Niort is approximately 30km from Bellebouche.
Niort is the nearest city and has a wide selection of shops and restaurants. There is a large covered market hall and cinemas, theatres and museums to visit as well as many beautiful and interesting buildings.
Some of these are briefly described below:-
- Rue Victor-Hugo is a wide shopping street with Venetian masts and fountains symbolising the Green Venice of the Poitevin marshes. It is full of stone-fronted or half-timbered medieval houses.
- Les Dragons de Niort “four bronze dragons” line the street, symbolising a local 18th century legend.
- Hotel de Ville de Niort “ Niort Town Hall“ is an impressive building, which is a scaled down version of the Neo-Renaissance style town hall in Paris.
- Eglise Notre Dame – is a 15th-16th century gothic and renaissance style church. The highest monument in the county with beautiful stained glass windows and renaissance choir stalls.
- Saint Hilaire is a 19th century neo-romanesque Byzantine style church. Financed in part by Emperor Napolean III.
- Eglise Saint Andre was built in the 19th century in a neo-gothic style set amid picturesque medieval streets.
- Saint Etienne-du-Port in 19th century ogival style in part.
- Jardin des Plantes is a flower garden from late 18th century. Terraced between the hill and the banks of the Sevre this is a cool haven for relaxing.
- Donjon Musee de Niort this is a late 12th century dungeon, the second largest Romanesque style dungeon in France. It holds a collection of ethnological and archaeological items and has a panoramic view over Niort.
Niort used to have a thriving leather industry and produced breeches for more than a third of France’s cavalry regiments. Today, Niort’s biggest industry is insurance, with many of the major insurance companies having their headquarters here. Accordingly, there are some excellent restaurants, although they do get quickly full at lunchtimes.
For more info – tourist office.
