France > New Aquitaine > La Rochelle
La Rochelle
N 46°9.346', W 1°9.201'
2018-07-14
https://www.larochelle.fr/en/discover-the-city/tourism.html
Our rating: 8.20
Overall rating: - Rate this place - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Medium-sized port city, a popular tourist destination. We arrived in La Rochelle on Bastille Day. Due to the concert and the preparation for the fireworks half of the center was blocked, so it was not possible to walk everywhere. If you arrive on a normal day, you will see much more. In general, the city is very pleasant, with a lot of places near the water, which is always good for tourists. The total length of the embankment is about 4 kilometers.
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
The main tourist area of the city is located around Old Harbor. This is a medieval port, which has now become a marina and a huge public space. In the 17th and 18th centuries ships departed from here to colonial New France (eastern Canada and the USA). There is an excellent ferris wheel.
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
Which offers good views of the harbor.
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
The entrance to the harbor is guarded by two medieval towers, which are the symbol of the city. From time to time the towers are included in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Cup.
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Since there is no bridge between the towers, you can get to the other side on a mini-ferry. It costs a couple of euros and can be seen in the next photo.
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
These towers took part in many battles, the most famous of which is the siege of La Rochelle (1627-1628). It is known to everyone after the novel “Three Musketeers” by Alexander Dumas. It was a civil war, where the French fought with the French. Catholics and the king from one side and nobility of La Rochelle, Protestants (Huguenots) from the other side. In the 16th century, there was a scientist or a historian in every European country who translated the New Testament into the language of that country. When people had the opportunity to read the Bible, they took a fresh look at religion and started to ask the church about the changes. In France La Rochelle was the center of the Reformation and Protestantism. If you did not understand from the novel, d'Artagnan fought on the side of Cardinal Richelieu, who led the siege. That means the famous musketeers fought for the "bad", against the progressive people of their time.
Cardinal Richelieu on the siege of La Rochelle (Henri Motte, 1881) ©wikipedia.org
From the ferry is visible how people gather on the banks in the evening, arrange picnics and meet the sunset. The place is really good.
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
Historic areas are preserved from one side of the harbor.
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
On the other side modern quarters with large public spaces and low-rise buildings have already been built.
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
In the evening, we came to see the firework. While waiting, walked around the harbor. The view of the Big Clock tower (Grosse Horloge).
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
The good location to view the fireworks is here N 46 09.433 W 1 09.085 . Despite the relatively large number of people, there was no problem to find an empty place.
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
La Rochelle ©Yuriy Buriak
We spent the night at the Hotel Première Classe La Rochelle Center (booking.com ). The hotel is standard and was chosen for a big parking lot nearby, as in France it is always difficult to find an empty place. Getting there: There is an airport, which is located just 3 kilometers from the center. Taxi 15 euros, bus 1B to Place de Verdun 1.5 euros. There is a railway station with direct high-speed trains to Paris (3 hours).
Tags, France: city , fireworks Tags, all countries: city , fireworks
- Rate this place -
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help
Our rating - 8.20
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help
Visitor's rating - 0.00
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help