La Grosse Boîte

La Rochelle


The Big Box is no ordinary cafe. This is where locals head to play, play and play board and other games to their heart's content – the games cafe is packed every evening. Themed soirées (evenings) include enigmas, cards, adventure in America and so forth – and there are hundreds of different games, brand new and Monopoly-classic to test.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby La Rochelle attractions

1. Tour St-Nicolas

0.19 MILES

The only tower to be decked out like a house, this 37m-high pentagonal stone tower has leaned slightly to one side ever since building was complete in…

2. Aquarium La Rochelle

0.23 MILES

La Rochelle's state-of-the-art, family-friendly aquarium is home to 12,000 marine animals and 600 different species. Visits begin by descending in a…

3. Tour de la Chaîne

0.25 MILES

To protect the harbour at night in times of war, an enormous chain was raised between the two 14th-century stone towers at the harbour entrance to La…

4. Tour de la Grosse Horloge

0.26 MILES

The gateway to the old city, Tour de la Grosse Horloge is a steadfast Gothic-style clock tower with a 12th-century base and 18th-century top.

5. Musée du Nouveau Monde

0.38 MILES

La Rochelle's role as a departure point for North America is interpreted at this museum, housed in an elegant courtyard-clad mansion built in 1750.

6. Tour de la Lanterne

0.41 MILES

Easily mistaken for an ornate church spire, the conical 15th-century Tour de la Lanterne is La Rochelle's beauty queen. It was so named because of its…

7. Musée des Beaux-Arts

0.42 MILES

La Rochelle's Museum of Fine Arts, housed inside a stunning neoclassical building, hosts an impressive collection of 15th- to 20th-century art.

8. Musée Maritime

0.44 MILES

In a series of boldly coloured, red, blue and yellow canopied hangars at the Bassin à Flot, the Maritime Museum evokes the history of La Rochelle port,…