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Cruising donkeys
Cruising donkeys

Cruising donkeys

traveled in 12 countries Read more🇬🇬Guernsey
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    Looking back at the ocean
    Grau du RoiPont Tournant swing bridge

    Our last glimpse of the sea.....

    March 12, 2020 in France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We are now at the entrance to the Canal Maritime anchored off the yacht club in Grau du Roi.
    At lunchtime today we made our way slowly across from Port Camargue, a huge but quite pleasant marina, to the mouth of the river Vidourle. We went slowly because we were a bit early for the bridge, Pont Tournant, opening at 12:30 and had to wait. We went past the swing bridge and then the fishing port and turning to port/left we entered into a small lake and the start of the River Vidourle. We can’t take the river further inland as it’s only for vessels of less than 1m draft. Tomorrow morning we go back onto the Canal Maritime under the Pont Levant, the second bridge and up to Aigues-Mortes the journey should last about 30 mins it’s only about 2.8 miles. If everything goes to plan we won’t be out on the open water/sea again until July!Read more

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    Camargue horses
    Gacholle lighthouseThe dykeFlamingos

    Dique a la Mer & Phare de la Gacholle

    March 9, 2020 in France ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    To day we took a ride back along the coast using a dyke, on the way there it was lovely as the wind was pushing us along, coming back was a bit tougher but we made it OK. The Lighthouse was built in the 1840’s its only 16m but is apparently visible from 20km away. The beach in front of the lighthouse was vast think, Mont Saint Michel at low tide, fortunately there is little tide here as I don’t think we could have outrun it on the soft sand. We are thinking about going pony trekking as it’s what everyone else seemed to be doing but only if we don’t have to trot that’s far too uncomfortable 😣. Probably another ride tomorrow this time inland towards a village called Mejanes for coffee ☕️ and cake.
    As you can see from the photos the sun is shining brightly and John even got a little pink from the boat trip yesterday, I made sure he put on sunscreen today!    Read more

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    The start of the Rhone run offBronze bull near the ArenaOld Hotel de VilleCabanes de GuardianChurch of Notre Dame

    And we are off...

    March 8, 2020 in France ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Sunday 8th March and we have left Port Saint Louis. The sea is surprisingly calm considering the wind we have had for the last week so we decide to move west towards the Rhône a Sète canal and go to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. The colour change of the water as we entered the Rhone run off was incredible so we took some photos. The entire journey took 5 1/2 hours, we travelled just over 30 nM. We knew we didn’t need to radio the Capitainerie on arrival as it wasn’t open on a Sunday but we found the ‘Accueil’/Welcome pontoon and tied ourselves up. After a late lunch we took a wander around, the town is rally quite cute and therefore very touristy with lots of shops selling regional products and cafes and even an ice-cream shop!
    There are a lot of Cabanes that are regional houses thatched that traditionally have a cross on the end of the roof. The town is famous for its church which is the only high rise in the town and the old Hotel de Ville. But the main reason for fame are the various bull related events, there are regular bull fights, chasing bulls along roads, and in the surrounding marshes/beaches. There are flamenco shows and tapas to finish off the slightly Spanish feel.    Read more

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    Australian Pink Floyd

    March 6, 2020 in France ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Well yesterday we bussed into Marseille for the concert, luckily it wasn’t one of the ones cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak. No one I saw in Marseille was wearing a mask 😷 and only one person at the concert who appeared to have other issues as well, was. We had thought incorrectly it turns out that the concert was at the Velodome but no it was at Le Dome not the Velodrome so we had a metro ride across town after the concert to reach the hotel as the Le Dome and the Velodrome are on opposite sides of Marseille. We returned to the Queen Victoria pub for our pre Show meal and John went for the French version of a big breakfast again as he had enjoyed it so much last time. The moving around was easy as we bought a 24hour pass for metro, bus and trams for €5.40, so could hop on and off as often as we fancied. We didn’t need to do the sights as visited those already.
    The concert was brilliant, I was not the youngest there but definitely in that camp.
    Here are some photos, obviously not mine couldn’t be bothered to take the iPad and our phones aren’t smart enough to take photos you can actually upload.
    The final photo is of a building site just outside Fos sur Mer that when we visit got here was not even flattened land, so when they want to the French can work quite fast, on one bus trip past we counted 8 bore hole drilling rigs.
    We now have a couple of days to get ready as we are leaving Sunday, not yet sure where we will be heading as this depends on how rough the sea is. It has been blowing for a few days now but either East to Martigues and into the Etang (lake) if it’s rough or West to Saint-Marie-de-Mer. Our original plan to head straight onto the Rhône has been scuppered by heavy rain inland that has increased the flow of the river to fast than we can motor. So the revised plan, you always have to be flexible being on a boat is to get onto the canal Rhône a Sète and visit the towns along there until river eases off. First stop on the canal should be Aigues-Mortes then we decided East or West. But not sure when we will be able to get to the canal as we are experiencing the sort of high winds the UK has been having all winter, at least ours are accompanied by sunshine 🌞.    Read more

