France

June 10 La Rochelle, France

Pouring rain, coming down in sheets!  And the wind was howling, and loud cracks of thunder!  Remember I am out in an industrial area and I either walk or catch the bus!

Well by time I got to bus stop the rain had stopped, and by the time I got to the city, the sky was blue and it had got hot!  Great!

The bus driver told me that he went to the train station, which was great, but when I arrived, it took me close to an hour to figure out that this was a different train station.  Lost?  Depends on how you define lost!

Well headed off to the Towers of La Rochelle, 3 towers that guard the harbour.  Only 2 were open.  Built in 1100s, the Lanterne tower has about 8 floors, with 2 separate towers at the top.  I walked all the floors using the very steep spiral staircases! 

This tower also was a prison for some time, and many of prisoners carved drawings in the stone walls!  Some of them very intricate.

The Chaine Tower was closed, it is the one in the middle of the 3.  And then there is the St Nicolas tower (on the left), when housed royalty at one point.  The views of city and harbour were great!

Far out the harbour I spotted a beach, so headed towards that!  About 2 hours later found out that it was all rocks, and what looked like cliffs, were, but danger signs all over warning that they may collapse.

Kept walking and ended up on a small beach called The Chef de Baie.  Very nice.  Actually went in the water.  A bit on cool side but, not as cold as that first Okanagan Lake swim!  Still it felt good as was hot!  Caught the bus back and wandered around the Place du Verdun for a bit.  Was going to have something to eat, but the bus schedule said that there were on 2 buses left, so headed back towards hotel.  Stopped at a restaurant and had a French hamburger!  Very good, and huge!

 

June 9 La Rochelle, France

The adventure continues!  Caught the train from Pontorson to Rennes.  No problem.  Had a 2 hour wait for the next train.  Sat outside the train station, just watching people!  Got hit up for money 2 times in 5 minutes!  The funny part is they knew enough English to ask!

Well thought I was catching another train!  Turns out it was a bus!  1 hour on a bus, where the leg room was about 2 inches too short for me!  Good thing not much longer! That was to Nantes, where I did catch a train, and yes I am sure it was a train!  A very nice one at that, reserved seating!

Arrived in La Rochelle, and ended up catching a taxi!  I had booked a hotel out of the city centre, which I thought was fairly close the the beach!  Well, the hotel is kind of neat!  Self check-in!  You get a code for the front door and for your room on this print out!  The location of the hotel is actually in the middle of a light industrial area!  ahhahhah  Will not do that the next time!  Walked to the beach!  Took about 30 minutes. 

On way back stopped for something to eat at La Paillote, a small bar/restaurant on the street.  He was advertising his specialty, Moules Frites!  They were excellent!  Huge!  and I am sure I heard him peeling the potatoes for the fries!