The Place: Poitiers is a historic university town situated less than two hours by TGV to the south-west of Paris. It has a beautiful old city centre, built on the top of a hill, with narrow, pedestrianised streets, many resored medieval houses and a tree-lined central square in front of the city hall with fountains and café terraces.
The main university campus is three kilometres from the city centre and has the Faculté des Lettres, the Faculté de Droit (where politics and European Studies courses are taught) and the halls of residence all within easy walking distance of each other. The university has a wide range of courses in applied languages, literature and area studies. It is especially renowned for linguistics and translation, with two of the leading authorities in these areas in France teaching in the department. It also one of the few universities in France that has courses in cinema, although these fill up quickly as they are very popular so you need to sign up early.
Although Poitiers is a relatively small town, it has a good student life. There is an excellent choice of bars, cinemas and restaurants. Some films are premiered in Poitiers before opening in Paris. Getting around town is easy as the town has an excellent and incredibly cheap bus service. The coast (La Rochelle) is under an hour away.
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Cités universitaires:Descartes & Rabelais are situated at the 'nouvelle fac'. Both are mixed, modern (although there is only one washing machine and one drier between 900 students!), and each has its own 'restau-U'. Of the two, Rabelais has a reputation for being noisier. Marie-Curie is also outside the town, but not at the 'nouvelle fac', and is popular with the students. It is friendly and has a student bar. Roche d'Argent & Jeanne d'Arc are in the town centre, are 'girls only', and seem less popular. They are in old buildings and are said to lack the friendly atmosphere of some of the others. However, as they are in town they are conveniently situated for Poitiers' nightlife, as the 'nouvelle fac' is situated approximately 3 miles from the centre of town and the buses stop running at around 10.30pm, although there is a late-night bus on Saturday nights until 2am. It is worth noting that, especially at the beginning of the year, students often want to exchange their room with one in another Hall. Each restaurant universitaire has a noticeboard where notices like this appear regularly.
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Restaurants universitaires :Meal tickets can be bought in books of 10 and may be bought at the RU between 11am & 1pm each day. Meals can be bought without a meal ticket and are only slightly more expensive. They are generally passable, although Marie-Curie, which has a separate brasserie (try the crêpes and galettes!) , and Rabelais, which has a good pasta section and also a separate salad bar, have in the past been considered slightly better than the others. At weekends, only certain restaurants are open - usually on a rota basis. Marie-Curie is closed at weekends. Flunch (good plat de légumes for vegetarians), Rallye & Leclerc also offer a good, cheap meal. NB Cooking facilities in the Halls are very basic, but it is useful to have a saucepan, plate and cutlery for the weekends.
Student Card: A Carte Jeunes, available at the CRIJ, is more useful than an ISIC card in Poitiers. It gives reductions in restaurants, cinemas, bookshops and for various sporting activities, as well as for Eurostar. The ISIC card (available from CROUS) gives reductions with some travel companies.
University: The Faculté des Lettres & new Faculté de Droit are situated next to each other at the 'nouvelle fac' just outside the town (Ave Recteur Pineau).
Registration : At registration you will not be required to produce 'A' Level certificates. However you will have to provide 2 passport-sized photos, 2 stamped addressed envelopes and your E111.
Socrates: Erasmus grants are usually paid into your bank account by March.
Buses : To get to the 'nouvelle fac', take Bus Nos. 1 (most frequent and from the central square), 9, 9c (from Place Notre-Dame). The 9c is quickest as it is almost direct to the university. All buses go from Hôtel de Ville (town centre). BUY A BUS PASS! Bus passes are very economical; they cost 25 euros per month or 150 Euros for 10 months (available at CRIJ or Espace Bus, 6, rue Chaudron d’Or) and give unlimited travel in Poitiers. Bus passes (carte pass-jeunes) can only be used from the 1st of every month. NB: there are spot fines of 50F or (80F) if you get caught without a valid ticket. Special buses (N2A and N2B) provide a night service until 2359 (0200 at weekends), running through the town centre and then on to Marie-Curie, Rabelais & Descartes.
Carte de séjour : Lots of form filling required but worth it as you can claim back about £40 per month for rent. Go to the ‘Préfecture’ in the town centre and take: a stamped addressed envelope, three identical passport photographs, a ‘timbre fiscal’ from a tabac, photocopies and originals of: student card, registration form (given at SRI), an attestation de logement - available from your hall/landlord, proof of funds whilst in France e.g. grant form/bank letter etc, passport. After obtaining ‘carte de séjour’ you will need to go to CRIJ, rue Gambetta, town centre to get more forms to fill out, as well as going to the town hall to fill out more forms, obtain your fiche d’état civil and have your birth certificates translated, if you have not already done so. It takes a few months for the money to be paid into your account.
Making up a timetable : In the week before the beginning of teaching term there are sometimes introductory lectures in the Fac des Lettres, although for some classes you may have to go to the teachers concerned to find out about the introductory courses. At these you can find out what work will be covered in the various classes and when/where they will be held. It also gives you a chance to meet the lecturers beforehand. Details are also contained in the Guide de l'Etudiant and timetables are pinned on noticeboards in Bâtiments A & B of the Fac des Lettres. Similar timetables are pinned up in the Fac de Droit. And beware: term starts at different times in the Fac de Droit and Fac des Lettres ! Ensure that you regularly check noticeboards from time to time re cancellations of classes, changes of room, etc.
Most 1st & 2nd year classes take place at the 'nouvelle fac', while others (History, for example) mostly take place at the old 'fac' (the Hôtel Fumé) in the centre of town.
The compulsory courses in language (which include translation from and into French) must be followed at licence level for translation into English. You will normally register in the Faculté des Lettres (LCE), but may also attend certain classes in the Faculté de Droit. In smaller classes you should first of all, as a matter of courtesy, ask the lecturer's permission.
Mme Chuquet’s second-year translation class (and parallel translation classes) may also be of particular. Other recommended classes in this field are: 3rd year linguistics in the English Dept (Mme Chuquet) and Expression écrite et orale, which involves some theory of translation (for details, see below). Mme Wass’s ‘Méthodologie’ class is highly recommended for improving your vocabulary. Also try Vie syndicale et professionnelle: M Champagne. (M Champagne is the former link person for Portsmouth students and his course, which usually runs in the second semester, has been highly recommended by students in the past. He can also often help with dissertations in the politics field. If you have difficulty contacting him, try asking the appariteur in the foyer of the Faculté de Droit where he is teaching and catch him as he is leaving the classroom!)
It is up to you to ensure that you have a suitable timetable that will enable you to obtain the necessary credits. NB ECTS credits are half the Portsmouth ‘tariff’, ie 30 per semester.
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