Founded in 1431, the University of Poitiers is the second oldest university in France and has welcomed many famous thinkers in its time ( François Rabelais; René Descartes; Francis Bacon ). These days, Poitiers is one of the biggest student cities in France; it has more students per inhabitant than any other city in France. There are more than 27,000 university students; 4,000 of them international students, from 117 countries. Poitiers is a picturesque, medieval city conveniently located neither too far from Tours nor from Paris.