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La Rochelle, France boasts the third highest quality of life in France.
La Rochelle is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department on France’s west coast, bordered to the west by the Bay of Biscay, part of the Atlantic Ocean shared with Spain.
Its port, La Pallice, is the only deep-water port on the French Atlantic coast, protected by Île de Ré to the north and Île d’Oléron to the south.
This “doorway to the ocean” is the reason for the city’s longstanding commercial seafaring tradition, and it’s still ranked the sixth most important port in France today.
Certainly, the old port (Vieux-Port) is the heart of contemporary La Rochelle, and it owes its architecture to this period of affluence.
To come into the small protected harbor by sea, you pass two 14th-century towers, the larger, Saint-Nicolas Tower, acted as a fortress, and the smaller, Chain Tower, allowed a massive chain to be drawn up between the two to keep out unwanted visitors.
The third tower that dominates the skyline from the water is Lantern Tower, the former lighthouse.
