Into history

Recently one of our favourite cafés closed down. Le Duperré has been open under that name at least as long as we’ve been in La Rochelle – over 30 years. Its place was opposite the statue if Admiral Duperré and was the first café on the port as you turned left from the big clock tower.

Over the years it was our favourite place for breakfast with children or friends. If I had blood tests before eating in the morning, having breakfast at the Duperré was a treat (Photo of a breakfast there). We met up with J-M’s parents for the first time outside the Duperré – though we didn’t have a drink there on that day because it was full up. I met blogging friend Caroline and her partner there when they came to La Rochelle too.

Every morning before work, Rob would go for his cup of coffee. You might have seen him, with his black bushy beard, sat at a table outside looking at his phone of reading the newspaper.

It has reopened under a different name and the waiter is the same at least for the time being. Before long we’ll be saying;

“Do you remember when it used to be called Le Duperré, how long ago was that?”

History goes up in flames

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

Sad news

Regular readers of my blogs might remember me making friends with an elderly man one day when I discovered him struggling to breathe on my way back from the post office. I’m afraid to report that he died this week; he was 85. As I remembered he was a Major in the Gendarmes. He also fought in Indochina (Vietnam) and Algeria. I always enjoyed my talks with him when we met up.

 Here is some of his story.