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

To accompany our feature Sky High....

While trunk road improvements and a new high-speed rail line make their marks on the local landscapes a quieter, greener revolution in transport is also taking place, as Roger Moss discovered... 

If you feel like heading over to the coast, you don’t have to stop there – there’s nothing quite like a little island escapism for getting away from it all and lifting the spirits...

A fortified town created during the 17th century once possessed the crowning glory of French châteaux. The Revolution claimed the château, but much of the landscaped parkland remains, along with the remarkable town of Richelieu...

Rochefort was purpose built to become France’s greatest military port – today it’s an outward looking town just waiting to be rediscovered... 

The name of Cognac has long been synonymous with stylish living and a sense of occasion – qualities which are alive and well…

The Golf du Petit Chêne enjoys an enviable, secluded setting among lakes and woods – the beautifully-landscaped parkland of a gracious château which can trace its history back to the 13th Century. Just 3km from the village of Mazières-en-Gatine, between Parthenay and Niort, it’s conveniently located for golfers in Deux-Sèvres... 

The Domaine des Forges Golf Resort is among the best-known courses in western France, and its readily accessible location between Poitiers, Niort and Parthenay puts it squarely in the sights of golfing aficionados from Belgium, Holland and across the Channel. But for the most part it’s the region’s own golfers who get to benefit from the Domaine’s comprehensive range of facilities... 

Even a non-golfer would consider this something of a dream location – and if you happen to be a golfer, then it’s obviously a very nice place indeed to be able to refer to as your club. Which makes it all the more surprising that it first opened its doors as recently as 2009... 

You might be forgiven for regarding today’s golfing world as something of an industry, but for a classic example of a more purist, down-to-earth approach look no further than the Golf de Saint Junien, a delightful 18-hole course between Chabanais and Limoges, beside the verdant vastness of the Parc Naturel Régional Limousin-Périgord...