Poitiers

[Deleted]

Poitiers is a city of major historical importance in France, but frankly if you mention the city to most people in the country, it now evokes the Futuroscope, one of the biggest amusement park attractions in the country. And frankly, it is totally worth a visit because even the Disney and Universal Studios people come sniffing around regularly to get ideas for new attractions. I have been there twice but both times were more than 20 years ago, so anything that I used to know about the place is no longer valid. But it was already quite impressive even back then.

Before the Futuroscope opened, Poitiers evoked people like Joan of Arc, whose mission was "validated" in Poitiers. In the 14th century it was under English rule but it was recaptured by the French about 15 years later. In another quirk, it was even the seat of the Belgian government in exile for about a month in 1940. In other words, it has always been a much disputed city and has seen more than its share of battles.

I am not a student of history -- one of my least favourite subjects in school -- so I arrive in quite a few places like a blank slate. One of the first things I saw was the préfecture.



The first thing that struck me about the city was that it seemed exceptionally white, in terms of architecture.







I knew that my hotel was close to city hall, so here is the city hall.



The whole central zone of the city has been pedestrianized.





The ugly municipal theatre building closed about 5 years ago and still await recycling.



The odd bench-lounges in front of the city hall gave a little colour to the central square.



I was a bit amused that the Printemps department store that had closed was being converted into the "Le Printemps" luxury apartments.

[Deleted]

After checking into my hotel in the pedestrian zone, I determined that I absolutely had no more use for my rental car, which I had parked back at the train station. Since I really knew very little about Poitiers, I had no idea that the train tracks and station were at the bottom of a steep valley while the city was up on top. Even though there were some escalators to assist with the climb, it was quite arduous in the hot sun. Since I was relieved of my baggage, it was easier to take a couple photos on the way back down.

The car was on level 3 or the parking structure, which gave me a new perspective of the setting.



Up on level 5, there was a higher bridge to connect the two sides of the city. Good to know.



After filling the tank and returning the car, naturally I had to climb all the way up again, but now I was free to explore.



The newer buildings are just as white as the old ones.





I was drawn to this old church.

[Deleted]

Let's face it. There are not many variations inside most of these places.



























I loved the exterior statuary on this church.

[bjd]

I like them too. Poitiers is famous for its Romanesque churches.

[htmb]

I really like the way you captured the light coming into the church. Especially in the first photo of the last section where it sparkles like diamonds from all the windows. Very pretty.

[Deleted]

Okay, time to see what's inside this church.













I love it when the stained glass bleeds onto the columns.



Just looking at the columns, I wonder what the stoneworker would think of having people look at his work 600 or 700 years later.



The stripes and designs on the columns are really quite unusual.

[Deleted]

time for a break in a café



that didn't last long











The cathedral was not in the hypercentre and required a longer walk to attain.















The inside was rather barren, as is often the case when the building is too big.









That's enough time in there.

[bjd]

I suppose the cathedral too was painted inside, but few churches remain coloured. Those higher up in the report are unusual for that.

To me, Poitiers is just a place the train stops on the way to Paris. Nice to see there is more to it than that, although I find the white colour of all the stone makes it look rather bland.

[htmb]

There seem to be several churches/cathedrals confined to one small area.

[Deleted]

Jun 28, 2014 7:10:27 GMT htmb said:

There seem to be several churches/cathedrals confined to one small area.

That is actually quite common in most French cities. What struck me on the other hand was the large number of parochial schools. Everybody knows that they outnumber state schools in Brittany, but I didn't think that Poitiers would be like that.

Soon I was back in the pedestrian centre of the city.







Often I never see towns after dark because I am too exhausted to go out again, but I made a point of checking out at least a little area once night had begun to fall.

[Deleted]

The next morning, all I had to do was to go back to the station to get a train to Paris.



I think that this is the first church that I have ever seen converted into a hotel.













The train station was (re)built quite recently.

A little more than two hours later, I was back in Paris.

[lagatta]

At least we got a peek at you eating or drinking something. I know that these jaunts aren't a chronique gastronomique, but "what to eat" is a common travel question, and not only among foodies. It can involve restaurants, snack places, supermarkets, public markets and local groceries.

[Deleted]

Meals are en extremely low priority for me when I travel, except in Southeast Asia.

[tod2]

As always very interesting with superb photos to match! The photo below your mention of external statuary looks like "the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world" kind of carving.
Such a pity it has to weather away like that but I suppose we should be grateful we get to see whats left.

[Deleted]

Regarding how white the buildings are in the centre historique, apparently this is all quite recent as the buildings were all cleaned up when the pedestrian zone was created in 2010. And that new high bridge just opened in February 2014.