Some cities have such
a strong effect on their visitors that after spending one day there you can
describe the atmosphere with words, pictures, smell, sound or by feelings.
Recently I had a great chance to spend a week in La Rochelle, a small French
city on the Atlantic coast, but rather than coming home full of excitement and
sensation the only word which still comes to my mind is confusion. I have
failed to grasp its “typicality” simply because it is a city of mixed
impressions. It is a magical place where you can feel like you are in Italy,
England and naturally France at the same time.
Walking along the sea and discovering the
heart of the city, “Le Vieux-Port” (Old Harbour), was what first established my
Italian feeling of the place. The line of restaurants suffusing the port with
the smell of seafood; the cafés and bars with chairs outside facing the
passers-by and the storm of souvenir shops would have easily transferred me to
the “birthplace of pasta” had it not been for the lack of crazy motorcycle
drivers. Interestingly, it was a challenge to find a windowless wall in La
Rochelle, similarly like in Italy; moreover, the white pallets and the glazing sun
shining through it almost made you greet people with “Buongiorno!” Not to
mention the old market, one of the main touristic attractions of the city, with
all the temperament, joy and tasting; except this time the shouting was in
French and instead of tomatoes there was cheese everywhere.
To continue in the light of established
stereotypes, I am sure most of us connect the expression “feeling under the
weather” with England, where this phrase is to be taken literally. La Rochelle
certainly adopted England’s tricky ways of making people’s day miserable by
proving that sunshine, storm, heavy rain do not rule each other out. Just
because you wake up blinded by sunshine does not mean that at the moment you
step out you do not find yourself in a horror movie setting with a storm and
will be soaked in rain in a second. And if you think this would be enough
punishment for one day, you get the wind. In conclusion, the weather here is a campaign for
women not to wear make-up - it is simply pointless. All you need is an
umbrella, lots of tissues and rather trousers than a dress, which can easily
end up in your face while you are passing the street. But besides the
general sea town resemblances with England, La Rochelle also includes an
ancient and a modern part of the city, where the modern area mostly sums up the
university. Therefore as well as in British student cities you get a swarm of
young people, be careful in La Rochelle not to stand in their way when you see
them running in the morning trying to catch their bus.
Most importantly, there is the
unquestionable “Frenchness” saturating every corner of this town. First of all
there are the evil fancy chocolate stores besides the numerous cosmetics or
natural products shops, which make you stop even if you know you cannot afford
it (but who can?). Then, stepping into even the smallest grocery store you
discover the separate cheese regal that shouts: “You are in France!” right into
your face. You find yourself in “the land of small talk” where a regular
“Bonjour!” is not enough and you have to make a pointless ten minutes long
conversation about anything. These conversations of course need to be
accompanied by wine, so the city cannot function without a famous wine bar
where you can drink heaven in a glass. Moreover, this small city has a museum
of perfume flacons, which is almost as cliché as in fact finding randomly “le
carrousel” in the middle of a square. Where else could you have it than in
France?
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| Image credits: Lucia Szemetová |
I am simply fascinated that even after
walking the streets daily and accomplishing so much sightseeing I cannot
formulate a coherent opinion about this city with clichés and yet different
faces. If I had to give three advices for future visitors it would be: go to
Cave de la Guignette (the wine bar), do not visit La Tour de la Chaîne without company (unless you do not mind
being completely alone in a dark medieval tower) and be prepared for any kind
of weather. However, whether to recommend visiting La Rochelle or not remains a
mystery to me as well as its ambience, you simply have to try it for yourself!
-
Lucia Szemetová
