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Poitou-Charentes |
The holiday homes rented out by Villagrande are mainly located in rural, non urban areas.
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Presidential candidate Ségolène Royal is a Pico-Charente, that is how the people of this region are called. A minority still speaks some old dialects:
Poitevin, Saintongeais and in the neighboring region Limousin (also known as a tasty beef).
Less well known is that in this region lie the roots of the Acadian and Cajun, immigrants, farmers and fishermen now in the U.S. states of Louisiana and New Brunswick,
who originally were drawn to eastern Canada in 17th and 18th century.
The ancient port of La Rochelle was in the 15th century the largest port on the Atlantic coast, but also from 1568 a haven for Huguenots - Protestants who had renounced
the Catholic faith - until Cardinal Richelieu, after a siege in 1627, ended that situation. In WWII this was a German naval base defended stubbornly to the last.
In 1981 the film Das Boot was situated here.
The capital Poitiers, halfway between Paris and Bordeaux is well worth the effort to visit. The presence of a university evolves a dynamic cultural life,
but history is obviously the most dominant: who has not learned about "The Gates of Poitiers" in which Charles Martel defeated the Arabs in 732 in their advance
towards the North? Perhaps this is the reason for many pilgrimages to start their walk to Santiago de Compostela from Poitiers.
Besides the historical events that have determined these cities, nowadays it's the diverse agricultural life that the region gives a nationwide respect.
The region takes on many quality products. The best known is probably cognac. Intended as "wine syrup is developed from economic motives for shipping, cognac
is the result of a misunderstanding: the English 'forgot' to add water to the wine syrup.
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