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    Late afternoon stroll

    February 22, 2020 in France ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    After a busy day, well not really who am I kidding, we decided to go for a walk upriver along the Rhône but off the main walking/cycling trail. The scenery was lovely but it was missing the spring flowers that you see in Guernsey. All we found were a few daisies and the May blossom, no bulbs of any description. It was still very pretty and peaceful and the sunshine was magnificent. Each day we are managing to do a bit of boat work, at the moment we are redoing the sikaflex seals between the saloon and the decks as they were getting a bit rusty and we really don’t want that spreading and weakening the top side of the decks.
    Well there is now only a week to go till we leave Port Saint Louis. We won’t be starting the canals straight away but soon 🤞. Yesterday and today have been sunny days and with a lot less wind than predicted.
    We have met another Brit he has bought his boat here for the new owners to collect so won’t be here long but a really interesting guy. About my age I think but has been on boats since he left home at 16 and sailed his 25foot yacht to Portugal. He has all the tickets and now captains all sorts of super yachts both as crew and to relocate. He had some great stories to tell of his adventures over the years. He lived in Majorca for a while and worked with Street Angels the charity that helps drunken Brits get safely back to their hotels I think they are based in Magaluf. We also said goodbye to Nicholas our French Normandy friend as we met him on our way back to townafter going to the Chandlers to buy more paint (ours had ‘gone off’) and his plans keep changing so we might not see him again.    Read more

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    Take Five without masts

    February 12, 2020 in France ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Well that’s it the boat is now ready, it is mastless. The de-stepping was quick and painless and DMS are dumping the old missen mast for us. They are now removing the spars and wrapping it all ready for collection and transport to Rouen. No rush we don’t anticipate getting there before June.
    The morning of potentially our final open water sojourn until the English channel was not great. We awoke to find a catamaran sinking alongside the quay where it appeared to have been towed by the local lifeboat crew. We don’t know what happened but it was definitely entertaining and I now know that my aerobic instructor is a fireman. Thankfully after about three hours of pumping three pumps both hills were again afloat and it has been moved to an official mooring for now. The pretty pink picture shows storm Ciara on its way to Guernsey.    Read more

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    Cycle and beach walk to river mouth
    Beths socksJohns sockCross stitch crab

    Short update

    February 8, 2020 in France ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Things are still progressing well with the various projects. John’s oil filters have arrived so he can finish the generator service but we are still waiting to receive the Perspex so he can repair the windscreen.
    I have finished my socks and started on John’s, the cross stitch crab is progressing well. Still haven’t started a project for the variegated blue wool but lots of time for that.
    We have made a few more wombling trips to the beach and actually walked right along the beach to the River mouth. There is so much timber there as well as obviously a lot of beached detritus, mostly plastic with a scary number of flip flops.
    Next week on Wednesday the main mast comes off! To do this we have to motor round to Port Napoleon where DMS will be removing and storing the mast until the transporters pick it up. We have already lubed all the bottle screws, the only unknown is the bolt through the tabernacle, this twists but at the moment we think the mast weight and Stays pressure prevent us removing it. This feels like real progress so now we need to sort out where the mast will go too in Northern France to wait for us. We are thinking either Rouen or Honfleur. We are also going to buy our canal cruising permit so we can benefit for the early purchase discount.    Read more

