There are so many spires, tall narrow structures and clocktowers in La Rochelle that I’m perpetually looking upward. Firstly, there are well-known clocks, such as the Grand Horlage at a major opening archway, the clock at Gare SNCF (Railway station), the clock tower at the Town Hall and the clock tower at the end of Eglise Notre Dame’s rambling buildings. Also, there is the magnificent ancient Belltower of Eglise St Saveur. There is a ‘lighthouse’ rising, not from a rocky…
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Gumnut arrives all the way from the Bay of Islands in beautiful New Zealand, to La Rochelle, France. Import and customs were taken care of behind the scenes by OC tenders and Uchimata Sailing Service. This video is about Gumnut, our tender, being unpacked in La Rochelle. It was an exciting reveal. The launch followed on quickly. 18 April 2019. Video- Jill de Vos https://youtu.be/7IMgLeZr2Nw Photos- Shelley Beer
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The culmination of 12 months work designing a boat name logo finally came to fruition today. Naming a boat is a traumatic ordeal, especially when you rarely agree with your partner. Compromise is always the outcome and while neither of you are completely happy you are both relatively happy. And so Eucalyptus came into being. It is quintessentially Australian, but, Shelley said, they are all around the world, yes I said, but we sent them there! What about coolabah, a…
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https://youtu.be/-vIavzWvO8o 23 Mar 2019 La Rochelle Photos Shelley Beer, Video Jill de Vos 23 Mar 19
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Sunday is not the busiest day at the market so it was an ideal day to do a quick video. Suffice to say it is another learning curve to film and edit these things. It’s a bit tricky to be unobtrusive but when I mention they will be famous in Australia, they smile! We shop regularly at this market, it has a marvelous selection of fresh fruit, vegetables, cheeses, meat and fish, pre-prepared meals, wines and cognacs and of course…
Continue ReadingIt was a beautiful day so we headed down to Les Minimes port. We had seen other FP’s near the Captainerie and because it wasn’t at Uchimata’s pontoon, this was the only place it could be. Uchimata is the after factory fit-out person, he is French and his name is Pierre. His business is named after a martial arts move. I have just googled it to save you time; it is one of the original 40 judo moves. Uchimata will…
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The journey finished at Port Minimes where the boat was unloaded. We returned the next day to watch the stepping of the mast and finally the entry into the water. Fontaine Pajot will check all systems with the dealer, in this case, Multihull Solutions, who make sure everything is correct before accepting the handover from them. https://youtu.be/4HVepLzuuK0
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The reason we wanted to come to La Rochelle early was to follow the boat on the truck to Les Minimes. It proved to be an exciting experience that was well worth the trouble. We hired a car from Rent A Car which is not far from La Rochelle railway station, it was much cheaper than the more recognizable companies and a nice little Renault. It was 51 Euro with insurance for 24 hours. We picked it up in the…
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We drove out to Aigrefuille the evening before the boat was to be transported to Les Minimes. It was important we knew where we were going so navigational arguments could be avoided on the big important day. The factory is easy to find but we were apprehensive about going in so contented ourselves with looking through the gates. The factory backs on to a main road and the new cats are lined up like huge white beached whales. Shelley did…
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Requiem de Mozart in La Rochelle- Eglise Notre Dame de La Rochelle The ticket We arrived half an hour early under threat of our discounted seats being given to someone else. This gave us time to really explore the space from our smallish chairs, bound together at intervals of four chairs by long pieces of timber. I could see many people before me had worn the rear stretcher of the chair in front by placing their feet up onto the…
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It was a bit of a windy and miserable day so we rugged up and went down to the Yelo Electro Seabus that goes from the old port to the marina at Les Minimes. It was a 20-minute trip and we could use our monthly ticket, otherwise, it is 2 Euros return. We alighted at the marina and felt the icy cold wind so promptly got back on for the return trip. We had a chance to film a few…
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Port de Minimes name is derived from the establishment of a convent of the Frères Minimes in this area during the 1550s. The Hermits of the Order of the Minimes was founded by St Frances of Paola in Italy in 1493. They were an order that not only adhered to the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience but also the perpetual abstinence of meat, eggs and dairy products. The name minimes is from the Italian minimo meaning smallest or least….
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