La Rochelle

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Today we head to the Coast. La Rochelle is in Charente-Maritime on the Bay of Biscay. Since Millau, we have been in uncharted territory (except Saint-Emilion) so everything is new to us. While Jarnac may not be our dream home for retirement, it is important to experience as much of France and all corners, if you plan on living there someday. La Rochelle has been on our list of potential retirement homes for a few reasons: 1) it is on the coast and deep down I am very much tied to the water; 2) there is a train station with a TGV to Paris; and 3) the weather appears to be very similar to Portland, meaning low humidity.

We are close to starting our third week, and since we are in La Rochelle for three nights and I feel a bit of catch-up sleep coming our way. This is the only planned city of our trip that we have no reservations for any meal except for lunch today. There were just far to many to pick from, and we will spend this afternoon doing a bit of a restaurant walk to determine were we will eat the rest of the trip. We will also get some suggestions from the hotel staff.

Once we park the car, we also plan on renting bikes so we can really explore the city and different neighborhoods. Before any of that, we do have to get there, so after breakfast we are back on the road. It is only about 90 minutes’ drive. The first stop once we get to the city is the laundry stop. Jerry did extensive research on where we could get our laundry done and returned to us before we left the city. Back in the old days, we actually did our laundry, but that really cuts into your ability to see the sights, so now we find a laundry service.

We slept very well, the biggest bed of the trip and just the right firmness. The poor dog next door is very lonely so is whining a bit this morning, but we were already awake, so he didn’t really bother us. We have only seen three cats this trip. In past trips, we always saw lots of cats, especially black cats, we always thought that Tarragon somehow had a communication network so he could check on us no matter where we were. Now I guess he is just watching from above.

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Breakfast was very nice, the orange juice was not freshly squeezed like yesterday, but there was a perfect soft-boiled egg, the white perfectly cooked and the yolk runny. The rest was the standard fair, decent croissants, but by no means Paris quality. We were the only ones in the breakfast room, although there was a place set for another guest, but that could have just been for appearances.

It is very odd staying in a hotel, with 12 rooms and you are the only people at all that are in it, no staff, just you and the ghosts, not that we saw any. After breakfast back on the road for a slow drive through the cognac countryside as we headed toward the Atlantic coast. The May Day holiday was clearly over, as the country roads were full of trucks and tractors. It was a beautiful day, and when we got to La Rochelle, it was in the upper 70s, so with the humidity was quite warm. Our first task was to find the laundry service Jerry had locaed back home, we drove right to it, however, they were to busy and had to much laundry ahead of us in order for them to have ti done by Saturday morning. The owner recommended another place, and after a bit of circling we did manage to find it. Now for my Northwest followers if you think Fred Meyers is one stop shopping, you have not been to L’Clerec in La Rochelle. It is beyond one stop shopping, groceries, travel agency and dry cleaning all under one roof. The parking lot alone is beyond anything I have ever seen, each isle told you exactly how many parking spots were available.

They were only able to do our dry cleaning, so other arrangements would need to be made for the washables. After dropping off the laundry part 1, we headed to the parking lot for our hotel. We were lucky to get a spot at all, it is clearly the start of the season, as the public parking that we needed to use for our hotel only had 29 spaces left when we arrived. Fortunately, we only needed 1, and after one circle did find one we could fit in. It was a flat walk with our luggage to the hotel so that was a plus. We had arrived a bit before check-in and were an hour late for our lunch reservation but got a table anyway.

Bar Andre

The restaurant was a classic coastal restaurant, 96%!s(MISSING)eafood on the menu. It took us awhile to order, because even with the English translation a lot was left out of the description. I have to be pretty careful when ordering seafood in a foreign country since I have an allergy to clams and mussels. We do know the French words for these, and they were not in the dishes we ordered.

We started with some nice full head on boiled shrimp, really tasty, but messy to eat. The plats were a bit more difficult. Jerry ordered the Merlu àl’espagnole (hake in a chorizo red pepper sauce) and I had chourcoute de la mer, literal translation sauerkraut of the sea. The menu said it had prawns, cod, sea bass and Norwegian lobster. When the dishes came out, we immediately saw a problem, both dishes were surrounded by mussels, nowhere on the menu was there any reference to mussels. After three different servers and a final translation from English to French of the problem, the dishes were redone without the mussels. Jerry’s dish was significantly better than mine. There was not lobster Norwegian or otherwise, the fish was cooked nicely, but I am not a sauerkraut person, and there it was front and center on the plate, again, completely lost in translation no mention whatsoever of any cabbage. Despite the translation issue, it was still a good lunch.

