The leading English language magazine. Now covering Poitou-Charentes, Dordogne, Vendée and Haute-Vienne too!

Feeling the need for some peace and tranquillity? With a canoe, kayak or paddle-board you can get right back to nature, at your own pace...

For centuries southwest France was occupied by the forces of Rome, who left a surprising legacy. We show you where to look...

You never know what might lie beneath your feet, as a rural community in Charente discovered when it suddenly found itself the proud possessor of Europe’s most important site of dinosaur remains.

Life is good here in France, but some things have a habit of gnawing away in the background, ready to hit the nostalgia button just when we least expect it. We meet local cricket fans who have set up their own clubs...

Helen Millar explores the local archives to find out just what can be learned from the documents and photographs stored so carefully…

Over three thousand years after it was first settled by man, Angoulême still presents a striking outline, rising assertively above its limestone ramparts to survey the vastness of the fertile plains of la Charente and l’Anguienne which surround it. Draw closer, though, and it soon becomes clear that this is in fact not one town but two: the historic ville haute – referred to locally as ‘le plateau’ – and the larger ville basse, home to the sprawl of the industrial and commercial activities which have made this the administrative capital of the Département de la Charente...

Going to the beach doesn’t have to mean driving all the way to the coast, as we discovered when we visited the Lacs de Haute Charente, midway between Angoulême and Limoges... 

The long summer holidays are nearly upon us, and with them come visitors. Helen Millar suggests how they (and you) can enjoy the region independently without it costing an arm and a leg… 

The historic port of Jarnac celebrated the 250th Anniversary of the most British of fine Cognac houses: Thomas Hine & Co... 

In the first of an occasional series on getting off the beaten track, Helen Millar extols the delights of Angoulême’s Victor Hugo, a quartier most people pass by...