I had originally thought of taking my bike, since there are bike lanes everywhere in La Rochelle, but it's only a 15 minute walk to the old port. This was a good decision. The bad decision was to not take my microfleece sweater. It was chilly when I left this morning but I thought it would warm up. It didn't; the wind kept things cool and I was a little cold all day.
I went first to the market. Marie-Claire's directions were easy to follow and even if I'd misunderstood, I would only have had to follow the people with empty shopping bags or head opposite to those with full ones.
The market is huge! There's a XIX-century covered market building but the vendors' stalls extend for blocks in every direction. Only one street on one side of the market building wasn't jammed. I bought a slice of gâteau Basque (couldn't resist!) and a small basket of strawberries. Two desserts for lunch today.
Approaching the market it's hard to believe it's like this every day! That's the covered market building in the background.
A giant paella. Do you specify what you want when you order? I didn't try since it was too early for lunch and I'd rather not put this sort of thing in my bag for later!
I wanted to visit the three famous towers of La Rochelle, but Tour Saint-Nicolas, the square one I most wanted to see, has been closed since February for an indeterminate time. It's always had a bit of a tilt, but an inspection revealed some severe problem that must be addressed. Oh well, two out of three ain't bad...
Tour de la Chaine, the round tower across the harbour entrance from Tour St-Nicolas was okay. It would have been very cool if there was a model showing how the chain across the harbour entrance worked. The chain mechanism was housed in a smaller tower and another building, both of which have been demolished. The smaller tower was removed to widen the entrance to the port.
The harbourmaster's hall is used for annual themed exhibitions and this year's exhibit is called "Tous à la plage!" It's about the history of seaside resorts and how they and their visitors have changed over the years since they first became popular. Very interesting.
I walked along the top of the old city wall to Tour de la Lanterne. I arrived just before a guided group and didn't find this one quite as interesting.
Les Minimes, the other yacht harbour. It's enormous!
Tour de la Lanterne was used for many years as a prison and some of the prisoners carved graffiti into the walls. Some just scratched their names and maybe dates, but this one is very artistic.
I walked further along the waterfront to the Plage de la Concurrence. Nobody was sunbathing or swimming today. I found a bench and ate my decadent lunch before walking all the way around the old port to the Maritime Museum.
I wanted to visit it because it covers the history of La Rochelle as a port. All the displays were labelled in French but I was provided with a laminated booklet with (abridged) English explanations. There wasn't anything specific about all the French citizens who emigrated to Acadie or Québec, but there was quite a lot about the evolution of the fishing fleet based here. The last section of the "grande exposition à terre" was a room with a table with lots of ropes and instructions for various knots.
I can't get over how narrow the entrance to the old port is--and this is after it was widened a few centuries ago.
This building was originally part of the Couvent des Carmes. After the Revolution, it became a government office and then a fish market, appropriate for its portico. Now it's part of a theatre.
I saw this in the tourist office shop. Maybe this is what Marie-Claire meant? The spelling is a bit different so some research is in order when I get home. And if I buy some Cognac to take home, why not this brand?
My favourite part, and I certainly wasn't expecting this and had thought of skipping it, was France 1. France 1 was launched the year I was born, but she served as a weather ship. I had thought "weather ship" was just an expression, but no. They were in fixed positions at sea, or at least as fixed as they could be out on the open sea. There were more than 50 people living and working aboard for months at a time, and not only were there meteorologists aboard, the ship served as a emergency medical clinic out at sea. I found it fascinating!
In the Musée Maritime, on France 1. There were several of these placards intended for kids but using my level of French! And this was clearly a French ship, though the numbers to be fed don't seem to include the kitchen staff.
My beer, with the offshore fishing vessel Saint Gilles (part of the museum) in the background. I walked quickly through the Saint Gilles but it wasn't all that interesting, perhaps because there had been a fire on the ship a few years ago, while it was part of the museum.
There's also a bar aboard France 1, so I had a sit-down and enjoyed a beer. By the time I'd walked by the classic yachts, it was late enough to start the restaurant search. I ended up at La Fleur de Sel, sitting outside in the breeze. All the inside tables had been booked by some big group.
The tower of the Hôtel de Ville. Marie-Claude had told me to be sure to see this beautiful building (which had been damaged by fire at some point recently) but it was mostly behind hoarding.
My meal was enjoyable, especially the dessert. The main course was pretty good: "crumble de poisson au Parmesan, crème de safran" was a white fish gratin with lots of julienned carrots and zucchini under the fish. Dessert was called "sable à la fraise, crème pistache" and was a French interpretation of strawberry shortcake. A sable is a type of shortbread cookie. I will have to try making something like this at home.
Rue St Jean de Pérot is lined with restaurants. This fellow entertained us with his accordion, playing songs that many people recognized and hummed or sang along to. French songs, unlike most of the recorded music I heard.
