La Rochelle - The Route

One of the best preserved port towns in France, La Rochelle has been an important harbour since the 12th century and remained the largest on the Atlantic coast for 300 years, dealing mainly in wine and salt.

Now a major tourist venue, restaurants serving sublime sea food line the narrow streets surrounding the old port and it is a Mecca for sailing enthusiasts.

Le Port des Minimes is the largest marina in Europe for pleasure boats and, during the Clipper fleet’s stopover, will be the venue for Le Grand Pavois, one of the largest floating boat shows in the world.

In the 1970s the mayor of La Rochelle, Michel Crépeau, took the decision to preserve the 17th and 18th century architecture around the old port rather than let loose the developers on the area. At the time his plan came in for much criticism, however in the intervening years it has proved a recipe for success and one that is now much-emulated.

The bassin à flôt – the floating harbour behind the lock gates, where the Clipper fleet will be moored – is the site of the maiden dive trials for the first mechanical submarine in 1864. During the Second World War Germany established a submarine base at La Pallice, the main commercial port in La Rochelle, and the structure remains today. Now film-makers use it as a set and you might have spotted it in Raiders of the Lost Ark or Das Boot.

For visitors to La Rochelle there is plenty to occupy them. The aquarium is one of the best in Europe; fans of Jacques Cousteau's television series in the 1970s can see his ship, Calypso, at the Maritime Museum; boat trips run daily to the Ile d'Aix and Fort Boyard (made famous around the world by the TV show of the same name) and the beautiful and peaceful Ile de Ré is only a short drive from the city. Vineyard producing some of the finest Cognac in the world and the local fortified wine, Pineau, are just inland.