The apartment has spectacular views, a lovely balcony from which to survey the activity below, and is ideally situated to make full use of La Rochelle's frequent and inexpensive public transport system, thus allowing the car to be left in the private car park for all but long trips out. It was spotlessly clean and comprehensively equipped, but not always to English tastes; the pillows were inadequate, the mattress too soft, the tiny cups too small for the morning "cuppa", and there was no proper oven. With a bakery, and the attendant aromas, on the ground floor, however, and a wide range of places to eat and drink within both walking and riding distance, it was not difficult to eat well throughout the day. There were also rather too many formalities before and on arrival: signing a four page letting agreement in French and paying a 500 euro "caution", which was, of course, returned after inspection on departure (and was also more than the total of the hire charge) would be difficult to cope with for any but a fluent French speaker. Despite these shortcomings, we had a thoroughly enjoyable week.