Little Lolly's Small Adventures: La Rochelle, France. Excursion: La Rochelle Highlights.

La Rochelle

Yesterday was a sea day so I started working on my holiday blog again. It's hard to get into the swing of things!

Although overcast today, it was warm and I looked forward to a few hours off the ship.

Église Saint-Saveur

Today's excursion I was assigned to was mainly a walking tour through the city. First of all we had to get to La Rochelle city from the harbour which involved a drive past a submarine base and old German bunker, through Port Neuf, past 16th century croquet lawns, waterfront and artificial beach; past Parq Charruyer – gardens which used to be the site of former ramparts and fortifications, past Place de Verdun where there is Cathédrale Saint-Louis de La Rochelle, past botanical gardens and finally past St Louis Hospital.

City entrance with clock tower

Then our walking tour began, taking us past past Église Saint-Sauveur, on the quay of La Pallice Harbour to view the two towers, clock tower and ancient city walls, and a statue of Admiral Du Perre.

From there we passed through the old city entrance with stops to see carved facades on buildings, and a statue of a chap from Algeria.

Henry II's house

We continued on down a narrow lane to see where Templers lived; their quarters have long gone but a cross remains paved into the floor. We passed ‘La Justice’ – law court, viewed old wooden houses with wooden beams and stonework, stopped in front of Henry II's house, Hotel de la Bourse and the City Hall. We stopped at Cathédrale Saint-Louis de La Rochelle.

This beautiful carving was situated between
photographs of the reconstruction of the Old
City Hall

The City Hall was burnt but is in the process of being restored. There are photographs of what the City Hall looked like and pictures of the restoration work. One can see a bit of the old building from behind the work fences.

All stops were of a few minutes for photographs and for our guide to talk about our surroundings and history.

After that we had a bit of free time to explore the town on our own. I went in search of a formal shirt and tie for Paul because his are still in his trunk on the Maasdam. I finally managed to get a black tie but not a formal shirt. It is better than nothing though!

Back at the ship it was good to see Paul again and relax and unwind.

The Prinsendam is now on its way to Bourdeaux where we have an overnight stay.

PHOTOGRAPHS

La Rochelle's old harbour