Lovely La Rochelle

We left Vannes early Friday morning and arrived in La Rochelle a little before lunchtime. We walked around the old town through the arcades before we met Marie Vaillant for lunch. Marie was an exchange student who lived with my parents while I was living and working in Bordeaux. Our families became close and I always visit them when I’m in France. It was fun catching up with Marie and I loved seeing her so happy.

Next we went to her brother, Antoine’s donkey farm in Dompierre sur mer. We all got to brush and cuddle with the donkeys, one was only 2 weeks old and already so big!  We watched Antoine milk two mothers, then Hannah got to go on a donkey ride while I held the lead and walked around the fields. 

We had a lovely dinner with their parents, Catherine and Emile in their farmhouse. 

We got back into La Rochelle by 9:30 and had time to ride the large ferris wheel and see the town from above. Hannah was in heaven!

Saturday morning we got up early and had a super hot day, high was 114, no joke!  We found a fun playground by the port that also had water misters. Hannah chose a Brittish pub for breakfast and feasted on pancakes with real maple syrup and a smoothie.  Such a treat!

We all enjoyed walking in the shade through the old town and did a little bit of shopping. We introduced my mom to amorino ice cream and enjoyed a sweet treat before we went back to the Vaillant’s for lunch. We had a champagne toast with Marie and her husband Benoît and I loved playing with her son Olivier (3) and  Antoine’s kids Emilien (4) and Valentine (9). Hannah and Valentine had a fun time playing with dolls together while the younger boys played with balloons. 

We dropped off our rental car in the afternoon, then hopped on a train to Saint André de Cubzac, with our final destination being Bourg Sur Gironde where we will stay for 6 days with my mom’s friend from college - they studied at the Sorbonne together and Nancy married a Frenchman, Jean Claude.