Lesley Vainikolo's two tries could not prevent Gloucester slumping to their first home defeat in 18 games.
La Rochelle opened up a first-half lead when Thomas Sukozi touched down, before Vainikolo clawed Gloucester back into the Amlin Challenge Cup game.
Benjamin Dambielle's kicking kept the visitors ahead before Jonathan Garcia added a further try.
Vainikolo and Freddie Burns touched down in the second half but Nicky Robinson's missed kicks proved costly.
Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath: "We gifted them two tries - the two good opportunities - but we had a lot of possession, a lot of territory and we just weren't clinical enough around contact area defensively.
"In the first half especially I thought we were flimsy. We hit people, but we didn't stick and they spun out and certainly one of the tries at the end of the first half came from that.
"In the second half we had a huge amount of possession, a huge amount of territory, a huge amount of opportunities to create something, but we just weren't clinical enough from the start for some reason."
Gloucester: Burns, Sharples, Tindall, Fuimaono-Sapolu, Vainikolo, Robinson, R. Lawson, Wood, S. Lawson, Doran-Jones, Attwood, Brown, Deacon, Qera, Narraway.
Replacements: Lewis for R. Lawson (60), Azam for S. Lawson (60), Capdevielle for Doran-Jones (64), James for Attwood (60), Buxton for Deacon (36). Not Used: Thomas, May, Voyce.
La Rochelle: Dambielle, Le Bourhis, Combezou, Roux, Ninard, Goosen, Neveu, Toderasc, Bordoy, Garcia, Grobler, Mohr, Carmignani, D'Aram, Soucaze.
Replacements: Bares for Toderasc (15), Clement for Bordoy (55), Leupolu for Garcia (59), Boboul for Lacoste (76), Jacob for Mohr (48). Not Used: Fa'asalele, Dall'inga, Som.
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