Today was supposed to be the day for us to visit the Vendee Globe village. This is the “exhibition” that is built up at Les Sables d’Olonne during the Vendee Globe round-the-world boat race. As the boats are now starting to return, there is a big buzz around the village.
Anyway, we were going to head over there to meet up with Nathalie and Thierry as they are on holiday near there. But just as we were about to leave we received a call from Nathalie saying the village was closed! The curse of Friday 13th! However, not to be put off, one quick family discussion later and we were instead heading over to the aquarium at La Rochelle
And what a great idea it was. We took the plunge and bought a season ticket there and then, as we knew we would be coming back with all our visitors this year and we’d make our money back after 3 trips. So we are now card-carrying “Grand Amis de l’Aquarium La Rochelle” and can visit any time we like – good stuff.
Luckily, the aquarium is great. Some amazing fish, with huge tanks and plenty of space to move around. As we are currently on half-term, but the schools around La Rochelle are not, it was really quiet as well. After a couple of hours we were all getting hungry, so we skipped forward and went out to the restaurant at the top of the building. We were slightly surprised by the menu – rather more posh than we had thought, having anticipated more of a cafe than a restaurant. But it was beautiful food – the kids all had roast chicken and chips, while Lisa and I had 2 lovely fish dishes: monk-fish and sea-bass. Delicious! And with our new “Grand Ami” cards, we got 5% off. Result 
So, fully refuelled, we returned back downstairs to continue our tour of the aquarium. It was then that the curse of Friday 13th nearly struck again. Our tickets, that we had assumed would let us back in again after our meal, would do no such thing. Only valid for one-time entry, said the security chap. Oops, said me. It’s a good job we have our season tickets and we can come and go as much as we please. Otherwise we’d have had a rather short day…
Luckily then we got ourselves some more tickets and continued our tour. Some of the fish we saw were amazing – and with the place so empty we could get incredibly close to them – lots of photo opportunities!
It was a tiring day, but a very enjoyable one, and we’re looking forward to going back with all the visitors who are heading our way over the next 12 months.
Looks like our Friday 13th didn’t turn out too badly after all
Each year in the port at La Rochelle there is a huge boat show called Le Grand Pavois [website], which lasts all week and culminates in a spectacular show combining boats, fireworks and music. As you probably know by now, we love anything like that, so when Kevin and Sylvie suggested we go over and watch it with them, we jumped at the chance.
Crocodiles?…in France?
We started the evening with a stroll through the park near their house. La Rochelle is somewhere we have passed around and through in the car, but have never had chance to explore, so it was really good to see some of the parts of the city that attract thousands of people here every week. It was a very picturesque park, with the path leading us through the trees, alongside a river, over bridges, and finally delivering us to the beach. All very nice indeed – we can certainly see the benefits of living here.
On the beach there was an amazing sand-sculpture of a crocodile (dragon?) which even had real fire in his nose! Apparently it was made by a guy who sleeps on the beach in a tent. He is certainly very talented.
Having walked along the walls of the old port, we spotted some empty places on the other side, our intended viewing position for the night’s entertainment. So we hopped on the little boat-bus that whizzed us across the water to the other side, where we found a good place to sit, right on the edge of the wall. No-one was going to come and stand in front of us!
Its Pineau time!
So we were settled in our spot with about 3 hours before the show was due to start, so what were we to do? Eat and drink of course! Out came the Pineau (naturally) and the snacks and we kept ourselves entertained by trying to pour the drink into the tiniest of glasses in a strong wind and watching the boys demonstrating their jedi skills to the passing french…
While we waited, the boats that were going to take part in the show drifted past us into the port, and shortly after we were entertained (slightly) by some waveriders (like water-skiers but on a single ski) going up and down down the odd trick. Rather strangely there was also a barge going up and down the water containing some Irish dancers, although there didn’t seem to be much dancing going on which was a bit disappointing.
Anyway, as the sun slowly dipped down behind the La Rochelle skyline, the time for the start of the show approached.
Into the west
As darkness finally enveloped the port-side, it began. Firstly, all the boats, lit by simple torches, floated slowly from the port and out to sea accompanied by some beautifully haunting music and some lovely “gentle” fireworks. It was a really moving start and reminded me (geek that I am) of the ending of “The Return of the King” when the elves sail off into the west… anyway, don’t get me started on that!
After the parade of boats, the fireworks started in earnest, with an incredible display. The walls of the port and the buildings facing us were all lit in a variety of colours to tie in with the fireworks and there was music piped across the port. I know we say it every time we have been to a fireworks display, but we all thought that this one was simply the best one yet. I think the combination of the location, the music, the lights, the fireworks, and sharing it with great friends, made it such a breathtaking end to the day.
We were all very numb after sitting on the port-side for so long, but the wine and the pineau helped out there, and it was all worth it in the end.
