Poitou-Charentes,
France
Departments: Charente-Maritime, Charente, Vienne,
Deux-Sevres.
Poitou-Charentes, France
Main Towns: Angouleme,
Aubeterre, Barbezieux, Bressuire, Chatellerault, Civray,
Cognac, Confolens, Jarnac, Jonzac, La Palmyre, La Rochelle, La
Roche Posay, La Tremblade, Loudun, Lusignan, Lussac les
Chateaux, Melle, Montlieu, Montmorillon, Mortagne, Niort,
Parthenay, Poitiers, Rochefort, Royan, Ruffec, Saintes,
St-Jean-d'Angely, St Savin, St Maixent l'Ecole, Surgeres,
Thouars.
Located on the west
coast, north of Aquitaine and south of Pays de la Loire, it is
an area of tranquillity and beauty. It is an area of great
physical diversity, highly dependant on agriculture, (compared
to other departments it has the second highest number of
agricultural workers ). The vineyards of Cognac, the chestnut
and walnut groves, the seemingless unbroken miles of
sunflowers and sweetcorn, the forests of Aulnay, and of course
individual farmers growing their Charentais melons, all
contribute to the serenity. The local drink Pineau de
Charentes, is manufactured from Cognac
and grape juice.
La Rochelle has
been a thriving seaport for centuries, and the beautiful old
port area is now the main focus for tourists. A large part of
it is pedestrianised and can be very crowded during the peak
season. The old harbour is the largest yachting centre on the
local coast and is framed by the two towers of La Chaîne and
St-Nicholas.Behind the waterfront, between the harbour and the
Place de Verdun, is the centre of the old town. The main
street is the Rue du Palais, full of arcades with shops and
houses, their slate roofs joining in a long tail of
distinctive interlocking semi-circular patterns, which
resemble fish scales. This distinctive street contains grand
houses with colonnaded fronts, turrets and galleries.
A new marina development, the Port des Minimes, two kilometres outside the town centre,
has several maritime museums and a former weather ship. It is accessible by water bus.
Ile de Re
Bridge:
The three kilometre toll bridge from La Rochelle heads out to the Ile de Ré. The island
is a beautiful holiday destination. Only 28 km long it barely reaches out of the sea with
sandy beaches on the south side, churches with painted spires and tiny, low storey, white
washed houses.
Royan has
several superb beaches protected from the wind and backed by
pine forests. It was rebuilt after WWII and although fishing
boats still cluster in the port, the yachts in the marina
easily outnumber them. Nearby resorts include Meschers, St
Georges-de-Didonne with a two kilometre stretch of beach, and
St Palais sur Mer. For great views from the sea take the boat
trip to the Cordouan lighthouse. Rochefort was built in the
1660s as a military base. Its 17th century royal ropeworks
(Corderie Royale) is now a museum. The ancient town of Saintes
with the remains of the Roman baths and the amphitheatre, is
still an important market centre with a monthly fair. Medieval
architecture is all around and the local archaeology museum
charts the town's history. The Ile d'Oléron is France's oyster
centre; the warm water is ideal for the oyster beds. During
the Christmas and New Year festivities, huge quantities are
distributed across France.
The region is split from top to bottom by the RN10, one of two major road routes to Spain
and Portigal. It is serviced by four "international" airports, La Rochelle,
Angouleme, Limoges, and Poitiers. Paris by TGV from Poitiers is only about an hour and a
half. The channel ports of St Malo and Caen are about a four hour drive mostly on dual
carriageway. Roscoff and Cherbourg are further afield at about six and a half hours. There
is also a Eurolines express coach service from London Victoria.
There
are excellent medical and hospital facilities throughout the
major towns and
cities.
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