Page 405 - Lonely Planet France’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

the Vieux Port (Old Port), rays and fearsome
TRIP HIGHLIGHT including the lacy Tour sharks, teeth-gnashing
1 La Rochelle de la Lanterne (rue sur les piranhas, timid turtles
Known as La Ville Murs; adult/child €6/free, 3 and the bizarre half-
towers €8.50/free; h10am-
newt. Equally fun for
Blanche (the White City), 1pm & 2.15-6.30pm Apr-Sep, to families is the Musée
La Rochelle is home to 5.30pm Oct-Mar), that once Maritime (Maritime Museum;
luminous limestone fa- served to protect the %05 46 28 03 00; www.
cades, arcaded walkways, town at night in times of museemaritimelarochelle.
half-timbered houses and war. Scale their sturdy fr; place Bernard Moitessier;
ghoulish gargoyles glow- stone heights for fabulous adult/child €8/5; h10am-7pm
ing in the bright coastal city and coastal views. Jul & Aug, to 6.30pm Apr-Jun &
sunlight. One of France’s La Rochelle’s number- Sep, shorter hours rest of year),
foremost seaports from one tourist attraction with its fleet of boats to
the 14th to the 17th cen- is its state-of-the-art explore; and a trip out
turies, it remains a great aquarium (www.aquarium- to sea with Croisières
seafaring centre and one larochelle.com; quai Louis Inter-Îles (%08 25 13 55 00; ATLANTIC COAST 38 ATLANTIC TO MED
of France’s most attrac- Prunier; adult/child €16/12; www.inter-iles.com; cours des
tive cities. h9am-11pm Jul & Aug, 9am- Dames) to admire the un-
There are several
defensive towers around 8pm Apr-Jun & Sep, 10am-8pm usual iceberg of an island
Oct-Mar) with UFO-like fortress, Fort Boyard.
# \
4 4 4 4 444 4 p409
# \ # \ # \
4 4 4 4
4 444 4444
4 4 444
A10 toll road it’s 187km (about
# e 0 0 100 miles 200 km The Drive » Using the main
S W I T Z E R L A N D 2½ hours) to St-Émilion. Turn off
the A10 at exit 39a, signed for
444 444
4
44 4 4444
44444444444444444
/ · Annecy # \ # ] Libourne. Skirt this industrial
# ]
N83
# \
Chamonix-
Lyon Ain Rhône # \ Mont-Blanc # ^ 44 # \town and follow the D243 into
# ^ Aosta St-Émilion.
4444444
4
444 444 4444444444444444444444
St- / · Chambéry # \ 44444444 # ]
A47
Étienne Isère Tarentaise
# \ / ·
N6
/ · Alpe Turin
444444444444444444
4 4 4 4
N82
Grenoble # ] d'Huez 4 4 444 # ^ # ]
Drac / · # \ # ] # \ LINK
A49
Rhône
444
Valence # ] Parc Naturel Sestriere # ] # ] Pinerolo
# \
Régional du 4 YOUR
N94
Privas # \ / · Vercors / · I T A L Y # \ TRIP
A7
0 ¸ Rhône / · Cuneo Mondovi 9 # \ Breton Coast
# ]
# \
A51
D104
# ]
The wind-swept
ALPES DE
D2205
# \
# ] HAUTE-PROVENCE 0 ¸ coast of Brittany is a wild
m K
GARD PROVENCE # \ Les ALPES-MARITIMES F G tonic to the south’s refined
23
Nîmes # ] Avignon Mees atmosphere. Drive three
# ] Arles 0 ¸ Nice 10 # ] # # \ # # _ hours north of La Rochelle
D6185
# 7 # ] # H Aix-en # ] # # ] to start the trip in Vannes.
#
Provence St-Maximin-la-
9
Parc Naturel p408 # \ Ste-Baume # MONACO
Régional # \ / · Cannes Riviera Crossing
A8
de Camargue : Antibes n
# ^ #
Marseille # Starting in Nice, this
8
# \
Cassis # ] drive takes you through the
Toulon glitzy, glam French Riviera.
M E D I T E R R A N E A N
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