Astraia Heads South

Here, at last, is my account of our time in La Rochelle.   If some of the photographs look lovely and warm and sunny, that’s because they were taken last summer!   But I’m finishing off this blog instalment on a very wet, grey day in April 2018 – it’s a welcome excuse to shelter from the weather and have a rest from cleaning the decks! But even last summer we woke up on our first morning in La Rochelle to grey, drizzly, very British weather! The only splash of colour in Les Minimes marina was provided by the wildflowers growing on the harbour wall. It was a good day for catching up with boat jobs, laundry and so on, but later it did clear up a bit so we went over on the waterbus to the town of La Rochelle and just wandered through the streets to absorb the atmosphere.   La Rochelle is famous for its street arcades – all the main shopping streets have medieval stone arcades lining them, and originally merchants displayed thei...