This is the fifth time we’ve visited La Rochelle and it confirmed for us that this place is one of our favorite places in the world (except maybe that first night: ). La Rochelle is quite a historic city, with many buildings from the 1600s and 1700s still in place. (For more on La Rochelle, check this post from previous trips: 2016 -1, 2016-2, 2015, 2013). For this post, I’m mostly just going to present some pictures.
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Laurie looking for seashells on a beach outside La Rochelle. She found many.
Our hotel in La Rochelle is about a mile west of the city center, which means we get some exercise walking into town. Over the stays here, we have done this walk many times and we still enjoy every step. Here’s the walk as we see it going into town.
Getting closer…
That pointy building is called the Lantern. Built in the 1600s, today no one knows its original purpose.
Looking back (westward) from the same location.
Closer…
This is next to the only sandy beach on this side of La Rochelle. It’s also next to a Michelin 2-star restaurant, but with the set menu at $180 per person (wine not included), we haven’t visited there yet.
Across a dam and canal ordered to be built by Eleanor of Acquitaine (an amazing woman: queen of France, then queen of England).
Closer…
La Rochelle is full of sailing schools. We would see hundreds of boats from the schools going out into the bay.
The towers that flank the entrance to the main harbor, and have done so since the 1400s.
Finally, the entrance into the harbor area.
Made it! Along the right are the many boats that sail to islands in the area, or sail out on tourist excursions.
Buildings of La Rochelle
Nice clock tower, eh?
La Rochelle has many streets like this one. It’s not that La Rochelle has been restored; it has been maintained over hundreds of years, so it looks as it did in the 1600s (except for neon signs and cars).
Many of the stores on the several main streets in La Rochelle still have old signs over them.
That’s a quick look at La Rochelle, 2018 version. It still is one of our favorite places in the world.
What a wonderful place!
I always love the door photos and the beautiful archways. The geometric squares next to the vertical shapes are interesting. I wonder if it was purposeful or perhaps one is newer? Regardless, I like them both.
What kids of shells did Laurie find? Always a great treasure hunt!
The sunset is one of the most intensely beautiful I’ve seen anywhere.