Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

La Rochelle

La Rochelle is a small French city steeped in history. It was here that the Huguenots revolted against the Crown and the setting for one of the greatest romance novels of all time, The Three Musketeers.

My father served most of his tour in France here. My mother loved to shop in the city and once bought a Jacque Fath original from the most fashionable and expensive boutique in town. When she concluded the purchase she had cocktails with the owner and went and told my father (slightly looped) what she had done. He was not exactly pleased but I’m sure she made it up to him. It was a great story that she loved to tell and retell in her waning years.

As an aside, after the revolt in La Rochelle was put down many of the young Huguenot girls (16-18) were shipped to Canada where history records they had large families. Like the Mayflower descendants, many Canadians trace their genealogy through these young women.

The City was a walled fortress as many French towns and cities along the coast are. The Photo on the left shows the main gate into the “Centre Ville.” Since the streets are so narrow behind the walls many visitors park outside and walk in under this type of archway.

The photo on the right shows the two walled towers. During the many wars that England and France fought, these served as confinement facilities and many British seamen languished here and left their graffiti on the walls.