This week we’ll keep it short & sweet just like our
relaxing weekend break to La Rochelle sans children!
La Rochelle is a historic port town in the west of
France. It’s main attraction is a large seaport on the Bay of Biscay. From
Dublin it’s a short flight time of just less than 2 hours. We went in April
when the weather was starting to heat up and enjoyed average temperatures of 15
degrees.
La Rochelle is the perfect place to while away the hours people
watching or just strolling along the town walls taking in the history &
culture of the city. The Ryanair flights cost us €150 for both of us return.
Le
Champlain – La Rochelle
I booked us a room at an old converted mansion in the
heart of the city. We had everything within walking distance so no need to
spend a fortune on taxis. Le Champlain is actually a Best Western hotel but you
would never guess it’s part of a chain.
The rooms are ornate & are kept in
the style of an old French mansion. The decor was simply beautiful & priced
at an average of €95 per room per night B&B it was well worth it.
Breakfast was a wonderful spread of a perfect
continental feast. We even took our coffee in the garden out the back of the
chateau after breakfast to relax in the morning sunshine while reading the
papers. After all that’s what people do while on holiday without
children....isn’t it?!
Port
towers at the old port La Rochelle
One of the best tourist attractions of the Le Vieux
Port area are the three port towers dating from the 14th & 15th
centuries. People just go there to hang out & sun bathe on the harbour
walls taking in the stunning scenery of the bay area.
The towers are open to
visit & you can climb them for €6 per tower or €8 for all three. My budget
friendly tip is if you go the first Sunday of each month from November to March
they are free of charge!
On
board the Maritime museum, Ahoy there!
While we were strolling around the old port we came
across an old fishing ship & tug boat which are permanently docked at the
harbour & they make up the La Rochelle Maritime museum.
You can take a
guided tour or opt for a self guided tour as we did at €8 per person. My
husband Colin loved it as you get to explore everywhere from the engine rooms
all the way up to the bridge.
After all that exploring we made our way topside just
in time to see one of the many luxury yachts leaving the harbour. On the
Maritime museum ship there is a bar on the main deck serving lunch & more
importantly wine & beer!
So we sat & relaxed over a few sociable
drinks. We waited & got a wonderful view of the sunset as the bar stays
open till 10pm.
Old
Town La Rochelle
We took a wander through the old town which is full of
17th & 18th century buildings converted into boutique
shops selling everything from high fashion to truly delicious pastries.
We then
made our way back to Le Vieux Port to have a late lunch/early dinner or as we
like to call it linner in one of the many superb seafood restaurants that line
the streets surrounding the port. The price wasn’t that bad at all with our
dinner including wine coming in at €55.
Another
watch tower at the old port.
You can walk from the old port to the modern harbour of
Port des Minimes and take in the wonderful views along the way. If you don’t feel like walking you can get a
small “bus de mer” which is a little boat that you take down the coast at a
very reasonable €2 per person.
There are tons more things to see & do in La
Rochelle but we simply wanted to relax & recharge our batteries so we kept
the touristy thing to a minimum.
For that reason it’s firmly on our “return to”
list of destinations. There is a tourist office located at 2 Quai Georges
Simenon, Le Gabut. You can go there & pick up an English language guide
that includes a 3 hour self guided walk of La Rochelle.
Tell us, have you been to this little slice of French heaven? What do you recommend to see & do while there?
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