After lunch we checked into the hotel. It is a nice hotel, but very lacking on the details, the AC does not work so the room is quite stuffy, they did find us a fan. Jerry is not happy with the design, as the closet is not functional, there are no towel bars in the bathroom, and for a suite, it is pretty tight. They offered us another room, but when I went to look at it, it was smaller than what we have, at least with this room we do have a terrace to sit out on and enjoy some wine.

The hotel does have a laundry service, but as with all hotels, it is never cheap, but we don’t have much of a choice, since the last time we tried to use a laundromat in France, we could not figure it out. So we are going to have some very expensively washed undergarments, fit for Louis XIV.

Jerry is actually sorting it all out now while I type this entry.

The last part of the afternoon was a brief walk around the market area, closed now, but tomorrow we will head back to check it out when it is open. The original plan was to rent bikes for two days, but when we got to the rental office, they would not let us rent overnight unless the hotel had a place indoor to store them, which they do not. So tomorrow after breakfast first, up is renting the bikes for the day. Biking is really going to save my ankles and back.

This was the first day of any significant walking since we picked up the car, well outside of Grenoble, so my back is not happy with me nor are my ankles, but they will get over it, because Rose, will make them happier.

We have three nights and two full days here in La Rochelle. Not really here to sightsee, although the historic port is very charming, and today very crowded. Most of the next two days will be biking around checking out neighborhoods we might consider living in. The cost of living here may be a bit to high since it is a very tourist oriented coastal city. The city is very bike friendly, bike lanes everywhere so it should be easy to get around on our bikes.

Time to get ready for dinner. I will say the staff at the hotel is really friendly and bending over backwards to meet our every need. The restaurant for tonight was at the suggestion of Jordan and he also made the reservation. We shall see how it all works out.

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Dinner in Two Rounds

Round one was the restaurant suggested by Jordan, not a good choice. The first clue should have been the location, a street lined with restaurant after restaurant filled with 20 something tourists. This is simply never a good sign, as all they care about is drinking and wouldn’t know good food if it slapped them in the face. Yet, we had a reservation at Fleur de Sel, so there we were, there was zero seating outside so we opted in. The menu looked good, no English version so we had to rely on our French, we managed to order, had some champagne, then the starter came, grilled shrimp with grilled romaine, sound great, then you bite into it. Jerry took a bite and out it came, I had just stuck a bite in my mouth, and he didn’t even have to say anything, spit it out as fast as it went in. I just don’t think shrimp should taste like Clorox bleach. Needless to say that ended our dinner there.

We thought about not eating, which would have been fine, nothing wrong with now and then when you’re on a eating bench in the first place. Instead, we went back to Bar Andre, since they coerced all of the issues right away. Not only did they correct our lunch issues, but they also actually updated their English menu to make sure the right seafood was listed. So, yes, future travelers, you may thank us for saving your lives if you have shellfish allergies.

The same staff was working dinner as worked lunch. They get about 2 hours off between services. Don’t feel to bad for them, they are paid a living wage, get health insurance and 6 weeks of vacation. Settled in to a nice outside table in the fresh sea air, it had cooled down considerably since this afternoon, we ordered.

Dinner Round Two

We ordered another staring round of Champagne, this time a Rosé, it was quite refreshing. Jerry had the Brandade de morue et sala. We haven’t figured out the Brandade yet, but the rest of the dish was very similar to a Cod Brazza style from Portugal. The cod was incorporated to shredded potatoes and there was a very nice sauce as a bedding. With this he had a real risotto and a green salad. I went very straight for the Hommard, or blue lobster, I am here to tell you as much as I love Maine lobster, this is equally as good. It was melt in your mouth tender and oh so sweet, simply poached in butter. Heaven had found its way to my mouth. Yes, this very simple preparation of lobster is the dish of the day. Served with some frites and a green salad.

I am now 100%!(NOVERB)French; I eat my fries with mayo not ketchup and I even dipped the lobster in mayo. I am ready to move here now, just need to learn the language.

A difficult day ended wonderfully, we were sitting next to a table of retired French, who just happened to speak much better English that we do French. They were From Lyon, Aix, and Normandy. They were very pleased to welcome us to France should we actually get to retire here. Fingers crossed and everything else on my body that can be crossed.

Now back in the room, Jerry is finishing up the laundry sorting before he takes it down to the front desk so it can be picked up in the morning. We have a busy day planned, a lot of biking, but we are going to set the alarms for 7:30, an entire hour extra of sleep.

Tomorrow is also the beginning of our last week in France, still a lot of ground to cover, but we are here in La Rochelle for three nights, so we should get some rest and relaxation, it is vacation after all.

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Photos

Lobster
Dish of the Day