There are three more beautiful Romanesque churches within easy reach of Parthenay. One – with a sculpted facade depicting a mounted knight hawking – is only a twenty-minute walk away on the Niort road, at PARTHENAY-LE-VIEUX. The others are at AIRVAULT, 20km northeast of Parthenay and easily accessible on the Parthenay–Thouars SNCF bus route, and ST-JOUIN-DE-MARNES, 9km northeast of Airvault (no public transport). A trip to St-Jouin can easily be combined with a visit to the sixteenth-century Château d'Oiron, 8.5km to the northwest. Alternatively, you could go on north to THOUARS, 21km from Airvault or 16km from St-Jouin, to see the abbey church of St-Laon; here there are accommodation options in the form of cheap hotels and a Camping municipal.
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