La Rochelle

The Hotel St Nicolas is down a quiet street in La Rochelle, but only a stroll away from the main shopping and restaurant areas.

We ate at the Panier du Crabbe on the first evening, just across the street from the hotel. They had a delicious choice of fresh seafood and we chose crab, langoustines and tiny brown shrimps with a bottle of chilled Rosé wine and fresh crusty bread.

Saturday morning we headed for the market – a great French institution. La Rochelle’s is no exception with a huge range of fresh meat, fish, fruit and vegetables. The fish selection is extraordinary; tiny shrimps, huge langoustines, oysters, lobsters, cod, crab, red snapper – every fish you can think of. The vendors had been there since early morning and lined the side of the hall, eating their very early lunch (or late breakfast) of mainly oysters or sausage, washed down with a few glasses of wine.

The market was full of fresh vegetables, thick stalks of white asparagus, tiny gariguette strawberries, fresh peas, courgettes, eggs, every size and colour of tomato; fresh bread and lots and lots of cheese.

We ended the day with a stroll down to the port for a drink and aperos at Le Dock bar and watched as an old sailing boat came into the harbour. Slightly older than the other boats lining the Quai.