"Wooden cabins in Plage des minimes area" Top 5 Page for this destination La Rochelle Things to Do Tip by Norali

This is a nice area that surprised me.

We went there to see the speedboats and the marina but the area in itself is interesting to see with those wooden cabins. From explanation I received from my friend, the wooden buildings are apartments for, most of time, students. I kind of envy them, studying near the sea, near the speedboats. What would be the area while preparing to host races?

Enlarge the pics to see the style of those buildings.
Well, i have to say that what stroke me most was the resemblance of those cabins to the ones in UCL- Woluwé area. UCL- Woluwé is the branch of UCL (Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, that is) in Brussels region, Woluwé being a commune of the latter. UCL-Woluwé deals with Medical and para-medical studies (future doctors, dentists, pharmacists...). I studied in this area in the past and I noticed some students of UCL- Woluwé and La Rochelle uni students have similar style of housing: the wooden buildings... but I prefer it in la Rochelle, apartments are close to the beach and sea.

The fact that those buildings are in wood is not that unusual. La Rochelle used to have an area named "Ville-en-bois" (Wood-city). This was a picturesque and initial quarter with wooden buildings. But it paid a huge toll to a big fire in summer 1986 that devastated the wooden city. Then, it had to be rebuilt. Soon, authorities settled La Rochelle University there with many amenities (Uni restaurant, Library, student apartments...), an engineering school, joining the only school that was located in the area.

Besides, the Aquarium, the biggest in Europe, was built in the area too so to make it lively. From those changes (and thanks to the fire?), this area, that had been named "La Rochelle 2" for years, was connected to the old district...

Directions: Minimes area, university area....