France Guide
Poitou-Charentes and the Atlantic coast
La Rochelle
LA ROCHELLE is the most attractive and unspoilt seaside town in France. Thanks to the foresight of 1970s mayor Michel Crépeau, its historic seventeenth- to eighteenth-century centre and waterfront were plucked from the clutches of the developers and its streets freed of traffic for the delectation of pedestrians. A real shock-horror outrage at the time, the policy has become standard practice for preserving old town centres across the country – even more successful than Crépeau's picturesque yellow bicycle plan, since imitated in Paris and elsewhere.
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