La Mer, le Canal & les Pyrénées

[VPS]

Living the dream JV and G. Envious but very happy for you both

 

[Jacques Vert]

(Impressive market and equally impressive clean up.)

The clean-up certainly is impressive. The day we arrived we walked through this area in the afternoon and didn't even realise it was the market area. La Rochelle is actually a very clean city. The street-sweeping machines run around every day throughout the old city and there are workers with air-blowers who blow any rubbish from inaccessable areas into the path of the machine.

Here they are cleaning our street:





You also have lots of these guys picking up rubbish and cigarette butts...

 

[Jacques Vert]

Back at post #77 I mentioned that there were two boulangeries between our digs and the Market. One of them has won 1st prize for their criossants so I had to try them...








I must admit they are superb and I'm more than happy to walk the two minutes to the shop most mornings, although I buy my baguettes from a different place.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Île de Ré

Situated to the west of La Rochelle, the île de Ré is about 30km long and 5km wide. It’s eastern point is around 3 km the commercial port of La Pallice on the mainland.

I first visited the île de Ré whilst sailing to and from La Rochelle many years ago. St-Martin-de-Ré, the main town and harbour, is a convenient stopping-off points for small boats. Back then, the only way to access the island was by boat and it was a quiet and pleasant place. In 1988, a bridge was completed and while it is still a pleasant place to visit, it is considerably busier than the last time I was here.

Unfortunately there is a toll of EUR16 to cross the bridge to the island (free to return). You can also access the island by ferry from La Rochelle. The bridge is just under three kilometres long and according to Wikipedia, is the second longest bridge in France (about 500m longer than the Millau Viaduct). I didn’t get a good shot of the bridge so I borrowed this one, with thanks to Wikipedia:




We had lunch at St-Martin and then drove around the island.

 

[VPS]

Back at post #77 I mentioned that there were two boulangeries between our digs and the Market. One of them has won 1st prize for their criossants so I had to try them...

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I must admit they are superb and I'm more than happy to walk the two minutes to the shop most mornings, although I buy my baguettes from a different place.

What a true Frenchman - buying your croissants and baguettes at different places

 

[ellen10]

What a true Frenchman - buying your croissants and baguettes at different places

And having Moules Frites for lunch with a crisp Rose. I am soo jealous!

 

[BriarFlyer]

And having Moules Frites for lunch with a crisp Rose. I am soo jealous!

I have to express my tres jealousy as well. Those croissants and the moules frites look delicious!

 

[Jacques Vert]

Corrigans

Also within 2 minutes walk from our apartment is an Irish Pub.




I normally go "local"; that is, I visit Irish Pubs when in Ireland, Boulangeries when in France, etc. I wouldn't usually visit an Irish Pub in France but I do like Irish music and the thought of a bunch of frenchies playing Irish music had me intrigued. So we went along:

Unfortunately, without any singing, all their tunes sounded the same so we left after only one pint.

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

Why the weird operating hours? A French thing?

 

[FlyingFiona]

I'd be complaining that on Tuesdays-Fridays you only get 57 minutes of "Happy Hour."

 

[VPS]

Why the weird operating hours? A French thing?

I think it might be an attempt at Irish humour (but a poor one IMHO)

 

[lakeman]

Wow thanks for taking us on the journey JV

 

[Quickstatus]

Here they are cleaning our street

Thanks for the TR
Jealous

Looks electric, so a lot quieter as well

 

[Jacques Vert]

Île d’Aix

To the south of La Rochelle is a small island, Île d’Aix. It’s three kilometres long, about half a kilometre wide and has a population of around 230. There is no bridge so it is accessed by ferry from either La Rochelle or Fouras. The ferry from Fouras is cheaper but it takes half an hour to drive to the departure point and you have to find somewhere to park the car. Probably works out much the same in cost, time, etc., but as we had a car and it was a nice day for a drive, we went from Fouras...




And arrived at Ile d'Aix







There are two museums on the island, one dedicated to Napoléon and the other to Africa; perhaps surprising at first that such a small community would boast two museums. Of course, those who are scholars of European history would be aware of the significance of this island.

