomeric paints used for modern buildings. Its walls were decorated with an ancient type of paint, traditionally made in Saintonge.
“This is
Maisonpeinte,” Cédric told her. “Literally, “Painted House”. This is the guild house of the Worshipful Company of Painters.” He then pointed to the streetcar stop. It too, was also named
Maisonpeinte. “See what I mentioned about streetcar stops?”
Cédric recalled the tram route and decided to show Netanya one last thing she might like. Walking southward along the tram route, the pair soon encountered a small cobblestoned city square that looked like it had been
yarn-bombed: multicoloured knitted and weaved cloth covering many street furniture, parts of buildings, and even a welcome sign.
He pointed out to the building with a woven welcome sign. “That’s the
Maison des Tisserands. Guild hall of the Worshipful Company of Weavers… and so the streetcar stop is
Tisserands.”
Cédric led Netanya towards one of the windows of the
Maison des Tisserands. Embedded in one of the windows and facing the public space was an odd wooden contraption. It had a small wooden slot at the top, and a space at the bottom. “ It’s an ancient vending machine.”
Cédric took out five 2-livre coins and inserted it into the wooden slot all at the same time. After two seconds, a pair of multicoloured knitted gloves dropped onto the space. He passed to pair of gloves to Netanya. “Take this as a souvenir.”
“Thank you,” she blushed a bit as she accepted the small gift. It was a good thing that it was dark and her blushing won’t be as obvious.
“But… a glove vending machine?”
“Heh, yes,” Cédric mumbled. “It’s a centuries-old outreach programme by the weaver’s guild and the glover’s guild for the city's poor. They manufactured gloves that would be easily accessible and very affordable. I didn’t really have to put a lot of coins there – even 25 centimes would suffice to activate the mechanism. But they welcome donations through that box, so I put more coins.”
“Interesting,” she said as she fitted the soft and comfy gloves.
“There’s two of these contraptions, the other one is in the
Maison des Gantiers, the guild house of the glovemakers.”
“I see… thank you for the gift.”
Cédric smiled as he gazed at the gloves on her hand. And then he noticed her watch. “Uh… it’s getting late. Maybe we should go back to the hotel?”
“Agreed. Maybe we should get some rest before the city tour tomorrow,” she replied. “I’m glad that Saintes was able to maintain its old town.”
“Well, not quite,” Cédric answered as they walked back to the hotel. “We are in left-bank Saintes, which is the western part of the Old Town. But right-bank Saintes, the eastern part, is more modern, with more open spaces. That’s because right-bank Saintes was a planned city, redesigned after the Great Fire of Saintes in 1840.”
“That’s unfortunate that the city burned…”
“It was the work of arsonists. Nobles who were unhappy about their defeat in the Santonian Revolution sixty years before. The entire eastern half of the city went up in flames. Fortunately, we were able to save most of the movable cultural treasures such as paintings and books. But the immovable ones like the architecture… were not. That’s why you can see that there is a difference between left-bank and right-bank Saintes… tomorrow, with the city tour, it will be obvious to you.”
“I can’t wait for the tour!” Netanya remarked. “Will you be there too?”
Cédric frowned a bit. “Actually, we’re not invited.”
“Why not?”
“Well, it’s our city anyway, so they figured they don’t need us to tour it. But we can invite ourselves. Thibault, Jourdain, and Kévin are inviting themselves because they are from southern Saintonge and are not from these parts.”
“Why don’t you invite yourself too? I’d be happy if you tour me around.” She inadvertently reached out and held Cédric’s hand. “You know a lot about your city… you know all these interesting stuff.”
Cédric blushed as Netanya held his hand. His mind ran on a mental block, not knowing what to say as he gazed at her gloved hand holding his. After a few seconds, she also realised what she was doing and awkwardly let go of his hand.
“I mean… You seem to be a nice and knowledgeable tour guide…”
“Uh…. Thank you for the compliment…”
“So, are you coming tomorrow?”
Cédric hesitated a bit. Not because he didn’t want to be with her – heck, he found her very interesting and enjoyable to be with – but because people might think he’s hitting on her. But then again… why shouldn’t he…
make a move?
“Do I need to beat you again in chess so I can make you pay up?” she joked.
“Whoa no!” Cédric exclaimed in faux indignance. “Please don’t beat me again,” he then pouted, making a playful pleading expression.
The pair reached the hotel where Netanya was staying.
“Alright, alright, I will go to the tour tomorrow with you,” Cédric told her before they parted. “I will have to go home now. You get a comfortable sleep for the tour tomorrow!”
“You too, Cédric,” she answered. “See you tomorrow!”
