L'Orient

Hello again.
So we did decide to leave the island while we could, from Port Tudy on Isle de Groix we headed back to the mainland and decided on the old L'Orient port rather than one of the newer marinas. The only problem was that we arrived on a Sunday and whereas we could hear on the radio that the other marina staff were there ours was shut and yes you guessed it Monday the 5th was also a holiday so no showers or internet till now. We left Isle de Groix as the forecast per the harbour office wasn't great and we wanted to find some shelter, thank goodness we did wind has been gusting up to a force 8 the last couple of days and is only due to subside a little tomorrow so we will probably be here till Thursday. On Sunday when we arrived we just wandered around the town but Monday we headed out to one of the Commercial Zones and managed to find a Decathlon, we didn't need anything but the shop was open all day and as the weather was shocking it seemed best to be inside. We did manage to find a tarp that we can easily put over the stern boom to provide a little extra external shade without the need to put up the full canopy. Even the few days that we have had this lovely temperature, well I say lovely it was a bit much really. 30C+ is for me, too much when the temperature just doubles I need a gradual increase to get used to it. Not been a problem with this wind though only about 17C with some intense showers. Yesterday it rained solidly for 4hours, fortunately that was after we got back from the shops. Today we followed a short walking trail around downtown L'Orient then visited the sub marine pens and Flore-S645 (a decommissioned submarine) and the Eric Tabarly Marina. As the wind is going to remain a bit too much for me tomorrow we are planning to go to the market and then take a vedette to Port Louis to look around the Citadelle and walk around town just for a change of scenery. We considered moving the boat but this is the most sheltered marina and we don't want to loose this mooring if the ones at Port Louis aren't as good.
We met French Customs for the first time this morning but all went very well John was a bit disappointed as they only wanted to see the Ships Registry and our passports, they asked about goods to declare and I said 2 cats and some Gin but they weren't interested. John had all the RYA stuff ready, his radio license and competency certificate, the works but no 'have a nice day' and they were off.
Yet again we forgot the camera but you must be getting a bit fed up of us by now don't worry will take a few tomorrow.
As noted above we took a trip to Port Louis it was a quaint place almost an island. We walked the ramparts, well the inside of the surrounding wall at in places about 15foot up, obviously as this is France there were no railings and it definitely wasn't built for your average American. I attach a couple of photo's. There is also a picture of the cats in their new travel den, I think they understand that it makes them more stable, as otherwise they, the cats, roll around in the swell.Read more