February 27 to March 5 We move on to La Rochelle

March 05, 2023

February 27 to March 5 We move on to La Rochelle

Monday February 27

As you now know from last Mondays Blog, we had a snow flurry this morning. The day was cold and windy, the effect of the local winds in the region, the Mistral and the Tremontane. These winds blow hard, and erratically and sometimes last days.

It was Hubert's birthday, so we were invited for lunch, then lynda went shopping with Christiane .

Very local snow band (pink) moving through Montpellier.

Local Pont Du Gard wine on the table, it's become a favourite of ours now.

The obligatory cheese tray between courses. Cheese are specific to regions and come with their own histories which are as varied and interesting as the cheese. On the left is Swiss Gruyère, Christianes family is Swiss, and on the right is Napiot from Jura, next door to Switzerland where she was born. This cheese is always packed in fir bark, only made beteeen November and March and never refrigerated. The more waves on the top rind the better, it means it's "still alive".

February 28

Packing day, relaxing day. Went downstairs for apéros with our host Marina. We originally planned for walking up to the village but it was a bit cool and..those damn tremontane winds...We had a wonderful evening with Marina and her partner. She is a professional musician, writes snd performs and has had one of her tunes featured in the 911 tv drama in the US. he has a music studio and teaches sound engineering in a college. They gave promised me a day in a studio on the next trip. I need to start writing and practicing!

Marina gave us a tour of the whole house. Our apartment is just on one half, of one floor. The old farm house is actually 2 floors and a loft . Note to JV.. yes it's built into the land by design! So the main living spaces face south to catch the full sun, and the north back is protected from the constant winter winds. Some houses in the countryside apparently have roofs that start from close to ground level on the back and slope up to the south so the wind blows over and up so doesn't get a grip to blow the roof off.

This structure is on the other side of "our" fence. It's an olive press from the old farm house.

Beautiful sunset from the top level.

March 1 travel day

Here is the route for today. Long trip 4.5 hrs to Bordeaux and 2.25 more to La Rochelle

Off to the train station this morning and a minor panic. Our train, leaving from Marseille to Bordeaux was already showing 25 minutes late. And we only had a scheduled 15 minute period to catch the train to La Rochelle. Apparently an unruly passenger caused a "police incident" at Nîmes.

So we were a bit anxious. But it all worked out, they made up 15 minutes on the journey of 4.5hours, and they held the train to La Rochelle for 5 minutes so we made our connection with a few minutes to spare.

We had talked to the conductor about our concern on the transfer so when we were arriving at LR he announced the track for the track for Rochelle in English so we'd be sure which way to run! We've found SNCF generally very professional. And you can still go into an office and sit down and buy or exchange tickets.

Our LR apartment is about 3 minutes walk down a wide street directly in front of the station and 3 minutes to the harbour. It's across across from a park. The area around the station is respectable and quiet, mainly residential.

The Apartment is beautifully appointed with originel art work. And very very bright. Sunrise in the bedroom then sun all day in the living space.

Owner met us , walked us through everything and by this time it was past 5 so we walked around the area for fresh air and got a first glimpse of the harbour.

We stopped at a carrefour express 2 minutes from the apartment, and lynda made pasta and bolognese, with bottle of wine, a gift from the host.

The view from our living room towards the main quay. And the view the other way to the station at the end of the street. So, couldn't be more perfectly located. We can walk out and about, come back for a break, and go out again.

There is an ibis budget hotel in a refurbished church. Next door is our local carrefour, perfect!

Our first views of the harbour. Despite the chill thé terrasses were full in the evening.

Sunset ftom our living room

Host left us a nice bottle of local..

The apartment lighting is very comfortable. Lots of art work on the walls

March 2 Thursday

Bright morning, but cool. A sharp reminder we are not in the south of France any more. We started at the tourist office and then walked through the old port area. As far as I can see, the port is actually multiple ports, channels with wide Quays for people and bikes. Cars severely restricted. The old town is comprised of narrow streets and lots of buildings with arcades.

Came home for lunch then out to the acquatium for a couple of hours of fascinating viewing, meandering around the exhibits looking at amazing sea creatures and fish.

A market at the end of our street. Thry were there all day.

A working light house.

If you were able to rent the lighthouse Airbnb you'd have this view

Many buildings in the medieval section have covered arcades.

Lots of wood frames now strengthened with tiles but keeping the original designs.

The covered market, open 7 days a week.

Scallops, or coquille st jaques as the French call them. Our friends look at us mystified when we use the term scallops.

Oysters by the truck load.

