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With just a few days in La Rochelle, options are many and time is tight.  So, the coast comes first:  find a rental car and zip north – within an hour the fishing rigs and mussel beds of Esnandes and Charron on the Atlantic coast are in sight.  There’s not much action in the morning, but after lunch as the tide creeps in the cabins on stilts fill with fishermen, preparing for a catch, checking their nets to lower for scoops of sole and shrimp.  Take a deep breath of sea air and hike out to the Point of St-Clément for a spectacular view across the mouth of Aiguillon Bay before heading back into Esnandes for a tour of the Maison de la Mytliculture (displays about mussel production in the region).  This is on the edge of town, facing the Romanesque church, a good place for a pause or picnic lunch.

Another day, back in the city of La Rochelle, a morning walk to the 19th century market hall (just follow the signs and arrows at intersections in the old part of town to Marché XIX) immerses you in a wonderland of seasonal produce – and fish.  An aisle stretching the length of the building is devoted to fish and shellfish, a great starter for translating menus later in the day, in fact the vagabond always seems to find another fish to add to the list – in this case, all sorts of poisson from Atlantic waters. Wander the aisles filled with shoppers, chatting with their cheese vendors (tempting chèvre of all sizes and stages of ripeness), choosing poultry and sausages, or specifying just which cut of lamb they need for a navarin.  La Rochelle’s market, like so many others in France, has a Portuguese épicerie, stocking specialties like piri piri (a zippy hot sauce) and miniature, freshly baked pasteis tarts. Even though a couple of these frequently wind up in the vagabond’s basket, there will be buttery croissants waiting at one of the many cafés lining streets around La Rochelle’s old market.  And there is always time for a café au lait or espresso, non?