May 1 - May Day in La Rochelle

It’s a beautiful sunny day here in La Rochelle, France.  This is a city of about 80,000 on the Bay of Biscay located midway between Bordeaux and Brittany.  Like all these places it has been settled for millennia.  In the 12th century when Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry II of England it came under English rule. In subsequent centuries it changed hands between the French and the English until finally becoming permanently a part of France in the last quarter of the 14th century.  In the 16th and 17th centuries La Rochelle was a center of Protestantism  and during that time massacres of Catholics and Huguenots occurred depending on how the prevailing politics went. It was a troubled time that saw heretics burned at the stake and priests slaughtered.  If one looks back at  history, it’s remarkable how many terrible things happened in the name of one religion or another.

Enough about that.  The port is some distance from the old town so there was a shuttle that dropped us off.  Today is May Day, a workers’ holiday in many countries, and there was the requisite protest march going on down along the waterfront when we arrived there.  There were different groups with different banners (I haven’t a clue what they symbolized).  Thankfully it was peaceful with just a lot of drum beating and bullhorns leading chants.  

Haven't a clue who these fellows were but they looked very dramatic

Some of the marchers

One of the old town gates

We walked along the waterfront next to which was a tree-lined promenade with cafés all along the way.  We walked through what was a remaining gate in the city wall where we could get an idea of what La Rochelle must have been like when it was protected by a wall against marauders from the sea.  We then retraced our steps and this time we looked at the menus along the way to make a choice for a little lunch.  As we walked we encountered a man with a miniature schnauzer, so you know I had to stop and ask if I could pet her.  The man spoke very good English and we had a nice conversation about the history of La Rochelle.

The tree-lined promenade

Some of the old outer walls

Nearby we came to the café Les 2 Tours and we liked their menu, so voilà, we sat down for a little déjeuner.  We sat at a table under the trees where we could watch the world go by on a sunny French holiday.  We had oysters on the half-shell which this area is famous for, a tuna steak marinated in something that reminded me of a combination of soy sauce and vinegar and topped with sesame seeds, and rice pilaf.  Of course there was also some crusty bread. Why can't we make bread like they do here? To wash it down we had a bottle of dry white wine from here which tasted absolutely delicious.  After we’d finished and paid the bill (very reasonable), the maître d’ brought us each a digestif of some local liqueur.  I’m not sure what it was except for a little glass of deliciousness.  By then it was approaching 3:30 and we needed to head back to the shuttle bus and the ship.  After all, we had to play trivia at 4:30 PM.  One must have one’s priorities straight.

Perhaps it was the wine and the liqueur, but today we came in 2nd.  That’s good because we had begun to get mean looks; not everyone understands that it’s only a game.

My friend and I decided we weren’t really very hungry so we sat in the piano bar and talked until 8:45 when it occurred to us that we’d better eat something.  We had a quick dish of pasta before the restaurant closed.  Then Claudia went off to bed and I went to the show. I wasn’t sure about this one because we’d been told he was a ventriloquist and I haven’t seen one of those since the dark ages.  Let me tell you, this guy was great!.  He was funny and quick-witted and I truly couldn’t see his vocal cords moving at all.  I think we all thoroughly enjoyed him.

After dinner I went down to the club as usual.  The last two nights I’ve met my teammates, Alan and Allison, down there.  They are a delightful father-daughter pair from England.  Since the dance party two nights ago I’ve been getting up and dancing and Allison joins in.  Finally, I have some company out there.  Sadly, they are getting off on Friday on Dover, but I think I’ve thrown caution to the wind and I’ll just keep on dancing.

So that was my wonderful day in La Rochelle. For now bonne nuit and dormir serré.