La Rochelle City v1.0
La Rochelle is a city in southwestern France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.
The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a 2.9-kilometre (1.8-mile) bridge completed on 19 May 1988. Its harbour opens into a protected strait, the Pertuis d’Antioche.
La Rochelle possesses a commercial deep water harbour, named La Pallice. The large submarine pens built during World War II still stand there, although they are not in use. La Pallice is equipped with oil unloading equipment, and mainly handles tropical wood. It is also the location of the fishing fleet, which was moved from the old harbour in the centre of the city during the 1980s.
La Rochelle harbour by Vernet in 1762 and the same view 2019
La Rochelle also maintains strong links with the sea by harbouring the largest marina for pleasure boats in Europe at Les Minimes, and a rather rich boat-building industry which includes Amel Yachts.
La Rochelle has a very big aquarium, and a small botanical garden (the Jardin des plantes de La Rochelle).
The Calypso, the ship used by Jacques-Yves Cousteau as a mobile laboratory for oceanography, and which was sunk after a collision in the port of Singapore (1996) is now on display (sadly rotting) at the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle.
One of the biggest music festivals in France, “FrancoFolies”, takes place each summer in La Rochelle, where Francophone musicians come together for a week of concerts and celebration. 2004 marked the 20th anniversary of this event. The French Socialist Party has held its annual summer convention (Université d’été) in La Rochelle since 1983.
GPS: 46° 9′ 32.76″ N, 1° 9′ 6.12″ W
Addon history:
v1.0: initial release
v1.1: fix some elevation issues
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