Parthenay is an ancient fortified town and commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Poitou-Charentes

Poitou-Charentes

Poitou-Charentes is an administrative region in central western France comprising four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. The regional capital is Poitiers.-Politics:The regional council is composed of 56 members...

 region

Régions of France

France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

 in western France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, sited on a rocky spur that is surrounded on two sides by the River Thouet

Thouet

The Thouet is a tributary river of the Loire in the Poitou-Charentes and Pays de la Loire régions of France. The Thouet rises at Secondigny, close to the source of the Sèvre Nantaise, and joins the Loire just to the west of Saumur...

. It is a sub-prefecture of the Deux-Sèvres

Deux-Sèvres

Deux-Sèvres is a French département. Deux-Sèvres literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department.-History:...

 department.

It is situated some 40 km (24.9 mi) north of Niort

Niort

Niort is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France.The Latin name of the city was Novioritum.The population of Niort is 60,486 and more than 137,000 people live in the urban area....

, 50 km (31.1 mi) west of Poitiers

Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...

, 120 km (74.6 mi) south-east of Nantes

Nantes

Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....

, and 350 km (217.5 mi) south-west of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

Each July, Parthenay hosts the Festival Ludique International de Parthenay

Festival Ludique International de Parthenay

The Festival Ludique International de Parthenay, otherwise known as the Festival de Jeux or FLIP, is a games festival held in the town of Parthenay in western France. The festival is held over a period of 12 days in early July...

, otherwise known as the Festival de Jeux or FLIP, in which the town's streets and squares are filled with games of many types.