Tourist information -
Poitiers
Poitiers is a country town with a unique charm
that comes from a long and sometimes influential history - as the
seat of the dukes of Aquitaine, for instance - discernible in the
winding lines of the streets and the breadth of civic, domestic
and ecclesiastical architectural fashions represented in its buildings.
Its pedestrian precincts, restaurants and pavement cafés
- and some wonderful central gardens - make for comfortable sightseeing.
The two poles of communal life in Poitiers are the tree-lined place
du Maréchal-Leclerc , with its popular cafés and lively
outdoor culture, and place Charles-de-Gaulle to the north, where
a big and bustling food and clothes market takes place (Mon-Sat
7am-6pm, Sun 7.30am-1pm). Between the two is a warren of prosperous
streets - as far along as the half-timbered medieval houses of rue
de la Chaine - with the rue Gambetta cutting north past the old
Palais de Justice , with a nineteenth-century facade that hides
a much older core.
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