Vienne by Louise Finch

There are rivers, parks, gardens, churches, zoos, museums, bird shows, fascinating reptiles, medieval cities, an ostrich farm, trotting races, abbeys, dog sledding, microlighting, vélo-rail, troglodyte caves, chateaux, car racing, golf, horse-riding, canoeing, country markets – in fact, there is so much to see and do in Vienne that you will need more than one holiday in this wonderful region.

Although there are all these activities to keep visitors and residents alike happy and busy, Vienne has not been an area that tourists have traditionally chosen to visit. Therefore the life of the locals continues much as it has done for many years, and the markets and village activities occur year round so that you get the authentic Vienne when you visit, not one tricked out just for the tourists. Greet people with a cheery “bonjour” and you will be greeted in return.

The local gastronomy features the Charentais melon, goat’s cheeses, pork dishes, plenty of fish and shellfish, rosé wines and the unctuous Pineau des Charentes, a fortified wine to be served very cold. Yum! You will find that local restaurants also offer rabbit dishes – unusual to the British but do try them, as they are delicious.

Poitiers is the departmental capital of the Vienne and is a city rich in history, with many beautiful Romanesque churches. It is also a good shopping area with many great restaurants. Visit the Town Hall square on a Saturday for your morning cup of coffee and watch the wedding parties emerge for their celebrations. The airport at Poitiers Biard is just outside the city and the TGV from Paris and Lille stops here.

The jewel in the crown of the Vienne department is Futuroscope, the European Park of the Moving Image, a unique park where you can spend one or two days seeing lots of futuristic non-stop shows on giant, all-encompassing cinema screens inside truly amazing buildings. Don’t miss the evening son et lumière shows featuring the superb fountains. 2007 is Futuroscope’s 20th anniversary with extra special features including the dancing robots.

La Vallée des Singes (Monkey Valley) in Romagne is a lovely day out for the whole family, where you can get much closer to the monkeys than is usual at such parks. The animals are not caged in except by water and to hear the lemurs call when they are being fed is quite an experience!

Civray is a lovely little town on the banks of the river Charente with the most amazing church, still retaining its original interior paintwork. It is difficult for us to realize that churches used to be very colourful inside, and this is a superb example of such interiors. There is a market here on the first Tuesday of every month in the little square in front of the church.

From our area of Vienne we can easily reach the coast at La Rochelle and Chatelaillon-Plage for good days out further afield. Limoges, famous for its porcelain, Cognac for brandy and Angoulême for its ramparts, are all cities within easy reach of Poitiers by the excellent road systems, and a day trip to Paris is perfectly possible by TGV from Poitiers. It is also delightful to drive along the quiet country lanes to explore out of the way places and spot the brocantes (junk/antique shops) to do a bit of browsing. It is quite extraordinary, the variety of things you can find in such places. During the summer there are many “vide greniers” (similar to garage sales but the whole village takes part) in the local villages where bargains and collectables can be found.

Come and explore Vienne – you won’t be disappointed.

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