On our way home!

Bourmes des Mimosas

Sunday 19 September

It seemed sensible for Sue & Mike to leave us at San Raphael as their car was there and although we were sorry to see them go the sun came out again! We had a great 60s night with them on Saturday and Bruce will also be known as 'Douglas' from now on. We had a good trip to Bourmes des Mimosas where the Skipper had a bit of a tricky place to reverse into but he has had quite a bit of practice now.

Monday 20 September

Lovely day again and back to Sanary for one last night but everything was closed so a quiet evening on the boat.

Tuesday 21 September

Cloudy today but a great trip back to Port St Louis - 7 hours - and the sea was flatter than it has been the whole trip - a millpond in fact. Sequel is booked to come out of the water at 9 a.m. on Thursday and we have brought forward our ferry to Friday morning - home by Friday afternoon.

Have had a great time but so looking forward to being home and catching up with everyone - and the arrival of my first grandchild! So exciting.

Just got a bit of boat cleaning to do first.............

Cannes

Wednesday 15 September

Debby and Adrian left to battle their way home on Easyjet and we moved to the Vieux Port in San Raphael as apparently no room for us to stay another night to await the arrival of our next guests, Sue & Mike.

Thursday 16 September

Collected Sue & Mike from the fuel station - Bruce tried to go without Sue but he wasnt quick enough and she managed to get on board without even being thrown a line! A bit of a sea swell for our trip to Cannes where we managed to get a berth for the night although it was up against the town quay and a very noisy busy road.

Friday 17 September

Our first cloudy day and rain overnight! Left Cannes for Juan les Pins but couldnt get in - tried Antibes and three other marinas but everyone full, allegedly. So we went back to Cannes - but a better berth and a quiet night.

Saturday 18 September

Another cloudy day and more rain - decided to head back to San Raphael and to phone ahead this time for a berth - no problem! Now sitting on deck - Bruce happy Spurs won a match - Mike not happy, Milwall lost 1-6.

I Say! Is this really St. Tropez?

Friday 10 - Tuesday 14 September
Left Sanary on Friday morning - quite a swell following the mistral - went into Toulon briefly and decided it was too big and too hot so spent the night on Ile de Porquerolles, one of the Iles d'Hyeres, very pretty but absolutely heaving with ferries and day trippers. Tried out the Cobb BBQ which was great but the Skipper spent what seemed like the whole of the next day cleaning splatters of fat of the teak deck! We are looking for`a solution.
Moved on to La Lavandou on Saturday - quite a busy, touristy place, but a good marina. On Sunday we were turned away from Cavalier sur Mer as too big - so we thought we'd try St Tropez - absolutely no danger of being too big there. Have never seen so many FB boats in one place - and one which even had palm trees on the back (above) - heaving again with tourists and passengers off cruise ships, expensive tacky shops and expensive, expensive shops and chose the most expensive place to eat - quite by mistake - honestly. But had fantastic selection of sea food and now thinking of chartering Sequel to pay for it. One night was`quite enough for all of us.
Now in St Raphael - Port Santa Lucia - for two nights as good rail connection back to Marseille for Debby & Adrian tomorrow. Very nice here and in a quiet spot. Possibly on to Cannes tomorrow where we plan to meet up with Sue and Mike. Would really like to get to Juan-Les-Pins just so I can sing 'Where do you go to my lovely etc...' before we turn back west to Port Napoleon and the U.K. at the end of next week. Weather continues to be lovely and at the moment 28 degrees.

