TWINGO TWINS IN POITIERS

There's always an Irish pub!





AMG and TH have been visiting us in Montsoreau. They spent a week in Paris then took the train to Tours where they rented a car. Their car is a Renault Twingo, a compact two-door car that is easy to navigate around the narrow streets of medieval towns.
We took advantage of their Twingo to go to Poitiers. Our car needs some serious maintenance so we have been reluctant to drive it long distances. Tim took charge of the driving while I read my newspaper and chatted with
AnneMarie in the back. It took us about an hour to get to Poitiers with some deviation in Loudon. When we arrived it was time for lunch. We parked at the gare SNCF and walked up the hill to the Place Hotel-de-Ville. They found an outdoor café while I walked back through the old town to the tourist office to get some maps and information about Poitiers’ attractions.
When I got back to the place they had already ordered. They lunch menu was mostly different kinds of galettes with predictable toppings from their names. I ordered a galette too.
After lunch we set out for the old part of town. Rich wanted to visit the department stores so he peeled off early. We walked through the narrow streets making stops at interesting buildings. Our first stop was the strangely shaped church of Saint Porchaire. It was a typically rectangular shape in the Plantagenet style but instead of one altar and nave it had two altars and two naves separated by support columns. It appears that Saint Porchaire was a disciple of Sainte Radogonde, one of the Big 3 saints of this region.
We continued down to the place in front of the Palais de Justice. The building has an impressive 19th century portico but inside is even more impressive. Originally, this building was the palace of the Counts of Anjou and their great hall with three massive fireplaces has been preserved. The law courts are arranged off the great hall.
We walked down to the church of Notre-Dame la Grande. They last time we were in Poitiers the church was closed. We only saw the building from the outside. This time the building was open. We admired the decoration on the outside but when we went inside we were greatly impressed by the vibrant colors. The walls and support columns were painted in bright reds, yellows and oranges. While we were there the organ was being played which added to the atmosphere. The color and the music and the Romance character of the building all worked together to provide a unique experience.
It was extremely hot in Poitiers but the narrow streets provided a little shade. We followed the tourist blue line down to the cathedral area. The Saint Pierre Cathedral is an impressive building in its own right but it is overshadowed by the smaller and older Notre-Dame. We spent some time there admiring the carvings of the entrance façade and the strange carvings between each choir stall.
We were beginning to wilt a little in the heat. We had enough energy to walk down to the 4th century church that houses one of the earliest baptisteries of Christendom. This small church was built over the Roman baths. Sometime in the 12th century a series of frescos were painted on the walls. One of these frescos is believed to be the Emperor Constantine on horseback. Now there remains only traces of the original frescos except for one painting of god looking down from heaven.
We were a little concerned about our parking. We had parked in the short stay parking at the train station. We decided that we should meet Rich and head on home. We met him in the place of the Hotel-de-Ville and after taking a refreshment we headed for home.