La Rochelle again...

We walked out to the pleasure marina, which is possible the largest in Europe with 3,300 berths. On the way we passed the maritime museum. C didn't want to go and see it, saying it couldn't possible be as good as the one in Barcelona. I think it's a pity we didn't walk further down the quay, though, as apparently Cousteau's Calypso is moored just beyond the museum ships. There's a municipal bike hire scheme in La Rochelle - you can see some of the bicycles in the second photo.

Porte des Minimes

We walked along to the end of one pier in the marina.

 Quick snaps around the town - not quite sure what the first one is all about!!

Cinema and café in the square where the bus station is.

Mandarins

I've had a cold the last few days so as usual I'm behind with editing and uploading photos. I have some more La Rochelle photos edited but hadn't got as far as saving a draft post.
So instead here's a video clip of the mandarin ducks in the park last week.

La Rochelle continued

With its importance as a port dating back so far, the harbour entrance is well fortified .

On the approach to the tower in the third photo (La Tour de La Lanterne,  used as a prison for Dutch, Spanish and English sailors  between the 17th and 19th centuries , and apparently with interesting graffiti from that time, though we didn't go inside), you can walk along the old walls. It's actually pretty much a street till you get to near the end, with some lovely houses along it.

Rue sur les murs / Road on the walls

I can't help wondering was it always so tidal!! It doesn't seem that such major fortifications would have been necessary if that had always been the case. I'm sure the ferry captains are well used to navigating the narrow channels at low tide, and they were well buoyed, but still...
You can see the modern part of the city to the left in the first photo.

La Rochelle

Our visit to La Rochelle was photo-heavy. Being a lovely bright sunshiny day helped!
It was founded in the 10th century and by the 12th century was already an important harbour. In its early history there were a couple of periods when it was part of England's territory in France, and it was the last city to be liberated from the Germans at the end of WW2.

The big clock tower at the entrance to the city from the harbour front is a pretty dominant feature - first seen from inside the city (as our bus dropped us at at square fairly near the centre), and then from outside the city walls.

 

A shop just beside the clock tower inside the city walls (l'horloge is French for clock)  - great graphic design:

Another feature of the city is the stone arcades along some of the streets:

Guy-Victor Duperré (1775 - 1846) was an admiral and three times the Naval Minister for France. His name is one of the names inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. I can't believe I don't have a  digital photo of the Arc de Triomphe to link to  - it's definitely time we paid another visit to Paris.

A treat in the Park

Today was a sunny and crisp November day. We put on our walking boots and went to the park in the morning, after a good warming porridge breakfast.
Time is short today, but I wanted to share these beauties - there must have been at least 5 male mandarin ducks and 3 hens. They were the funniest things to watch as well as being so beautiful - I could have stayed a lot longer if C wasn't starting to get cold.

More park pics and a little mandarin video to follow as soon as I find some time.

Trip Down Memory Lane

I picked out a lovely autumnal photo of the lake in Farmleigh to use as my header for this month - but then I couldn't find any colour for the title that worked, so I had to scrap that idea. C, whose turn it was to choose the calendar photo for the month, chose a snow scene but I wasn't sure I wanted to be looking at snow all month, so I actually had to go back to November 2009 for a suitable November photo...

Last week when I went to visit my aunt she had a hairdresser's appointment just around the time my train got in. So instead of my normal walk up to her cottage, I walked around the seafront instead. Much more my home turf - I can't count how many times I must have walked along that road.

The South Beach - when we were on it last summer I noticed a lot of some type of grass growing in it. That was never there when we were kids. And it used to be possible to bathe in the men's bathing place! I remember a couple of midnight swims there, but looking at the condition of the graffiti it's been a long time since the water came in that far.

There were several "in memoriam" benches along the front - this was the most unusual, and a great take on a rowing boat.

A Ringed Plover trying to open a mussel, a young Herring Gull and a crow...

And some information boards on what may be seen.

My brother always loved this anchor!

Working on the new marina and harbour. Or more like not working - it's all fenced off, but there was no sign of any machinery either from the train or walking around the harbour. A victim of the recession, I suspect.

And look - you can see the house where I grew up - that red roof with all the chimneys. The big tree to the left is a eucalyptus. It was the only tree in the garden that we couldn't climb - with a trunk diameter of at least  8-10 feet, and the first branch coming out about 15 feet up that was hardly surprising. But we could clamber into it from another tree beside it, and there was a rope for climbing and swinging from.

The LaTouche Hotel was where I (very briefly) did ballet, and I've been to a couple of weddings in my time too. It's pretty derelict looking now!!