Bourcefranc-Le-Chapus

The town of Bourcefranc-Le-Chapus has an old fort called Fort Louvois, built during the 17^th century. It is reached by a causeway which is underwater at high tide, so we timed our visit with military precision (i.e. we made a rough guess) and arrived just as they were opening their doors at 10:30. Unfortunately, ahead of us in the queue we espied a gaggle of French teenagers, on some sort of organised outing as they were being corralled by a couple of adults (schools have already broken up here and it’s 14 July, so we surmised they were from some kind of holiday camp), so we did our best to avoid them and see the sights of the fort.

The donjon

I can see your house from here!

It is built in a horseshoe shape, with a flat front facing inland, and a high donjon on the landward side. It is part of a dual fortification of the Passage of Maumusson, defending the way into La Rochelle, a key French naval installation. Across the passage is Château D’Oléran, and between the two batteries any ship of the Maudits Anglois (God-damned English) or the Hollandais (Netherlanders) foolish enough to venture up there would be bombarded from both sides.

As military tactics and alliances changed, the fort became less important and, as always seems to happen, was put to a variety of uses over the years, and was eventually abandoned by the French army in the 1920s.

During WWII it was used by the Résistance, and was bombarded with artillery fire by the Germans, who had occupied the Château D’Oléran, suffering some damage. Château D’Oléran was then bombed by the Allies and most of the buildings obliterated, leaving only the wall standing. The damage to the fort was repaired over a period of 20 years and by 1972 it was opened to the public.

We then drove across the passage to view the remains of Château D’Oléran. Along the way we stopped in at a few quaint little shops selling artisanal knick-knacks and similar. There’s a lot less to see there, but some parts are still in good order, particularly on the landward side where the bombs didn’t hit.

 Although the daytime peak temperature is down a few degrees from the last couple of days, it’s still pretty hot, so we drove back for some lunch. Tonight, we’ll celebrate my birthday, and also the national day of France, with dinner and some fireworks.