La Rochelle

The harbor towers

Yesterday, my parents and I drove down to the west coast to spend the weekend in La Rochelle. My younger brother, Florian, was born there in 1977 and we lived there for 4 years.
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department, with about 76,000 inhabitants.  La Rochelle was founded during the 10th century and became an important harbor in the 12th century.  The main activities of the city were in the areas of maritime commerce and trade, especially with England, the Netherlands and Spain. In 1196, a wealthy bourgeois named Alexandre Auffredi sent a fleet of seven ships to Africa to tap the riches of the continent. He went bankrupt and went into poverty as he waited for the return of his ships, but they finally returned seven years later filled with riches.  Until the 15th century, La Rochelle was to be the largest French harbor on the Atlantic coast, dealing mainly in wine, salt and cheese. Today, the city has beautifully maintained its past architecture, making it one of the most picturesque and historically rich cities on the Atlantic coast. This helped develop a strong tourism industry. La Rochelle's main feature is the "Vieux Port" ("Old Harbor"), which is at the heart of the city, picturesque and lined with seafood restaurants. The city walls are open to an evening promenade. The old town has been well-preserved. From the harbor, boating trips can be taken to the Île d'Aix and Fort Boyard (an old prison, like Alcatraz Island).  A fun fact; the 2 american sister cities of La Rochelle are New Rochelle, New York (since 1910) and Newport, Rhode Island.