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    The joys of live aboard overwintering

    January 26, 2020 in France ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Well the weather hasn’t been all bad we have had a very mixed bag. Yesterday was sunny and we took a ride to the beach for wombling as well as shopping for Sunday Roast ingredients and doing the washing. The last few days we have been working on various projects.
    John has been focusing on wiring up the various electronics. The radar, radio, compass and GPS were all previously on the Missen mast that is no more so needed to be mounted elsewhere and reconnected. Everything is now complete.
    My jobs were more domestic in nature. I made a big batch of chunky carrot and coriander soup, as it’s nice to have a warm lunch on those cold days and the French believe soup should should be smooth whereas I want to chew my food. Some more carrot cakes to help fatten John up so he doesn’t get so cold. I have also made a cover, by hand, (machine broke) for the new stern tabernacle folding table John is going to build. My DPNs finally arrived, for those of you who are not knitters DPNs are double pointed needles, so I am now knitting my first pair of socks 🧦. The first one is a bit pointy on the toe as I got the cast off instructions a bit confused 🤷‍♀️ but nailed it for the heel section so second sock should be perfect! I am also doing my first ever bit of cross stitch thanks to my birthday present from Michelle and Paul. Took a few stitches to appreciate the need to do all the / before coming back with the \ but it’s going well now and I love the nautical theme. At the moment I am feeling inspired to maybe make a cross stitch Take Five but this enthusiasm may well wear off. I also have some new blue chunky wool that I am looking for a project for, any suggestions anyone?    Read more

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    Almerimar, you knew we’d be back

    January 13, 2020 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Well we had the car so decided as part of our trip to go and visit some friends from two winters ago down in Almerimar. It worked out well the drive from Gib up took a while but the little Fiat 500 that we got from Europecar went well. Our first evening was spent with Jane and Dave eating a home cooked delicious curry and doing a lot of chatting. We caught up on the local gossip and heard about future plans and discussed meeting up in the summer on their home turf, can’t wait. Friday we met Julie and Phil, only just they were off that evening to Ecuador, Galapagos and then the Caribbean, it’s a hard life. After that a bit of Boule now I warned the other players that we were rubbish only having played the plastic beach version, only to find John was pretty good. The men trounced the ladies, before retiring to Mario’s for drinks and Tapas. I attended a 1:1 Pilates reformer session in the evening before we headed back to Mario’s for the Yachties get together. This was all new faces so introduced ourselves and heard some more great sailing stories. Saturday and off to the yard to see Debbie and Simon and what work they had done to their Asian 40, an ex-drug boat they had bought while we were there last time. The progress was impressive they were all moved in but obviously they were still improving things as they went, lots of hard work and lateral thinking but she was looking good. Hope they manage to pop in to Guernsey later this year to catch up, we’ve offered free accommodation and our old cabin lights as incentives. Saturday evening was the Galley Quiz, it used to be the Leo’s Quiz but the operators have moved to a new locale, great night and questions pitched perfectly so you could get most with just a couple to isolate the really clever buggers. Our team was joint second, pretty good we thought. Sunday morning and we were already at Mercadona for the 10am walk, the weather was perfect and we all headed off to Cabo de Gato, Las Negras for a sunny stroll, with a lot more chatting mostly to Mike Ken and Gail but also some of the people we had met at the Yachties Get together.Sadly the weather was so good that all the locals were out as well so there was nowhere to get a beer and Tapas at the end but that didn’t spoil things. Sunday afternoon and evening we were with Debbie and Simon again first at theirs for beer and tapas then Algarbe for more tapas. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed the little dishes, delicious. On Monday i just had time for another Pilates session, well €10 for an hour on the reformer was such a good deal, before checking out and Coffee morning before a leisurely drive back to the airport.
    We are shattered that’s more socialising than we have done in total since leaving Levkas in April. Time to go back to the boat and relax and recover which is good as I seem to have picked up a horrible head cold.    Read more

