Rochelle (la) - a sea of wealth.

A town enriched with salt and wine and a sinister platform.

One cannot be in la Rochelle without being conscious of the sea. Even if your interests are with stone rather than naval architecture it will be difficult to disassociate oneself from the ocean that laps into the haven and which carried the ships and trade that created the prosperity and wherewithal with which to build elegant public buildings and the necessary fortifications. From early history maritime trade in salt and wine enriched this town. The lantern tower, the most recent of the three towers dominating the entrance to the harbour, was built as a fortification and a navigational beacon in the 15th century. Later in the Wars of Religion it found a more sinister use as a platform from which priests could be hurled into the sea.

Sending ships for cargo from Africa.

But the wealth continued to flow in over the waves. That prosperity and independence irked Cardinal Richelieu and Louis Xlll sufficiently for them to lay siege to the town. A dyke was built across the harbour entrance to stop the locals from getting help from the English fleet and the town was starved into submission over 15 months. Nevertheless better times returned - by the lights of the time anyway - and la Rochelle became a major slaving port sending ships to north Africa to collect 'cargo' and after depositing that in the Caribbean returning with sugar and coffee. Another trade that has rather fallen out of fashion was the importation of furs from Canada. Commercial shipping moved to a new port at nearby la Pallice at the start of the 20th century. In another switchback of fortune long familiar to this town the Germans came to occupy it and build an underground U-boat base. In 1994 the fishing fleet moved out of the old harbour and the quaysides were liberated for a new maritime occupation.

Pots of gold and Credit Cards from Paris and beyond.

They came, mostly, in small or smallish boats as the leisure industry took over from the trading and fishing vessels. There are berths for 100 in the inner basin but those only seem there to bring some colour to the scene. Modern pleasure boating and yachting is based at the new Port les Minimes, which when translated can turn into the rather charming title: Little One's Haven. If the vessels are modest in size the facility is not. There are spaces for more than three thousand craft and it is by far the largest marina on the west coast of France. In a continuing historical sequence their masters and crews now bring demands for services and provisions from the town. These days the sea may not have brought riches from across the Atlantic but the pots of gold and the Credit Cards of professional people from Paris and elsewhere are just as acceptable; thank you very much! All that is topped each September by the 'Grand Pavois' - one of the largest Boat Shows held in Europe.