Rochefort - a good port for men and ships to "rot"
Gaudeo
John and Prue Quayle / John Quayle
Fri 15 Jun 2007 19:22
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15 - 16th June Rochefort 10 miles up the river
Charente.
This really is the perfect place to "rot",
avoid rain, strong winds, change crew, and take in the atmosphere of so much
naval history. It was the site of one of Louis X1V`s largest
naval arsenals, well protected from seaward invasion and well supplied with
materials and men for building ships from inland France upstream. The
construction, directed by Colbert, is of rectilinear streets with
embellishment suitable for refined tastes of the upper echelon of the naval
establishment of the day. Though much was damaged at the end of German
occupation, the buildings have been exquisitely restored including the Corderie
Royale, the royal rope works where 367metre spools of hemp
were woven into cables of rope. It is now a fascinating museum.
Near by is the building of a replica of the 1779
frigate L`Hermione which carried La Fayette to Boston and the celebrated meeting
with George Washington.This inspired piece of reconstruction began in
1997 and is expected to be completed in 2009 for repeat passage to
Boston - it was a privilege to view the building so close
to.
A 4 mile walk the following day along the
river bank for bird watching and a close inspection of the
Transbordeur ( the only remaining example in France) worked off some
of excesses before being led astray again by Edward Pank who
joined us in the evening.
Prue`s departure early in the morning by Taxi
to La Rochelle airport was a hasty affair since it was also necessary to move
the boat out of the yacht basin at 0630hrs as the bridges and lock gates would
remain closed until the following day for the first day of the
town`s annual fete. Pank and I however, now had a free rein
to revictual the boat at Saturday`s huge street market where it was
difficult to resist the temptation of offerings from over 30 large fresh
fish stalls regardless
of other fabulous items for digestion; the only
restriction was what could be carried back to the boat.
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