シャンパーニュのおすすめライド

Impressive bridge. Well worth seeing!

A truly interesting bridge. It's worth a stop.

To visit!

Almost obligatory passage to cross the Charente, but it’s worth the detour

It is an absolutely beautiful village.

Small town with a special charm along the Charente.

Note opening times

In the 17th century, Louis XIV dreamed of reigning supreme on land and sea. To do this, he needs a place to build and arm his warships. In 1666, the Rochefort arsenal was established in the middle of the marshes, on the winding and silted course of the Charente. The royal rope factory, erected for the needs of manufacturing ropes for warships, is among its most emblematic buildings. The Rochefort Maritime Arsenal, nicknamed the “Versailles of the Sea”, was for a long time a place of technical innovation in shipbuilding. Between its opening and its final closure in 1927, nearly 550 warships were built there. By crossing the Porte du Soleil de l'Arsenal, near the National Maritime Museum, you will be able to see two forms of refit, that is to say basins which were formerly used to clean and repair ships: The basin was filled with water to bring the ship in and then it was emptied in order to carry out repairs. One of its forms houses the hook, an activity for children. The other has long housed the shipyard of the Hermione, a replica of the French warship of the same name, a three-masted square ship in service from 1779 to 1793. But this ship is no longer here; she is in dry dock in Anglet to undergo treatment against a fungus which is attacking her hull.