The “Park of the hydraulic animals” is the main tourist and cultural facility of La Roche-sur-Yon, France. At the heart of Place Napoléon, 13 animals of wood and steel are present today.
The story goes that when Napoleon founded the town in 1804, scholars who had returned from his expedition to Egypt chose La Roche-sur-Yon to …
MoreIle Penotte district (Les Sables-d’Olonne, France) with its mosaics of shells.
The houses are decorated with multicoloured seashell mosaics (whelk, periwinkle, oyster, clam, scallop, mussel and exotic shells) inspired by mythology, fairy tales, fantasy stories and more.
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MoreTalmont-sur-Gironde is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France.
The village is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (“The most beautiful villages of France”) association.
Former bastide founded by the King of England and Duke of Aquitaine, Edward I in 1284, this small town camped on a …
MoreThe Museum of Le Grand Blockhaus in Batz-sur-Mer, France.
The Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944, along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticipated Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe from the United Kingdom, during World War II. …
MoreThe automobile museum (fr. Musée automobile de Ciré d’Aunis), located in Ciré-d’Aunis in Charente-Maritime 14 kilometers north of Rochefort, is a museum that has 65 vintage cars (from 1912 to 1973) under 34 different brands including 27 French brands, about ten motorcycles but also more than 150 enamelled plates and a few petrol pumps from …
MoreThe Saint-Jean-l’Évangéliste priory of Trizay is a former Benedictine priory founded in the eleventh century. Located in Trizay, in the French department of Charente-Maritime, in the former province of Saintonge, it was a dependency of the Abbey of Chaise-Dieu. Located about 20 minutes by car from Rochefort.
Long abandoned, it was restored in 1994. The convent buildings …
MoreSablonceaux Abbey (fr. Abbaye de Sablonceaux) is a former Augustinian monastery located in Sablonceaux in the Charente-Maritime department of south-western France. It is now occupied by members of the Chemin Neuf Community. Located about 20 minutes by car from Rochefort.
In 1962 André Malraux, Minister of Culture, ordered the restoration of the sanctuary, which took twenty …
MoreNaval Aeronautics Museum (fr. Musée de l’Aéronautique Navale) in Rochefort, France. The museum of naval aeronautics, located on the site of the former naval aeronautical base at Rochefort-Soubise in Charente-Maritime, is a museum which includes about 40 aircrafts (planes, seaplanes, gliders, helicopters) but also many engines, 1500 models and electronic equipment.
History facts
Created in …
MoreMuseum of Armoured Vehicles (fr. Musée des Blindés), or Musée Général Estienne is a tank museum located in the Loire Valley of France, in Saumur city. It is now one of the world’s largest tank museums. Started in 1977 with only a few hundred tracked vehicles, today it has become a world-class collection which attracts …
MoreRochefort-Martrou Transporter Bridge is a bridge built between 1898 and 1900 (27 months). It is located in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. Crossing the Charente River, it has a maximum height of 66.5 metres and a total length of 175.5 metres. It is a technical invention accomplished by a French engineer: Ferdinand Arnodin.
History
8 July …
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