Welcome to the Poitou-Charentes  The Poitou-Charentes is composed of 4 departments : the Vienne, the Deux-Sèvres, the Charente and the Charente-Maritime. It is the area with the third highest annual hours of sunshine in France and offers beautiful countryside, a wealth of history and a comfortable life style.
You can walk on beautiful Atlantic beaches at La Rochelle, Royan, the Ile d’Oléron or the Ile de Ré with its 100 kms of cycle tracks. You could venture through the Marais Poitevin with its canal boats winding through the attractions of that region. Local food will stimulate your appetite, there are Marennes oysters, goats cheese, the celebrated broyer, the wines of Haut-Poitou, Pineau, Cognac and many other delights to titillate your taste buds. Welcome to the Vienne At the heart of the Poitou region lies its capital Poitiers, a city with exceptional architecture and which boasts the oldest university in France. Futuroscope : a European theme park celebrating moving images. There is also the airport at Poitiers Biard with regular flights to England. Poitiers is a vibrant forward-looking area and is the home of several important economic enterprises.
The Vienne, in general, provides numerous tourist attractions, leisure areas and historical sites. Various markets can be found in the towns and villages of the area. To sum up this area it would be true to say that it offers a compelling quality of life. Welcome to the Civray area Less than an hour from Poitiers, Angouleme and Niort, the Civraisien area offers a rural environment which is both lively and welcoming. Rich in culture and history, the area offers a variety of pastimes. Much photographed by tourists, the Romanesque Church of St Nicholas dates from the 12th century. It has fascinating stone carving and the only polychromatic wall paintings to be found in this area. Not far from Civray, at Charroux, is an abbey designed by Charlemagne to be one of the largest in the whole of the west during the Middle Ages. The abbey was situated on the pilgrim route to St Jacques of Compostella and the remaining octagonal tower is still called the Charlemagne Tower.
For those less interested in history, there are other activities on offer. For example, there is a museum of rural life “Le Vieux Cormenier” where you can discover what life was like in this area. Similarly, you can visit watermills at Anché or Voulême.
Perhaps one of the most fascinating visits for young and old alike “La Vallée des Singes” (The Monkey Valley) is something unique in France. Built on almost 10 hectares the valley houses a large number of different species of monkeys and is involved in the conservation of several endangered varieties. Further attractions include a number of leisure areas: the “beach”of Civray offers camping and a swimming area. Similarly St Macoux on the edge of the Charente offers a wooded leisure area. There are plenty of opportunities for anglers to enjoy fishing in lakes or rivers. In summer, you will find regular antique fairs, flea markets or opportunities to taste and buy local specialities. In Civray, regular markets are held on Tuesdays and Fridays.
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