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    Gibraltar

    January 8, 2020 in Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Well when we heard that Nick and Gemma were getting married in Gibraltar, the Gretna Green of the Med, we asked if we could come along and help them celebrate. ‘But of course and can you be our witnesses’ was the reply. What a great way to celebrate a birthday, especially once you are over 21 when you’re not sure they are really a cause for celebration anymore. So flights arranged Marseille to Malaga on Ryanair and a hire car to get us around using Doyouspain, as well as of course various hotel and apartment reservations. The bookings were almost the most traumatic part of the trip, we had issues with arrival times and getting checkin details with some bookings and well who knew that Ryanair online checkin only works with Google Chrome!! Obviously our iPad being a whole 3 and a half years old can’t work with Chrome, but all sorted eventually, they had to input identity document details for me, and flights went without a hitch. I was very anal about making sure our luggage was the correct size so of course no one gave a damn.
    The most traumatic event was the hirecar NEVER and I mean NEVER EVER use Del Paso. We have our own annual excess insurance policy so didn’t want theirs, that apparently is a not the right answer. We were then told that they didn’t make a record of the marks on the car had to photograph them at the beginning of the rental. OK so we went out into the night, it’s 9:30 damp and dark, they have a black car for us, that has condensation on it, we move it to under the lights and it’s covered with dings. We are responsible for any marks no matter how small unless we can show through the photographs that they were already there. Well I tried to take pictures in the dark under bright lights, we only had the iPad, but only really got reflections and how were we going to see them all the with the dew anyway! We decided to cut our losses (€8.97) and cancel the booking. Luckily the hotel was next to the hire car lot as I’m not sure they would have given us a lift back to the airport. Now we just have to keep checking the credit card bills to make sure no charges appear.
    We got to Gib a day early and John had the first of his three Full English Breakfasts, we met Dave again and had a great evening catching up, lots of changes for him last year but all set to enjoy 2020. The wedding at the registry office was lovely and went without a hitch, still can’t decide on the registrars accent very weird. We then had a wonderful lunch and afternoon sipping bubbles and eating tapas with the happy couple and two other friends.
    Our room while we were there was actually in La Linea just across the border. Seriously if I was any good at throwing stones I could have landed one on British soil. The view out the bedroom window was also pretty good, the bedroom was compact but did what it said on the tin, and there was a share kitchenette, no complaints for €29 a night.    Read more

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    Stray cats

    January 4, 2020 in France ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    So we have found the local strays they live next to the local cemetery and someone has built them shelters and feeds them. Now we do too! The most we have seen there at any time is 10, most are grey and white, there is one Siamese and some tabby’s. They are all very healthy looking no cat flu which was everywhere in Greece and most look cute, but John says I can’t have any. I have also attached a picture of John holding the homemade lemon cheesecake that I made for New Years Day, it was surprisingly good.
    The final photo is of part of the interior of the bar at Salin de Giraud as promised.
    Our latest scavenging finds well the ones worth mentioning were this McDonalds toy and some stickle bricks who remembers those?    Read more

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    Barcarin ferry
    Salt MountainSome of the many swansSalin de Giraud beachRam with stupendous hornsRemains from old chain ferry

    Salin de Giraud

    January 3, 2020 in France ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Well we had a beautiful day, Sun was shining almost no wind and nothing else to do so we decided to revisit Salin de Giraud. As this was a planned excursion we remembered the iPad for photos as well as some snacks and water.
    We rode up along the east bank of the Rhône to Barcarin, where the ferry is spotting a bird of prey on the way, it might have been a buzzard. We arrived just in time to hop straight on and across we went, the river was definitely in a much calmer and more relaxed state than the first time, but we’ve had no real rain for a few weeks so that makes sense. Once across we headed back down towards the sea not quite on the West bank of the river as the tow path there was a bit bumpy for our not mountain bikes but initially we were on a new cycle lane but this did disappear. On the way down we saw another bird of prey, and stopped at an artificially raised viewing platform to see the salt flats and salt mountain. The info boards told that this salt was used for the roads so wasn’t refined very much. Then onwards to the beach, this one also had a lifeguard station also only open for the two summer months. The beach was very long and apart from the lifeguard station the only features were the wooden teepees that visitors had built out of drift wood. There seemed to be a lot less rubbish perhaps this is because the prevailing wind carries the river rubbish east to Port St Louis’s beach. We stopped for a snack and to watch a family have fun extricating their people carrier from the sand, then back up to Salin for a hot chocolate. The cafe/bar/restaurant is a bit odd it is one big room with a really high ceiling a section that is the ‘restaurant’ a bar on one wall and random decor, photo on next post.John said it reminded him of a church hall or old fashioned community hall. Near the ferry we met a ram with enormous horns and saw two more birds of prey, maybe the same ones again who knows.    Read more

