Villa "Loulou" au Vieux Chapus

As you wind your way through the narrow streets of Vieux Chapus, it's interesting to look at their names: rue des mousses, rue des pilotes, rue du port, rue des pêcheurs... There's no doubt we're close to the old fishing port - now relocated to the Pointe du Chapus, opposite Fort Louvois.



Like Chartres and its "Picassiette" house, old Chapus has its "Loulou" villa.



Originally, this early 20th-century house was called "Blanche". When Mr. Palin, its current owner, bought it, he renamed it "Loulou", after his wife.



Having visited Portugal many times, Mr. Palin was undoubtedly influenced by the local architecture and its famous azulejos. So he began to cover the house, inside and out, with pieces of earthenware found here and there.



This work took him over twenty years. The green and blue seagulls, logo of the Charente-Maritime department, and the Marennes-Oléron oyster pictogram can be seen in these genuine tile mosaics. Mr. Palin, a retired oyster farmer, had his own shack on the Pointe du Chapus, which he named, not without a sense of humor: la cabane à Lapin.



Private house, not open to the public.