The La Rochelle Museum, the Museum of the New World, the Maritime Museum: all these places of culture and discovery are as much a part of La Rochelle's heritage as the historic heart of our veritable... "museum town".
Going from museum to museum in La Rochelle means discovering the rich heritage for which this city steeped in history is internationally renowned. The towers and quays of the Old Harbour, the arcaded streets, the listed covered market and the Old Clock Tower are just some of the places to visit before delving into other places steeped in La Rochelle's rich past: the New World Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Maritime Museum. While discovering the exhibitions and events on offer, you'll also be able to take advantage of the extraordinary spaces and testimonies to the great pages in the town's history that are available to your gaze and curiosity.
The Art and History museums (Musée du Nouveau Monde and Musée des Beaux-Arts, the latter currently closed for renovation) are perfect examples. Housed in exceptional private mansions, they offer permanent exhibitions in which the works often illustrate the links that the city has forged with the world, through the travels of wealthy merchants and renowned discoverers over the centuries. Visit Museum of the New World*La Rochelle was one of the main ports of trade and emigration to New France and the West Indies. For its part, Le Museum of Natural History**takes visitors on a fabulous journey to the heart of our natural heritage, using modern, interactive museography to display almost 10,000 objects from the naturalist and ethnographic collections assembled since the 18th century.e century. Visit Maritime Museum***, for its part, bears witness to La Rochelle's maritime past, notably through the exhibitions it hosts, including the long-running Climate Ocean exhibition, which provides a better understanding of the seas and oceans and the dangers that threaten them.
A'musées workshops at the Musée du Nouveau Monde, exhibitions and events around the bear, between myth and reality, at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle (Natural History Museum), cruises from old riggings to historic ships at the Musée Maritime and along the Bassin des Chalutiers, etc.: families are invited all year round to explore these places of identity, and will be particularly spoilt for choice during the forthcoming Easter holidays. Make the most of it with your children!
On the deck of France 1 with the Eductour
Eager to learn more about the tourist attractions of La Rochelle, eight Cosy Hôtels employees, representing a number of departments including reception and breakfast, responded on 6 March to the Eductour's invitation to visit the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle and climb aboard the France 1, a former 'weather boat' converted into a bar-restaurant-reception area.
*Information and bookings: 05 46 51 51 45 / 06 72 58 55 92 / www.museedunouveaumonde.larochelle.fr
**Information and bookings: 05 46 41 18 25 / www.museum.larochelle.fr
***Information and bookings: 05 46 28 03 00 / www.museemaritimelarochelle.fr