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    More preparations

    December 29, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    So we have had a couple of days of sun and only mild winds which has been very pleasant. Today we decided to finish of the work we had started on our secondhand Bimini and cover. We bought this in early spring this year from some friends in Levkas, they were getting a higher one, The problem we had was that as once the masts had been removed we would have had no shade for the outside steering position. We until now used the Missen boom and various stays to secure a shade cover. But with the frame now cut to size it looks like it will be perfect for keeping the sun off so now we just have to figure out how to keep the mozzies at bay. Would you believe they were out with us today looking for a lunchtime snack.Read more

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    Christmas day dip
    Plage NapoleonSwans and flamingosThe Camargue sceneryBoxing day the french way

    Christmas Day and Boxing Day

    December 26, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We managed a quick dip on Christmas Day before a hot shower and delicious Christmas lunch with our French friend Nicholas. Then a FaceTime chat with my family who were at my brothers for what I am told was a truly spectacular meal. Sadly my Dad missed out as he has the stomach bug that’s doing the rounds.
    Boxing Day doesn’t seem to be celebrated as such in France with businesses open as usual though more people were wondering around and trying out their Christmas presents? I did a circuit session earlyish, not too early as a bit bloney cold outside, then after breakfast we rode to the beach to continue our clean up operation and took some pictures on the way. Sadly the local birds are really camera shy and kept flying off but you can just about make out the flamingos and swans and of course gulls and teens. We are definitely loosing the cleaning battle by the way as not only is the rubbish arriving via the ocean but also via the river. On the beach were a number of walkers and also fishermen, a couple of them had set up their rods then collected some driftwood and had made a fire. I’m not sure if their wives realised they had the tefal frying pan. Later on we tried a run but my Achilles is still not happy so have now applied deep heat, a support and am keeping it elevated, we are resting on the couch. Hope everyone has had a great time and is looking forward to the New Year.    Read more

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    Christmas Eve

    December 24, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Hello Everyone, we hope you have enjoyed the Festive buildup and have a great next couple of days.
    Today has been bright and breezy p, this seems to be the most usual weather phenomenon here so as we had done all our food shopping yesterday we decided to go for a ride and this time we headed up the Rhone rather than down it towards the beach. We rode to the Bac Baccarin and took the ferry across the Rhône to Salin de Giraud. The decision to take the ferry was a bit last minute when we realised it was free for us and our bikes. We didn’t have the iPad so I have found some photos from the internet to show what we saw the horse were grazing in the fairly waterlogged field on our way up to the ferry and Bar de Sport is where we stopped for a hot chocolate sitting outside soaking up a bit of sun. We would have explored the town and surrounds a little more but we had no idea when the last ferry was and didn’t want to end up stranded on the wrong side of the river for Christmas.
    We have invited a French friend Nicholas to join us for Christmas lunch and are planning a Festive dip before hand, that we will remember the iPad for with its waterproof cover! So we need to be a bit organised so the poor guy isn’t waiting till 6 for his lunch.
    HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE    Read more

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    Happy Christmas
    New haircut and handmade topJohns scaffold plankScavenging items

