A Hedonist Weekend in Poitiers by Heidi Fuller-Love

2000 years of history has given this citadel city 78 protected historic monuments, tons of medieval streets and an unmentionable number of half timbered houses - but Poitiers isn’t just a passe paradise. With 30,000 students attending the university, which was established way back in 1431, the metropolis also has a long party pedigree, and the cobbled streets where Joan of Arc once strode are now lined with trendy bars laid back bistros and authentic French eateries.

Le Chateau du Clos de la Ribaudiere (10 place du Champ de Foire), a lavishly restored 19th-century manor house on the edge of town, is a good address for pleasure adepts, but if you prefer to be at the heart of the action get your head down at Le Grand Hotel (28 rue Carnot), an art deco style gem just a stone's fling from the city’s restaurant-packed plazas.

Plunge straight into Poitiers Gallic ambiance with lunch at Le Bistro de l'Absynthe (36 rue Carnot) where the set menu, of snails, fillet of beef and absinthe ice-cream, is served up in a superbly retro setting, then make a beeline for La Maison de la Parapluie (103 Grand Rue) and procure a bespoke brolly, or head for La Ciergerie Guedon (113 Grand Rue), a few doors down and stock up on exclusive wax tchochkes.

Put on best rags this evening and step out to Maximes (4 rue St-Nicolas) for the city’s most sophisticated dining experience. If you’re still hot to trot after supping, take in a gig at Le Confort Moderne (185 rue du Faubourg du Pont-Neuf), the city’s hippest arts venue, then join a student crowd disco dancing, or wolf-whistling the drag acts, at kitsch gay bar Aux Sixties (1 rue des Quatre Roues).

Heal that hangover with Sunday brunch at trendy bistro La Serrurerie, (28 rue des Grandes Ecoles), then wind up your hedonistic weekend with some vicarious virtual thrills at Futuroscope, Europe’s largest 3D cinema complex.