La Rochelle by Sea

It’s really having the Atlantic Ocean there that gives La Rochelle it’s amazing beauty. The ocean and what the people have done because of it over the centuries. There’s a lot of history here both in what the people have done, and in what the ocean has done. The city was Protestant when the rest of the country was Catholic (for a while) and they had a mayor as far back as 1199. It seems they’ve always had an eye to the future and it still shows today in the care they’re taking with the past.

These two towers are at the entrance to the port. Richelieu ordered the city wall be razed after the siege of 1628, but these two towers are still standing. I watched some very brave people scaling them for maintenance purposes.

There have been terrible storm surges when all of this has been under water. I’d recommend a visit here to discover all about it. You’ll need at least a week.

That’s my hôtel from a distance.The Port has several basins where many, many boats are moored. Here’s a picture of a gate that the boats would have to go through to leave the port. The gate opens and the bridge in the previous picture goes aside so the mast can get through. The sign says something about smiling and being happy….I think.

Do you know how hard it was to get the photo when the light was on? I’m terribly good.

La Rochelle is a university town too. There are plenty of young people around and it gives the city a sense of energy and optimism.

These next three pictures are of the marina of Les Minimes. It’s the the most important on the Atlantic coast and has 4,800 boat berths!

This para-sailor was down more than he was up, but I managed to get him while he was up.So we’ll leave La Rochelle once again. Here’s a sunset(ish) picture from just outside my hotel.

And one from when we were drinking wine at this cafe. I just can’t stop. (taking pictures – not drinking wine) It’s so photogenic!

That’s it! Tomorrow we’ll go to the aquarium.

Be happy.