Exploring Rochefort

Yesterday went round the rope walk and a bit of the town.  Today visited the replica of the 1779 frigate L'Hermione that is being built here, saw a bit more of the town and visited Tonnay-Charente, the next town up the river, by bike. The frigate is quite a sight, it has been built as near as possible to the original as current maritime regulations allow.

Of the two towns I think Tonnay-Charente is the more appealing as Rochefort was built as a military town on a very rigid grid.  Both towns show signs of past prosperity from water born trade of which there is almost no sign now except the occaisional freighter going up to Rochefort.
The countryside is the best bit, although it is very flat it is a joy to watch it go buy from the boat or look at from the bank.
We had hoped to go shopping at the chandlers and a hardware store today as well as do some grocery shopping but in the end everything but the supermarket was shut as it is a bank holiday, but we did get a good quality water container at a great price and some delicious crevettes.
Tomorrow we are going to sail back to the ile de Re, but we have a lot to get done to get ready to go through the canals so we are thinking of coming back here for a week or so at some point.