    Getting settled

    December 14, 2019 in France ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Well we have been here over two weeks already and although the weather hasn’t been great it’s been a lot better than in Guernsey. We have put up our Christmas decorations inside and out. We are the only decorated boat in the marina. At the moment we have some more liveaboard boats but not sure if they are just here to avoid the SE Gale/storm we are experiencing, they are all french and we hardly ever we the residents.
    Thank you to those who sent us new Christ decorations, we love them.
    I have also attached a photo of me in the finished pullover thing I knitted. It doesn’t look quite like the pattern photo it’s bigger as I knit very loosely even though I used a smaller size needle and pattern to compensate. In its favour it is lovely and warm.
    Last Friday we headed back to Martigues by bus to go to the DIY store for various things but primarily wood so John could build a folding table around the Missen mast tabernacle. Unfortunately our Martigues luck, or lack of, was holding out as after over an hours journey we got to the store to find out that for technical reasons their wood saw was out of action. At least the trip only cost €4in total, well and lunch of course but a person has to eat. The nearby hypermarket was doing a deal on some GF biscuits so we saved the cost of the trip in biscuits. We also bought some new sheets as ours were a bit grubby and even whitener was no longer making the grade. The other thing we had hoped to buy at the DIY store was Perspex to replace the panel that the wind blew out 2weeks ago, and we thought we had done it until, John double checked his measuring (after we had paid) and realised it was too small to we had to return that at least we hadn’t carried it home.
    A bit of luck we have had is that on one of forays to the beach we saw a long scaffold board and later in the day when John went back a saw it was still there so he reduced the length to 8foot and cycled back with it, carefully.
    There is also a photo of some more scavenging finds. We are still collecting plastic bottles and other rubbish each time we get to the beach to the amazement of the locals.
    John is again back in the engine room doing something semi technical and as I did the washing yesterday I am looking for things to do. I have some sewing projects but am waiting for the market tomorrow to buy some grey thread for the new liner curtain, and for new needles before I tackle the table cover, as material quite strong.
    I have however made my own GF vegetarian mincemeat and then some mince pies using shop bought GF pastry, they aren’t bad, but as no more GF pastry until we return to Martigues I need to try making that as well as have lots of mincemeat left over. It ridiculous what you consider doing if you are bored enough.    Read more

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    Entrance to the Marina canal
    Marina looking out towards entrance canalBarge coming into canal from the RhoneSame barge but looks huge and lowTake Five only 1 mastPlastic duck, velcro ball, sneaker, doll parts

    Port Saint Louis du Rhone

    December 8, 2019 in France ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Well we have been in our winter marina for just over a week and feel we are getting to know the place quite well. While we have been here though two of the other visiting liveaboard boats have left, we think there is one other boat with full time residents and a few weekenders. The facilities (loos, showers and laundry) are clean dry and wonderfully warm, there is also a common room with TV and DVD that we can use. There is a supermarket nearby that sells John’s preferred GF bread and well stocked chandlery’s so John is mostly happy. He however a bit concerned about the temperatures, one morning this week we were showing only 2.5 degs on the external thermometer and that’s early December he’s not sure he will like January and February very much. Take a Five now looks a little different as we have removed the Missen mast, we aren’t thinking we will put it back as we haven’t used the Missen at all and without it we feel we have so much more deck space. Sadly there is no gym for me to use but I have found a boxercise type class that’s very energetic and hope to start running again soon, niggling Achilles injury just not healing, and am using common room for Pilates/yoga/body balance type workouts. We are planning to cycle to Arles when weather is cooperative for an overnight stay, it is about 35km if the signs are to be believed. And the buses to Martigues allow us to visit a large Bricolage (DIY) store, John is thinking about building a folding table around the Missen tabernacle?
    So far we have had at least two good days for each bad one but this coming week doesn’t look so good forecasted winds with gusts around 45km/hr every day except Wednesday which is good as Wednesday is market day.
    We try to do a longish ride every day and have ridden to the beach every few days and have started a little beach cleaning, just a carrier bag of plastic bottles each visit as well as collecting some of the more interesting finds that I will put on the photos to see if anyone can invent a story to link them together.    Read more

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    'Little Venice'
    French electricsFirefighting boatFos sur mer

    Martigues and home

    November 28, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    OK well our plan when we headed towards Port de Bouc was to go along the channel and into L’Etang de Berre but we picked the 1 week of the year when the lifting bridge at Martigues was undergoing repair work and wasn’t lifting! Never mind, while we established that the bridge was actually going to be working at all, this took a couple of days as it was supposed to reopen on Wednesday night, then Thursday then this got pushed to Friday and they still weren’t sure, we had a free mooring in Martigues. The town was OK but nothing much going on like a lot of the towns in this area it isn’t very old a grew as somewhere for the workers in the power plants to live. In February next year we will come back and go into the Lake (Etang) to visit Istres which was one of the attractions, the other was free anchoring. But we are now in Port Saint Louis du Rhône our winter location. We plan to be here until at least mid February if not later. That said we might take a few side trips but Take Five will be staying.
    We haven’t had a proper look around yet but the town seems quite small but as a plus the supermarket sells Johns favourite GF bread and the Capitainerie have heated toilets and showers as well as a coin operated laundry and a reading room with a TV and DVD player, microwave and fridge. So if wind noises get too much we will go camp out in there, we are already planning a weekly film night. Downside is we appear to be the only liveaboards!    Read more