The Graduate

Monday 06 September
A bit of a treck to Solihull to stay with Claire & Gordy including a long walk to find Sanary sur Mer's station, an hour on the train to Marseille, a half hour bus ride to the airport and then an hour and a half from Gatwick by road (Bruce driving not me, believe it or not!).
Tuesday 07 September
From Solihull to Wolverhampton to meet up with Hannah for her graduation in the Grand Theatre at 2.45 p.m. and then a celebration dinner in the evening. Hannah on great form and made us all laugh all evening.
Wednesday 08 September - Monday in reverse - but journey a little longer on M40 at 7.30a.m. and therefore on M25 a bit later but time at Gatwick for a little bit of shopping and meeting up with Debby & Adrian - back on Sequel by 5.45 p.m. (French time) and to the mistral again.
Thursday 09 September
Sitting out the mistral - time for plenty of 'provisioning' - in other words 'buying more wine' - Debby and Adrian have disappeared to get more, we think - although they did say something about 'finding an internet cafe' although that was some time ago now - we were thinking more along the lines of a nice cup of tea - not managing to keep up with them at all!

But forecast is for a better day tomorrow and we are looking forward to setting off again towards Toulon initially. Not tried the Cobb yet, Kathryn - putting Adrian on to it though as he is a keen bbquer - and was very interested when we showed him it. Will let you know how we get on.

Cote d'Azur

Sanary-sur-Mer

Wednesday 01 - Friday 04 September

Finally the wind dropped and we left Port St Louis and had a very good journey along the coast EAST towards Marseille and despite being warned about the sea being rough after the mistral it was perfect.

Decided we werent in too much of a hurry to get to Bandol and we would try to get in at Cassis - no luck - we then tried La Ciotat where there was a 50M (FB) boat tied up on the Visitors' Pontoon thinking there would be no problem we were told WE were too big! Next stop was Bandol and we were very lucky to be allowed to stay the night on the Visitors' Pontoon only to be told by the Harbour Master we couldnt stay any longer as they had a regatta on 11/12 September! We tried to explain we would be gone again by 09 but he said they were full.

Better luck on Thursday when we found a berth at Sanary-sur-mer - absolutely lovely place and (slightly) more friendly Capitainerie. I have hopefully succeeded in reserving 4 nights (although strictly speaking they dont do this and it is quite likely we will go back and they will say they are full) there from Sunday onwards so we can get home for Hannah's graduation but we wont be sure until we return on Sunday - all a bit nerve racking.

Now Friday evening and sitting on the back of the boat on Isle d'Embiez - one of Paul Rickard's islands - Bruce says he feels like the prisoner. But we have a berth here for two nights and it is very close to Sanary. We have heard that the marinas in the Med are all full! But the weather is very good and not much wind at the moment.

31 August 2010 - Blown Away

Arles with the Rhone in the back ground

I now properly understand the meaning of being 'blown away' by something - in this case the mistral and am very fed up with it now It is, however, supposed to be dropping and the wind lighter tomorrow. We have made the most of today though and drove to Arles to visit Roman ruins and to eat a lovely lunch.

The plan is to set sail in the morning, Wednesday 01 September, wind permitting - if not we will drive to Marseille and if I am lucky some retail therapy amongst the sightseeing.

Hopefully my next blog will be from somewhere west of here.

SEQUEL IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE

Millau Viaduct

Thursday 26 August 2010

Left Poole on the fast cat over to Cherbourg at 07.15 a.m. - the weather was appalling and the sea horrible. I did not expect to feel like I was on Sequel crossing the channel on an enormous boat full of people and cars! But the crossing was very much quicker than in Sequel and we were on the road by 11 a.m. (French time). Drove for eight and a half hours, not including breaks, and spent the night in Mende, a very pretty French town.

Friday 27 August

Continued our journey back to Port St Louis crossing the amazing viaduct bridge at Millau and finally arrived by about 3 p.m. having driven about 750 miles in 12 and a half hours. The motorways were incredible and seemlessly empty. Bruce very pleased to see his beloved boat despite the fact that she was absolutely filthy - or perhaps thats why he was so pleased - he can clean her!

Saturday 28 August

Sequel back in the water again and in the last available berth. And guess what? A mistral is blowing already at 60km and forecast overnight at 90km. But not to worry plenty of cleaning to be done and we have been out to get beer. It is so good to have the car here - at least there is a form of escape other than on a fold up bike.

Not sure at the moment what our plans are but generally when the wind stops blowing we will head east towards Marseille and the Cote d'Azur although back home briefly for a few days from 06-08 September.