Neuville to Lusignan - W Vienne.

On well established trunk routes.

Our area here squeezes between the la Vienne Département border and the Route Nationale 10 on its way to the south west - one of the old established trunk routes of France linking Paris to Bordeaux and Spain. In the north the sector has some of the last open expanses of the arable lands of the great plain but as one goes south and west the countryside becomes more broken with livestock together with the necessary hedging and pasture becoming far more prominent - a portent of the transition that will become more evident in the neighbouring county of Deux-Sèvres.

Vouillé - just a few miles from the airport - has a pretty square and most services.

An early corner for foreign buyers.

Neuville-du-Poitou is the northernmost town and, although only 10 miles from Poitiers, is large enough to maintain its own identity. With it's co-operative Cave du Haut-Poitou it's considered to be the centre for the presentable VDQS wines grown in vineyards scattered to the north of the town (see also our adjacent 'Area' Loudun, Lencloître and Mirebeau). The town also boasts a very successful Moto-Ball team - a type of soccer played on motor-bikes. Nearby Vouillé, a pleasant small town on a hillside next to the main route to Niort, was one of the first locations selected by English newcomers - but that was in mediaeval times and the gatehouse to the Mairie and the small commercial square is all that remains of battlements that once protected their lordships from their enemies.

Water towers are a feature of the area. But are they really for pressurising the system or just platforms for mobile aerials?

An Imperial feast.

At Ligugé, near the south west corner of Poitiers, the Benedictine abbey and church of St Martin has an even longer history. It is reputed to be the oldest established in western Europe. It's noted for its printing works and library and excavations have found Roman remains. Parts can be visited including an exhibition of enamelled goods. Further south Vivonne is again sprawled along its trunk route and gained its moment of glory long before its current by-pass. Napoleon 'en passant' during his Spanish campaign called to dine at the local inn. The landlord, having no aristocratic feast to hand, served him the local delicacy 'farci poitevin' which put the place firmly on the Emperor's gastronomic map! Whether or not in consequence to such praise the Auberge continues to trade (see left hand column).