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    Calanques Merguez (i think)
    German fortifications at Batterie de CavauxLooking towards MarseillesFort de RatonneauA quick dip at old harbourPilot building

    Frioul Archipelago

    November 25, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Sorry it’s been a couple of days now since I posted any news but don’t worry we are both fine as is Take a Five. So to give you an update. From Marseille we did what we think might have been our ‘longest’ trip so far, a whole 4.5miles to the Frioul Archipelago. This is three islands the smallest is If and the other two Ratonneau and Pomegues that are joined by a concrete causeway. The islands hold a commanding position just off the Marseille coast and are heavily fortified, most recently the Germans added there delicate touch of concrete. The Archipelago is a National Park and as such activity is restricted but we did a couple of lovely walks and I managed a quick dip. The islands are theoretically home to 13 different nesting species and perhaps a little bizarrely for us Guerns, they seem proud of the fact that they have ‘yellow legged gulls’ to me they look like bulk standard ‘seagulls’ but they are prolific on the islands. I was hoping to see a peregrine falcon or a little owl but no joy there. An incredibly quiet night before setting off westward once more on a bumpy journey where we saw three firefighting seaplanes and numerous choppers before heading in towards Port Bouc.Read more

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    Marseilles Cathedral
    Arc de Place Jules GuesdeVieux PortVielle Charite (paupers refuge)Palais de LongchampsChateau d'eau at the Palais Longchamps

    Marseilles 2

    November 24, 2019 in France ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    So here we have the Cathedral of Marseille it is huge with numerous little chapels and lots of sparkling gold inside though not quite as much as at the Notre Dame de la Garde. There was also the Arc which on some sighs was called Arc de Triumph. The views of the Old Harbour from the guarding forts of St Nicholas the lower (east) and St Jean (west) were impressive as was the St Jean fort particularly, we could imagine kids amusing themselves for hours running around shooting each other with imaginary guns or bows and arrows. Also impressive was the Vieille Charité a hospice built for orphans vagrants and refugees. It has an elliptical dome to the centre chapel which is built in the centre of a quadrangle of three floors with numerous small rooms. The Palais Longchamp was the most stunning building it was built to celebrate the completion of the Marseille canal bringing water from the river Durance to the city and ending the drought problems. It houses the Natural History museum and Fine Arts Museum both of which were actually closed. We also saw lots of churches and chapels but we can only put 6 pictures per post so there will end up on Facebook.Read more

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    Notre Dame de la Garde
    Saint Victors AbbeyOpera HouseInterior of Notre DameLooking s to nw.

    Marseilles 1

    November 24, 2019 in France ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    We arrived a couple of days ago and after doing the washing and other necessities we then did some sightseeing, between showers. We have walked around the city, Frances second largest per the tourist map info, and seen a lot of the sights. Today we had planned to go to Isles Frioul after a wander around the local flea market but as it’s raining incessantly we have decided to delay our departure till tomorrow. Yesterday we stocked up on staples at a large supermarket as no idea on costs at our winter home and had a big breakfast French style at the Queen Victoria pub. There are a lot of photos so next post will have some too.Read more

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    Jousting boats
    Mirror like reflectionCiotat headlandRock shapes

