Rochefort, on the Charente River near France's Atlantic coast (map), 469 km (291 miles) southwest of Paris and 163 km (101 miles) north of Bordeaux, has been an important port for the French navy for 350+ years.

These days most of the sailing is done by vacationers coming from France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Europe. The many seaside resorts keep them entertained. Because of its links to the nearby seaside resorts, the district is known as Rochefort Océan.

This small city in the Poitou-Charente region was the home of several distinguished French naval officers, including Louis Marie-Julien Viaud (1850-1923) who, though noted for his naval service, was world famous under the nom-de-plume Pierre Loti.

Loti's novels featured settings and descriptions of the exotic locales he had encountered during his naval service. He is perhaps most famous for his depictions of life in the late Ottoman Empire, especially Constantinople (Istanbul), where he settled for a time. His house, stuffed with curiosities brought back from his travels, with some rooms fitted out as a pseudi-Ottoman mosque, is now a fascinating museum. More...

Besides the Pierre Loti Museum, Rochefort has a spa, the Musée Nationale de la Marine (National Naval Museum), and a replica of L'Hermione, a frigate built in Rochefort's shipyards in 1779. More...

---

Hotels & Flats in Rochefort What to See & Do Rochefort Transportation Tourist Information Poitou-Charentes Region Bordeaux Aquitaine Region