The Hermione

Is a replica of the frigate used by the General Lafayette in 1780 to reach America in order to fight against the English in the War of Independence. The replica has taken 17 years to build and is due to set off for the US in the next few weeks. The original apparently took less than a year! Over Easter it will be docked in La Rochelle.

As we had free tickets, Rob and I decided to visit the frigate this week. The first view of the three mast ship is amazing. The weather was wet and windy and we were warned that the deck could be slippery as we went aboard.

There are between 23 and 25 kilometers of rope, some natural and some synthetic, depending on the job it will be used for.

1000 pulleys

26 canons


We went below deck which was a bit crowded as a school group was being taken around. The stairs were very steep. Fortunately for me, there weren’t too many.

Masts and crow's nests are fascinating.

Some more views.

Back to the modern world.


There is a modern engine on the ship to confirm with the shipping laws of some countries. The Hermione will be visiting ports in the US from mid May and will arrive in New York for the 4th July.

I take flight

Rob's been wanting to go on the ferris wheel for some time.  On Sunday morning it was sunny and calm, the ferris wheel goes round at a slow pace so no travel sickness...

 looking towards the St Nicolas tower

 Towards the Port

 The 'Gabut'

 Towards Rue St Nicolas

Me with railway station in background

All photos by Rob who can be seen reflected in my sunglasses.

History goes up in flames

As I write this the Town Hall in La Rochelle is on fire.  Scroll down to see pictures

They'll take good care of you

Rob has been on a First Aid course this week. If you visit the towers in La Rochelle* and have a heart attack from climbing the hundreds of stairs you can rest assured that Rob and his colleagues will shave your chest and use a defibrillator to shock you back to life. They learnt other useful things too. Rob did his last course 22 years ago when I was pregnant with Dominique (or was it 24 years ago, when I was pregnant with Christian?) and was surprised how things have changed.

From next year in France there will be other changes. No more feeling for a pulse, apparently it’s not much use. Also, no more mouth to mouth, that doesn’t do much either and could be dangerous in this day and age of HIV and other nasties. What’s it like in your country?

*Link to webcam.  The port is empty at the moment because it is being cleaned.

The day without cars

As today was the day without cars in town, Rob and I took the bus this morning, which was free. I think this must be about the 15th year without cars, but the first time I’d actually been along to see how it works. The strangest part was the (almost) silence. There were buses and electric cars and also a few residents who lived in the streets leaving the zone to go off to work. There were other activities here and there as the town is keen on encouraging people to walk more, take up sport and eat sensibly. (Who allowed the three MacDonald’s I wonder).

I was surprised at how disorientating it is not to have the flow of the traffic to remind you where to go. I always take a wrong turn when I leave the opticians for some reason (Perhaps I should put my glasses on). I got lost!

Busy town

In the last couple of weeks our town has been extremely busy.

First off was the French TV Film Festival. We stole this one from Saint-Tropez! The red carpet was out at the cinema on the port and the TV film stars arrived in town. The journalists that cover the event are more famous than the stars in most cases, but never mind.

Next was the boat show. I’m not really that interested in boats myself; I was born inland. Last night was the enormous firework display on the port to close the show. We forgot to walk to the outskirts of the village to watch from a distance. To add to the confusion La Rochelle’s rugby team, who are now in the first division, were at home playing Biarritz yesterday afternoon. La Rochelle lost. I imagine there was a lot of ‘fun’ in the bars after that.

Many of the monuments in France were open for free this weekend. Rob’s most unfavourite weekend. People don’t like waiting to go in – fire regulations and 600 year old uneven narrow stairways mean alternating one way traffic up and down. The staff at the Arch de Triomphe were on strike (pensions). Olivier has been home to work with Rob this weekend – it’s probably his most unfavourite weekend too by now.

The 22nd will be the day without cars, in town. It’s very well organised and was invented by our late Mayor Michel Crepeau. Out of town car parks and buses will be free. Unfortunately some people seem to think they can do as they like on bikes* and skate boards and it can become quite dangerous. We all receive a leaflet with reminders about safety. There are games and sports and information on keeping fit and eating well. The idea is that people will take up using public transport, it’s easy to hire bikes and electric cars in town and there is even a boat bus.


* When he was younger my brother was engaged to a girl whose mother was accidentally knocked over and killed by cyclists.

How to feel safe

We went to pick Dom up from the station at 10 to midnight as she’d been to Paris over the holiday weekend. I went in on my own to wait for the train while Rob dozed in the car. I was all alone on the platform except for 6 or 7 CRS police. They’re the ones that deal with riots and crowds. I was very well behaved and very self-conscious standing there clutching the ham and tomato sandwich Dom had asked for. As it happens there were only about 10 people on the train, so I don’t think they had any problems

For the last 5 days we’ve hosted the annual Francofolies music festival. a lot of people flock to La Rochelle see their favourite bands, some of them are weird and wonderful (fans and bands), hence the heavy police presence. On Friday when Olivier and I returned from Poitiers we were greeted by a sniffer dog. There are also two English Police Ladies on duty here for a couple of weeks. I hope that they are enjoying strolling around in the sunshine

News report

This was the news report yesterday evening. It's in French, but the images of the divers are excellent. Rob managed to go up and watch from above the divers, he doesn't think that it was the best view. I managed to see one dive with the webcam. One of the divers was injured, but nothing too serious.

I tried some Red Bull last night, Olivier was right; a mixture of cough syrup and lemsip, yeuk.

Bad news week

Recently we cancelled the local paper as ‘nothing ever happens around here’ and we didn’t have time to read it anyway. Last week there was a house fire in the village and a lady living on her own has been made homeless. She’s been helped by our friends at the campsite who have installed her in one of their cabins. We walk a lot but the burned down house doesn’t appear to be in the parts of the village where we go. Olivier doesn’t know where it is either.

The second piece of news was very sad. For around twenty years a homeless lady, Marie-Ange, has been more or less camped outside the smallest department store in la Rochelle. The story goes that she used to work at the store and her boyfriend /husband would meet her everyday after work. One day he stopped coming and she started to drink and I presume lost her job and spent her time waiting for him. This week she wasn’t asleep outside the store she was dead.

La Rochelle is a town where there are a lot of big houses and wealthy people and it’s considered very chic to live here. There is another side to life…

See you next summer, perhaps

Although I knew about it already I didn’t know the whole story. The Chain Tower (Tour de la Chaîne) in La Rochelle is closed for refurbishments and will reopen in May for the celebrations of Quebec’s 400th anniversary. So if you’re coming over next summer all the way from Quebec you will probably see Rob and you may even meet Dom. I love the French Canadian accent.

Flower Power
Did you see our flowery Tram? According to the local newspaper news bulletins all over the world included pictures of the tram which will soon be sent for service in Montpellier. Made in La Rochelle (well Aytre really, but it’s too complicated to explain)

Last Weekend

As last weekend was a holiday Rob worked , but not in his usual role. He was following the guided tours and translating into English, if required. His colleague, Rodolph, dressed up for the occasion. I thought you’d like to see some of the photos Rob took and Rodolph said it was okay for me to put the photos on here. By the way, he isn’t wearing a wig, those are his own curls, his mother must be so proud…