The medieval village of Airvault, set in the Thouet Valley in the Deux Sevres department in Nouvelle Aquitaine. With a thriving population of about 3000 it’s a piece of “real” rural France. According to folklore the village provided the ispiration to Francois-Marie Arouet for his pen name, by reversing the syllables of Airvault he arrived at “Voltaire” we’re not sure if it’s true, but we liked the story so much it provided us with the name for our B&B.
21st century Airvault, whils traditional in many ways is known for it’s annual Aboriginal festival in the summer when 5000 odd revelers descend to spend 3 days celebrating the Digeridoo!
The village is also about to have the largest carbon neutral cement factory in Europe, when the current building project is complete
