Region description:
Peaceful in its tranquility and largely unspoiled landscape, Poitou Charentes is an administrative French region of just over 1.5 million inhabitants, consisting of four departments along the western coast - Vienne, Deux-Sévres, Charente-Maritime and Charente. Its Atlantic coastline is blessed with pretty marinas, bustling resorts and fine sandy beaches. The many beautiful islands are quite popular among naturists. Ile d'Oléron is a 19-mile long island known for oyster catching as its main industry. Ile de Ré is yet another island, popular for its many salt marshes as well as a reputation for receiving the most hours of sunshine in all of France, not counting areas along the Mediterranean. Ile de Ré is easily accessible to visitors from the mainland on account of a linking bridge which has increased the traffic and taken away the pleasant seclusion of the island, much to the chagrin of its residents. Aix is also a very popular island.
A few centuries ago, people from this region are supposed to have migrated to Canada and from there to America. These people are believed to be the ancestors of today’s Cajun and Acadian population. Poitou was under English rule between the 12th and the 15th centuries.
On the mainland, the region's southern tip has five congested yet well-kept beaches (also referred to as conches) along a very busy tourist resort. Inland, the region still has much to offer. Eleventh century monks built canals perfect for exploring the area's serenity by kayaking or row-boating through the lush, expansive fields. Cognac is also a very popular town among visitors, as they have the pleasure of observing the distilling process and then sampling the world famous brandy, named after the town. In the attempt to provide an education experience while taking a glimpse at future visual technology, the Futuroscope theme park near Poitiers pushes special effects and cinema to the limit and is said to have the largest screen in all of Europe.
Apart from tourism, the economy relies heavily on the farming of corn, melons, sunflower, wheat and other important crops. Also important are the many vineyards, cattle farms and dairy industry. The Oyster Marenne d'Oléron, which is also known as the "Queen of the French Coasts" in the finest Parisian restaurants is a complete delight for any seafood lover, especially when accompanies by the sémillon and sauvignon based Pineau des Charentes aperitif.
Certainly, the mild climate, pleasant interior and lovely beaches make Poitou Charentes a very good location for owning either a permanent place of residence or a second home. They have the sun shining for most part of the year and this is a great inducement for people from less salubrious climes to come and settle down here. Property is not very expensive and there are usually very affordable attractive deals going.
Connectivity is good too with the TGV connecting you directly to Paris and many other French cities. The roads are good too so it makes it easy to get here from anywhere. The property prices are higher at the coast than inland and many retired foreigners have found great deals when they were looking to move.
