Couché de Soleil Entre Amis

The day was a wee bit stressful - at least what passes for stressful in my presently charmed existence.

As Cielo headed off to South Africa I found myself at loose ends without much clear direction but with an abundance of surety that it would all work out.

Over a coffee (delicous, delcious coffee) and some pastries (er mer gerd delicous apple filled thingy and pain au chocolat) Olivier invited me to join him in the afternoon for a beach stroll with some friends, and to talk about staying aboard Mabaï.

So! much of my immediate problem (where to sleep) was resolved. My alternative was to test out my French skills and find an AirBnB... Which I did not relish doing for various reasons, not the least of which was the likely distance from the Yacht Club which has become a comfortable pseudohome. Et voilà!

I still need to clarify my own next steps. Relying on the generosity of friends only goes so far. I'm leaning towards a flight to Madagascar and also looking into aome alternatives while keeping an open mind and saying "yes", which has worked remarkeably well to date.

Oh,
We went to the beach. It was a beautiful cloudy afternoon. Dogs cavorted. The sun put on a show. We strolled. I practiced French.

After the sun dropped behind the verdant hills of Grande-Terre we headed back to the club for a delightful meal with three boats' crews. I borrowed a scooter to grab wine and some snacks to add to the potluck, and a fine time was had by all in French, English, and Spanish.

An amusing lesson learned last night: vin (wine) and vingt (20) are pronounced exactly the same in French and neither sounds at all like how they are read-aloud in English.Read more