Nouvelle-Aquitaine

  People treat Niort like a parking lot for the Marais Poitevin. Arrive by train, rent a car, drive straight to Coulon or some boat dock in the Venise Verte, come back dusty and proud. Fair enough. The marsh is the draw. But the town on the Sèvre Niortaise has its own grain, mostly along … Read more

Most people who pass through Poitiers are going somewhere else. Futuroscope is north of town. The TGV stops, bags roll, and the plateau gets a glance from the window. Fair enough. This is not a city that dresses up for visitors. What it does have, if you stay long enough to walk downhill, is a … Read more