La Rochelle - II

21 Jul 2016

More on La Rochelle…

When we arrived Tuesday afternoon, it was 98 here: a little hot, even for heat-loving me. The next morning changed: rain, lightning and thunder! C’mon, could we find a happy medium?

We went for a walk along the water, toward the west (the city is about a mile to the east of us, an easy walk along a beautifully done promenade). We’d never walked in this direction and found it beautiful and interesting with some history and a surprise ending thrown in.

First we came on a small marina. I think the boat owners in this marina have to plan their outings with a tide table in hand.

We walked farther and found a route through a preserved area along a bluff above the water. We came upon this:

Looks old, and indeed it is. A sign nearby said it was built during the Siege of La Rochelle, to watch for English ships trying to supply the city. That was in 1624!

We continued walking along the path…

We met a few people, but it was pretty quiet, and beautiful, along the route. We came upon this, another structure build in 1624 for the Siege of La Rochelle.

On either side of this structure were more modern remnants of war: bunkers built by the Germans during World War II, also to watch the approaches to the city.

And the surprise ending: after walking a couple miles along the coast and seeing few people, we discovered a parking lot, returned to the trail and saw this:

Chez Mamie! Mussels and fries (a French national dish, it seems) with a glass of wine for \$11.

We didn’t eat here, but the place made us laugh. Only in France can you walk along a quiet waterfront path, find buildings built in the 1600s, and then come upon an outdoor café, jammed with people. We loved it!