Briefly, the English and French fought over this island many times and during the Hundred Years War it was English for about 15 years. In 1665 nearby Rochfort was established as a strategic harbour. Then during the Seventy Years War, it was twice again captured by the British. During the French Revolution it was used as a prison and there are around 226 people buried on the island.

Then along came Napoleon who in 1808 ordered improvements to the fortifications. After his defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Napoleon escaped to Rochfort from where he intended to exile himself in America. There were two frigates waiting for him but the British blockaded the harbour to prevent him leaving. He then sailed the short distance to Ile d’Aix where he stayed for three days before writing his surrender in the bedroom of this house:




This is the bedroom and there is a copy of his letter of surrender.




From here Napoléon was sent to exile on Saint Helena Island where he died in 1821.

As for the African museum, Napoléon led the French forces in an invasion and occupation of Egypt and Syria between 1798 and 1801. Eventually Napoléon abandoned his forces after a couple of defeats and returned to France where he overthrew the government!

We had lunch at a small restaurant.




The following photo is especially for @ellen10 and @BriarFlyer:




We then walked around the island to burn off the extra calories

 

[ellen10]

@Jacques Vert , thanks for the Moules photo, were they delicious? My mouth is watering!
Nobody does Moules as well as the French

 

[drron]

@Jacques Vert , thanks for the Moules photo, were they delicious? My mouth is watering!
Nobody does Moules as well as the French

Apart from the Belgians. We also had a go to restaurant in Helsinki who did fantastic moules et frites. It was owned by Belgians.

 

[RooFlyer]

Apart from the Belgians.

Agree. Bruges. Envious of the Napoleon exposure, JV (and all the rest!)

 

[ellen10]

Agree. Bruges. Envious of the Napoleon exposure, JV (and all the rest!)

Yes I do recall having the biggest, plumpest Moules ever in Bruges, back in 2012. Really kicked off my love of Moules and frites!

 

[Jacques Vert]

Les Francofolies

The Francofolies is an annual music festival that has been staged in La Rochelle for 40 years. It is one of the largest music festivals in France. It is held over 5 nights in July (yes, I’m a little behind) in a temporary stadium that is assembled in this carpark that is adjacent to the old harbour and the centre of the city.




On the first night, the headline act was Sting.



Of course, tickets were sold out months ago although there were resale tickets for standing room only. We didn’t fancy standing for 5 or 6 hours so we came up with a Plan B.

There is lots of open space on the foreshore on the other side of the entrance channel to the old port so we decided we would find a spot over there and listen to the concert for free. We arrived about half an hour before the opening act and were surprised to see a couple of hundred people had also decided to take a position here.

The first of the supporting acts, a Canadian female singer, was excellent and while we were listening we were joined by dozens, then hundreds and eventually thousands of other freeloaders. By the time Sting came on at 11 PM we estimated there were between ten and fifteen thousand freeloaders enjoying the concert with us. Here's a small section of the crowd that stretched along about 1.5 km of the foreshore.




With hindsight I’m not surprised; you can see in this photo how narrow the entrance to the harbour is. Our position was just out of view next to the stone tower on the foreshore in the top right of the following photo and the stadium started next to the stairs at the bottom of the photo. Honestly, we were closer to the stage than when we went to a Billy Joel concert at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre years ago.




Here's our view towards the stadium



Eventually Sting came on to perform and while +1 enjoyed it, I have to say I think he is past his best. To be fair, he is 72 years old and soon to be 73; and by the time he performed at 11PM the air had become rather cool and he sounded quite hoarse, as if he hadn’t warmed up sufficiently. He improved as the night went on but for me, the first impressions had already turned me off.

 

[Jacques Vert]

@Jacques Vert , thanks for the Moules photo, were they delicious? My mouth is watering!
Nobody does Moules as well as the French

I can't comment on the Moules in Belgium but I can assure you that in this part of the world they are fresh! With each restaurant often having their own version of how to serve them, I could eat moules many times per week and never get sick of eating them.