La Rochelle

We arrived in our hotel in La Rochelle around 6.45 and on the way from the car park, we had seen a nice looking Steakhouse just around corner, so after a quick freshen up from the long, hot drive, we headed there for dinner. It was cool and shady in the street where we sat and there was a live band playing some really good music, including Oasis, The Jam & Stereophonics. The food was excellent, as were the wine, Irish coffees & ice cream sundae with Baileys!

The next morning our first port of call was the Bunker of La Rochelle, where the commanding officers of the German U-Boat base spent their time during the many air raids in the city. It was a very interesting visit, with some of the rooms housing informtion and artifacts from the war, but some - including the art, having been left exactly as it would have been at the time.

We spent the rest of the morning wandering the streets of this beautiful town, looking at the buildings, churches and the three towers at the entrance to the old port. After lunch, we sought out the coolness of the hotel lobby, as the temperature was around 36 degees and the aircon in our room appeared to have given up the ghost the night before!

We headed out again in the evening, to yet another big wheel and another wander around the old port, before heading to a quieter quay area to enjoy some Aperol Spritz, cheese & charcuterie.

La Rochelle was amazing, and definitely somewhere to come back to, preferrably if the temperature was around 10 degrees cooler!Read more