Debi and Jack sailing on SV Iroquois

We sailed into La Rochelle the evening of the 12th. The first part of the trip from Ile d'Yeu was a miserable washing machine of mixed-up swell, but after a few hours it settled and the rest of the day was fine although a little drizzly and grey. The swell is a real issue in the bay of biscay and we will be more careful of the swell  forecasts in the future. We made good time and got to La Rochelle before the gate to the Bassin des Chalutiers closed so we called the port captain and they opened the bridge to let us in. We're very happy to be here and especially that we got here when we did. Things have been building toward Bastille Day since and is reaching a fevered pitch. I was a little worried when we saw the laser light show and techno music concert on the way in. But I discovered that French techno appeals to me more than the Scandinavian variety. It was sort of pop mixed in and there was one band I actually liked. Last night was hip hop and had a lot more anger and gun shooting sounds. But they both ended at a reasonable hour. Tonight was a sort of hodgepodge starting with a metal band and ending with a kind of Africa jazz pop. As far as I can tell from studying the poster pictures tomorrow should be jazzy and it's the last night of music. I guess on Sunday things go back to normal quietish nights. There's a lot of security. The streets are blocked off with chunks of concrete or in some cases police vans. We've also seen daily patrols of army, gendarmes, city police and private security. I feel sorry for the army. They are wearing bullet proof clothing and carrying a ton of stuff in addition to heavy guns. There was a Bastille Day ceremony adjacent to the harbor, where in addition to a special flag ceremony medals for Valor and service to the Republic were awarded to about six service members who I think have some ties to La Rochelle. The dignitaries were divided into groups, there was a section for religious leaders, judiciary, and civil authorities. The VIP area was monitored by two women with a list, twice they removed the same pair of women in their late seventies who looked like they had not changed their style of clothes since the early seventies and that each day began late and ended later. One of the pair was the chief budger while the other willingly followed but was the first to apologize for being in the wrong place. It did not seem like the first time they had crashed a party. The ceremony was followed by a parade which included three sets of honor guards from different service branches, a motorcycle police unit, fire trucks and emergency service vehicles, however the parade route was less than the one block which passed in front of the VIP section. Perhaps a parade exchange program could be set up with the frolic committee to make next year's parade more inclusive and extensive, even the Daleyville fourth of July parades are longer. The fireworks however were as good as any we have seen for the fourth of July. The program seemed to be choreographed, with three acts, the first two ending in such a way that it seemed the display was completed, but when the next one began it was possible to imagine the bridge between the two. The final section ended with both a bang and a whimper, bold and subtle at the same time.  Last night for dinner we walked deeper into the city and found a Vietnamese restaurant, the pancake/omelet starter was very much like those we ate almost 35 years in Chicago but have not seen since.