Poitiers is a small city on a hill above a bend in the Clain River, a tributary of the larger River Vienne.

We drove up the hill from the river to our hotel and found Poitiers, a city of tidy and lovely buildings. The feeling is of a small town with University facilities everywhere; a bit larger than Cambridge, MA, and on a hill. The Mercure Hotel where we stayed was created out of a closed 19th century Gothic Revival church. The reuse of the church is certainly preferable to the demolition of Gothic revival churches we have seen recently in France (and in the US).

The hotel nave has been converted to the restaurant space and sports an added set of insect-like legs supporting floors above. Quite an unusual arrangement. Food blog from our visit is linked here

In Poitiers the church of St. Hilaire is a must see. We walked down the Rue de la Tranchee and approached the church down a nondescript residential street, coming suddenly upon the apse with its crown of round chapels.

Approaching from the main street in the City brought us to the Chevet of chapels first.

Along the way there is a fragment of Roman Poitiers

Stenciling is faded but suggests a more colorful time

The horse head corbel

Christ and Mary on the Throne of Wisdom decorates the apse dome

A grave

The interior is Romanesque

The Romanesque Ambulatory is lit with a sense of mystery of a thousand years of pilgrims

The day was cloudy and threatening and the rain held off just long enough for us to enjoy visiting the church before it began to rain heavily. Still, it was a warm rain and we ran from shelter to shelter making our way back toward the center of town for lunch.

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