La Rochelle, so called because it was founded on a rocky hill. Logically, there are plenty of official buildings, towers, and forts made out of large stones.
The port is lovely, couple of facts about two of its towers:
Saint-Nicolas Tower
(Yup, it does lean like the tower of Pisa🤔 ) A 27-metre diving board was installed in 2009 on the tower to host a Red Bull extreme diving competition. Divers can reach 90 km/h in three seconds (and a gravitational force of up to 5G).
Lantern tower
It was used as a prison during the religion wars (1568). More than 600 prisoners' graffiti are carved into its walls.
In 2015, two gargoyles were added using the faces of two cartoonists of "Charlie Hebdo" the leftish newspaper, Cabu and Wolinski, who were assassinated that year in Paris by Islamist terrorists.
Rapunzel
La Rochelle is very clean, there are lots of beautiful houses, some with round towers and pointed roofs that look like small fairy tale castles. I keep looking out for princess Rapunzel but I haven't seen her yet, Given that you can find hairdressers every 50 meters in France on average, she must have gone for a bob!
CrossFit
Our first day in La Rochelle was spent walking, spotting local markets, supermarkets, cafes and restaurants, and stocking up on good supplies.
The second day was devoted to cooking small French dishes and eating well. Cuong is getting into local gastronomy and has decided to try lots of new recipes.
On the third day, in order to digest a bit after the feast of cheeses, fresh pasta and bread, we had the brilliant idea of signing up to a 'CrossFit' class. CrossFit is a deadly mix of weightlifting and cardio. For those who are not familiar with it, it's a bit like high school classes with overzealous, army-style gym teachers.
It was great... but boy was it hard! After a somewhat tiring but reasonable start, the mad competitive pride that Cuong and I share barely allowed us to finish the hour without collapsing or fainting.
However... we were unable to walk normally for the next 3 days, just the number of rest days before the next session (yes Craig, we are now your penguin cousins!). Isn't it great to feel fit?
Oh well. Still, the CrossFit room is only 10 minutes away from our flat on foot (20 minutes on the way back given the muscle aches), and on the way back there is a very good pastry shop where we stop to buy a rum baba or other treats. It helps our muscle tissue repair a bit. Our glutes are now rock solid, with a layer of fat on top.
The second session wasn't any easier, this time our arms suffered, but luckily I caught a cold while going to a French crepe restaurant, a very popular place full of brave people coughing their lungs out (we noticed it too late). Poor Cuong, thanks to a good immune system acquired by taking freezing showers every morning, didn't have the luck to get sick, he's therefore in pain this morning after his third CrossFit session. I think I'll try to stay sick a little longer.
Dog litter
Cuong is also slightly disconcerted by the bitter failure of another fantastic idea he had before we left the UK: to buy a litter box for Didi made of natural grass planted on a carpet which must be watered every day (dogs are fussier than cats apparently). The grass carpet in question is placed on a somewhat heavy and bulky metal tray which barely fits in the car, and which is probably responsible for the customs officer's decision to pass our car through a giant scanner at the Eurotunnel. To be fair, in theory, it could have been really handy when we stay in our 7th floor Airbnb flat in Barcelona and Didi's stomach demands emptying at 2am from digesting too many leftover croissants she's made us give her with her large sad puppy eyes. Only Didi decided that a grass carpet actually makes a great bed, it smells good, it's fresh and it's very soft, plus it's organic. She's right! And since dogs never poo on their own beds… we now have to lug around this 5th luxury dog bed (see previous blog) for no other reason than Princess Didi's comfort. I think I will rename her Rapunzel!
Walks under pine trees
We are enjoying La Rochelle a lot, it's full of superb umbrella pine trees and parks by the sea.
Ha yes and strangely, the French love snails in all their shapes 🤣
French gastronomy
Speaking of gastronomy, we now manage to understand better prices of local produce in large and small supermarkets. I still managed to buy a jar of rose mustard for (ouch) 10 euros, because I wrongly thought the price was another one marked below the pot which was only 2 euros. We eventually got over my mistake because this mustard really is very, very good!
Our Airbnb is very well located a minute way from a large park and 5 from the sea, in a 70s building which still has a concierge, a rare thing even in France. Bad luck for us, as it happens, because Didi, for the first time in her life, decided to pee on the entrance carpet, right in front of the lady. It could have been revenge because she is not allowed on the lawn, and since she is an almost 14-year-old grandma, it's difficult to blame her too much. I took out a sponge, cleaning liquid and scrubbed the carpet to be forgiven by the Concierge but since, she has been keeping a very suspicious eye on us!
Bye for now, I will leave you with photos taken during our walks with Didi and good food, we are off to eat a Savoyard fondue at "The Marmot's"!
Daily walks
Tasty food
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