LaRochelle, France
 

LaRochelle is a small seaport town on the Western coast of France. I lived there until I was 12, then we came back to the states. That was more than 40 years ago. Anyone out there ever been there, heard about it, or from there? I would love to hear anything about it, as those were some of the most cherished memories of my life! thank you so much to all those who can give me some news!

I have traveled to La Rochelle, Ile de Ré, Ile d'Oléon, and other nearby places quite a few times since buying a house in the Dordogne nearly 20 years ago. La Rochelle is still absolutely lovely, with some of the best seafood I've ever had. I look forward to going again.

yes I spent a night there several years ago. There's a beautiful bridge there that led us to the Ile de Re.

lots of cafes, restaurants line the Vieux-
port with its towers. The Musee du nouveau monde opened in 1982

I laughed when I read your title. A small story. Several years ago on a visit to France we planned to spend the night in La Rochelle. The gentleman where we had stayed the previous night suggested the town. We arrived to find the town literally grid locked with traffic. There was a car rally of some sort on! It took us literally hours to drive several metres. We eventually found a park and needless to say there was no accomodation anywhere. We decided to drive to the outskirts and sleep in our car. My god it got freezing during the night! I remember we were lucky to get into a great restaurant for a seafood meal. We should return! The next night we were in our villa in Dordogne laughing about our experience.

La Rochelle is one of the main tourist cities in France, hardly a "small town" these days. I pass through there every year.

I ate the best mussel dish of my life in La Rochelle a few years ago.

Mouclade at Bar Andre:

http://www.barandre.com/

La Rochelle is one of our favorite cities!

While Kerouac is right, it is a big city, if you stay in la Vieille Ville/Vieux Port area it still has that medieval,little town feel to it but with all the conveniences and pleasures(high-end shops)of the big city life.

A "green" city, sponsoring ecological programs...one of the first to have the "bikes-to-use-and-leave" idea, excellent public trasportation. A young, youthful population with lots of cultural activities/events. Friendliest taxi drivers. Beautiful historic train station. Fantastic array of restaurants to choose from for any budget.

I could gush on and on, but I won't!

Thank you all for the lovely responses! I hope to someday return to that beautiful city of my youth! Your responses have given me such pleasure, thank you all from my heart!

dottiew

Well, don't go for at least the next two weeks, because the entire port and old city area was flooded by the big storm last week.