I don't understand. Partis doesn't look like present of partir to me. I am confused.

Hi Ann,

In the present past historic, partir is conjugated thus-

Je partis, tu partis, il partit, nous partîmes, vous partîtes, ils partirent

Strange sounding but that's just how it is.

You will only encounter this tense mainly in literature, sometimes in the Press.

Hope this helps!