Chickens who have not yet lost their heads. Don't worry, the butcher will cut off the head when you buy it.

Rabbits! And I"m hoping Rex beside them is not the stall owners dog...

Most of the streets out of the medieval core have this architecture

The priests who have governed the church below, since 1598..

Pig looking down on people, that's a reversal...

The main cathedrale

Bell tower on the quay

After blue sky morning, marine air is flowing in. Just Like on our island!

In the afternoon. We went to the aquarium. Very enjoyable couple of hours. From here on in...lots of fish.

Sturgeon ..from prehistoric times. .we have much larger ones on the Fraser river in BC.

Like rush hour in Toronto, coming and going.

A friendly 😊 from a stingray

Children were also enjoyable to watch, chasing the sharks, signs to not tap on the tanks were respected

Moray eels! Ugly and viscious

Light show!

An octopus. One was caught in Port Alberni on the island recently, hanging onto a crab trap.

It was promptly returned, but only after becoming a TicTok overnight sensation...

Jelly fish

And these mesmerizing creatures were for us, the stars of the show. They were not jellyfish, the coloured light pulsed through them like light bulb filaments.

Amazing colours

Da Da Da Da.......

And these fish were walking out of the water, just like we did a few (hundred million) years ago

After the visit we walked some different quays, the marine air had settled in.

The pink building on the left background is our apartment building

The 12 century tower gates to the harbour. They strung a chain between them to stop ships and exact a tax of course..

Outside A Scottish tea room in a French port. They also have a pub called The Famous Pub. Catering to the English.

Friday March 3

Today was a trip to a world war 2 bunker museum, and a search for a good restaurant for tonight since it's our anniversary. We searched Google and trip advisor for a short list of 6. Read all the reviews. Lynda being a bit nervous to make the right choice since her food poisoning experience in Montpellier. We then walked by each one on the list and ended up choosing a restaurant.... next door to one on the list.. So research worked..after a fashion.

The cat logo at the entrance of the bunker that was painted on all the submarines in the fleet.

There was a bar In the bunker, the ceilings were painted by two ladies who came from Germany..they liked to paint apparently

There was a mock up scene in the bunker bar, of the two women their names you see aon the panels, are their original signatures .

DeGaulle in Lar Rochelle after the successful D Day invasion

The cat logo as you saw earlier

How the d day invasion unfolded.

Model of the concrete u boat pens in La Rochelle. Still there but a bit out of town. So we didn't visit.

Another mock up. Story was a French worker came to fix the air filtration system. When he finished for the day he noticed the two artists had painted his tool box.

The bunker was set up in an ordinary looking hotel.

The town hall square.

The town hall

The town hall burned down and was re furnished.

One of the main shopping streets

Our choice of Italian ...

Table next to the wine cellar

They had a pic saint loup wine from Montpellier so we hand to choose that...

Lyndas scallop risotto

My châteaubriand

Lyndas chocolate lava cake

And, we're out at night! Unusual for us to be out so late 😊 so we got to see all the lights.

People who stay out after 8pm at night

March 4 Saturday

Walked the streets today

The train station

Tte whole area around the covered market is taken over by outdoor stalls

No shortages of oranges

Chocolate shoes and seals

Chocolate cats and pigs

We discovered a park

The beach area

The ramparts of the old port

Crêpes and cider for lunch

Lyndas caramel crepe

Sunday March 5 our last day in La Rochelle

Beautiful morning and warm sun, for a cafe latte on the harbour. Afternoon, the museum of the new world.

An old barometer on an old building.

Don't throw anything in here, because this is where the sea begins

Below, This is how they control cars into the pedestrianized centre. Card access only for authorized vehicles. The two left bollards lower and raise.

Lots of discussion in the media about the 15 minute city, and like everything else these days, conspiracies abound. Left wing plot to eliminate cars, ultimate control on where people can go., just like during the pandemic lock downs.

La Rochelle is a great example of a 15 minute city, we walked off the train and walked to the apartment, supermarket, restaurants, Galleries Lafayette department store, shopping centre, museums, green parks, all without breathing diesel or gasoline fumes. You can eat in a sidewalk cafe and not be bothered by fumes from the cars driving around looking for parking, or sit at the perfect little table for coffee and look at the view without having it blocked by the car parked in front of you.

Museum was in a mansion owned by a slave trader and many exhibits explained the story of slavery and the abolition. The rest were of the French territories in Canada, the US and Caribbean

A sculpture expressing love between races after abolition.

The sobering diagrams of slave transportation. Journey to the US took 6 weeks, chains were removed infrequently and the slaves were taken up to the deck to dance...for exercise.