A walk through La Rochelle, France

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This is day two of my summer trip to France. If you missed my first day in Paris, no worries, just click here!

We took the TGV, the fast french train, to la Rochelle from Paris.

First thing was getting out baggage off our shoulders. When that happened we first had a wonderful meal at the old harbor of La Rochelle. I can only recommend this place, the food is just incredible and the prices are raisonable. The place is called La Grand Rive and is located at 24/26 quai duperre in 17000 La Rochelle.

la rochelle france shops restaurant tips suggestions architecture houses cute iconic
This is the street. There are a lot of restaurants locates here, we found that la Grand Rive was the best one…

I had the salade du chèvre chaud, a wonderful big salad with hot goat cheese, ham, tomatoes and green pesto. Just amazing!

la rochelle la grand rive france restaurant chèvre chaud salad food photography

We sat a long time in the restaurant talking and laughing with a beautiful view. It was really refreshing.

old harbour of la rochelle harbor ships yachts france photography
You could just sit here a long time, simply looking at this…

Then we went for a walk through this historic, beautiful city/town. Here are some impressions.

la rochelle ferris weel 1617sunshineave
A ferris wheel greets you when you enter the city center.
la rochelle houses avenue shops architecture france
The little street by the harbour with it´s iconic houses.
la rochelle france photography houses windows architecture
A close up of some houses…
lighthouse in la rochelle france cute architecture photography 1617 sunshine ave
Isn´t this old lighthouse with the two tiny houses on the side super cute?!
la ville blanche la rochelle france architecture 1617 sunshine avenue blog tips travel
Again the same architecture you find in this region: white, simple, rather small houses.

rue à la rochelle france shops magazins restaurants

the white city la ville blanche la rochelle france
La Rochelle is also called la ville blanche, meaning the white city…I can see why.
architecture in la rochelle france building
But there are also houses like these which make the city a little less white;-) and a little more interesting…in my opinion.
door in la rochelle france photography detail key hole blue
I am a big fan of close up photography and different angles and points of view in general…if you haven´t noticed:-)

la rochelle architecture la ville blanche

open window in la rochelle photography
I just had to photograph this…
banque de france building white architecture france la rochelle
La banque du France.. a pretty pompous building.

banque de france bank of france house pompous architecture 1617 sunshine ave photography

We visited two churches. The catholic and the protestant;-) Always gotta look at both perspectives! The protestant church was very simple without any embellishments. I didn´t take any photos of the inside, unfortunately. But here are some of the pompous building of the catholic church.

architecture of the catholic church in la rochelle france photography by 1617 sunshine ave
The catholic church on the outside…
catholic church la rochelle france
…and on the inside.

Here a few historic facts on La Rochelle:

  • If you can say it this way, La Rochelle was always the smart one profiting from everything. It was once part of Aquitaine, which sometimes belonged to England and sometimes to France. No matter to which country, whether they were at war or not, La Rochelle always was the one benefiting.
  • After Columbus discovered America and the trade started, La Rochelle became rich from trading slaves against cotton, sugar and tobacco in the Caribs and then selling those goods to the Europeans for a lot of money.
  • La Rochelle was also a big part of the protestant movement. It becoming a big source of uproar in the 16th century in France, troubling the King. They made a peace contract that stated the catholic religion as the official one, but allowing protestants to continue living in four different cities, La Rochelle being one of them.
  • In 1627 Richelieu starved the city, by closing the harbor. He did this by building a wall and sinking ships to prevent any food or whatsoever to reach the city. From 25000 inhabitants 20000 staved. From then on the now old harbor is not used anymore as an international trade harbor. New harbors were built instead afterwards.

Last but not least, after the little history lesson, I´d like to show you my dessert of the day. Just to finish this post off with a sweet photo;-)

dessert pâtisserie france tarte au chocolate food photography 1617 sunshine ave
Un tarte de chocolat…

Have you ever been to La Rochelle? I´d love to know! 

XO Little Sunshine

Find me on Instagram: @littlesunshine01
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Hey there beautiful people of the internet! I am a young student studying Biochemistry in Germany and blogging as I travel the world in my free time. I have a passion for all things travel, fitness, books and getting to know the lives of people from all over the world. I blog mostly about my travels, honestly and openly sharing my experiences. Sometimes I sprinkle a little bit of Fitness content in there as well, as I am also a certified personal trainer. So come join me in the ride that is this weird and crazy thing called life. I'm happy to have you here :) XO Little Sunshine

19 thoughts on “A walk through La Rochelle, France”

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        1. That is so exciting!! Where are you moving to?
          And yes, a France road trip sounds so so perfect and that really is an amazing opportunity! So happy for you! Let me know if I can help you with recommendations when the time arrives;-)

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

          2. I´ve never been to Sweden, but I´ve heard amazing things about it! That´s so great!
            You never know what time will bring you, true. But that´s such an adventure. I wish you all the best!

            Like

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