    Le Ciotat

    November 19, 2019 in France ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Hello again everyone well the trip from Toulon was almost uneventful, except for apparently ending up in in a shooting and being told to head out from the coast at 90degs for 5km by a little boat and the shooting range facility. We thought 5km offshore was a bit excessive and there was nothing marked on either the paper chart, the electronic chart or the Navionics program. Anyway once we were 3km offshore the little turned away so we headed across to the headland rather than any further as it was rough enough already. Ciotat shipyards used to be famous for building tankers but they are now the home to super super yachts. This evening we checked AIS and there are 4 yachts over 100m long and lots of smaller super yachts. Today we visited a local market for our perishables before... yes you guessed another walk. We went to the park behind the yards with stunning rock formations and what we think were manor grounds that are slowly being restored. Then a Menu de Jour before cycling to the local hypermarket. We needed a new kettle our was taking a lot longer to boil than it should have a leaked every time it was poured.Read more

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    Christmas bauble tree

    St Mandrier headland

    November 17, 2019 in France ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Sunday we went for a walk, as it happened there was a local cross country race happening either 6 or 14km. We tried to follow the coastal footpath but the first bit was closed and we couldn’t find the next section and ended up on the race course but got off as soon as we could. Then down to the coast for a hot chocolate before getting back on the coastal path and following it back along the coast to see where we had gone wrong. We saw more great views it was a bit windy so the sea was kicking up. The race route was really tough we ended up walking all of the 6km route and most of the 14km one as well so in the afternoon we had a well earned rest. This is the first time I have been within easy reach of a boulangerie so had warm croissants and pain au chocolat for breakfast delicious.Read more

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    Toulon sunset
    Views from Mont FaronToulon harbourModels in Marine MuseumJohn choosing a new figurehead

    Toulon

    November 16, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    We caught a ferry across to Toulon and visited the street market on Cour Lafayette before walking to the telepherique to catch a cable car up to Mount Faron where we had a walk around admiring the views before a wander down the hill for a lunch of Galettes at a little ‘Breton’ cafe. We then went along the front and to the Maritime Museum where we spent a couple of hours before catching the ferry back to the boat just after sunset. As you can see from the photos there were some large models there that had been used for training at the naval colllege years ago.Read more

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    Nearly Toulon

    November 15, 2019 in France ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    We had hoped to be in Toulon but no room, or so we were told, so we are in Les Mandrier Marina which is across the bay, there are some dead boats here that are used by the Naval dive school for training and a boat yard for very large plastic fantastics. Le Mandrier is OK but as with everywhere smaller, out of season it’s a bit quiet. Ferry to Toulon tomorrow, though apparently ‘the boat is too small to be a ferry in French it is only a shuttle’. We have sent some more emails to try to firm up the removal storage and transportation on the masts ready for next year and to request a postal address for our overwintering location. We plan to spend, well the boat does we haven’t decided yet depends how lively and cold/wet it is, the winter in Port St Louis de Rhône so not far to go now. Only other big port on the way is Marseille. Thats everything for now be in touch soon. Don’t forget to let us know what you are all up too.Read more

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    Le Lavandou and headland

    November 13, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Next stop Le Lavandou, don’t get excited we didn’t see any lavender fields. It was blowing a hoodie when we arrived it took two goes to get alongside on the Accueill pontoon so when they said we could stay there for the three nights we were happy. That night was very rolly and creaky John estimates winds reached at least 40 knots with gusts towards 50 we were listing badly and there was only a fetch of 5m. Next day started rough but after we had replaced the broken cable ties holding the skirts on in the howling gale it eased right off so we decided on a cycle and headed on a velo route towards Toulon. We didn’t get all the way there we turned off towards Hyeres after 90mins and had ... yes you guessed another hot chocolate, we’ve given up on French coffee it’s just too bitter. We then returned to Londes which we had cycled through for a Formule Midi (pork steak mash and salad) before returning to the coast and heading to Cabasson, past a number of vignoires (wineries) the Château’s and grounds were spectacular, to try to go to a fort we had seen offshore. It wasn’t to be the fort and island were private. We then, rather then retracing our steps decided to take a very steep uphill hike to a firefighters memorial followed by a treacherous scramble down with bikes to a proper road and a leisurely ride along the promenade back to the marina. The views were worth the walk up!
    Yesterday was a right off more wind and lots and lots of heavy rain. We now know that the foam stuff we bought to go in the port hole surrounds is rubbish. We thought it might be when I was fitting it as it hadn’t been precision cut so was too wide in some places so I had to jam it in and too narrow in others so it didn’t reach the sides.    Read more

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