Conveniently located between Paris and Bordeaux- only an hour and a half by TGV (Train de grand vitesse) from either- the cobblestone city of Poitiers is the capital of the Poitou-Charentes region, close to La Rochelle and Ile de Ré, and beyond the major tourist attractions of the Loire valley. Once the haunting ground of Eleanor of Aquitaine, and home to both medieval cloisters and the ultra modern Futuroscope park, Poitiers is a blend of the ancient and contemporary.