5th June
Although all our passages so far have been good, the trip across the Golfe du Lion was the probably the best. Less than 5 knots of wind and the seas were ‘glassed out’ the whole way. Jenny & Brian, who we had been with in Barcelona were also with us for the trip. We left Puerto de Roses in northern Spain at midday and arrived at Ile de Porquorelles south of Toulon at 7am the next day.
Interestingly, as we approached we were hailed on our VHF radio by Porquorelles Signal Station asking details of the boat, how many people on board, where we had come from and where we were going to. These signal stations are part of the French Navy Control and continually monitor radar and AIS.
We only spent one night at Porquorelles to rest up before leaving for St Topez, about 4 hours away.
Now St Tropez is a seriously classy place but certainly not all glitz and glamour. There are the big boats of course but the area around the harbour and the town is all old low rise buildings, narrow streets and alley ways, full of restaurants and small fashion stores. Trish & Jenny hyperventilated at the shopping possibilities!! We were amazed when we just rocked up and got a marina berth straight away, talking to professional skippers, you usually have to book weeks ahead, but then again we are only a small boat over here!!
St Tropez Harbour
Unknowingly we had picked possibly the worst time to be here for marina availability, Cannes film festival was on and the Monaco Grand Prix was scheduled at the end of the week. We hired a car to have a look around as marinas along the coast were all full, all the more amazing we got into St Tropez.
We had a wonderful day at St Paul de Vence in the coastal hinterland. We first went there in 2006 and there was no way we were coming to the Mediterranean if Trish couldn’t go back St Paul de Vence. It is a medieval village built on a hilltop with, of course, the ubiquitous walled defences. It is a very classy village with lots of art and fashion.
Cannes was very disappointing, it is a big town but has little character apart from a couple of odd pockets we came upon. There was very little of architectural appeal, other than the Carlton Hotel and was all a bit untidy. We tried to get a cup of coffee but the staff were so indifferent we walked out. So different from everywhere else we have been.
Antibes was much better than Cannes, a really interesting old town within a walled compound. I know Europe’s history is littered with conflicts but virtually every coastal town has a fort and a walled city. Medieval times were obviously not a relaxed affair, if it wasn’t some other country trying to occupy the town it was pirates raping and pillaging!!
After a couple nights at Antibes and another couple of nights at Ile de Sainte Marguerite just south of Cannes, we decided to head off to Corsica about 100 nm south.
We arrived at Calvi, yet another old coastal town with a Citadel overlooking the harbour, which is now a barracks for the French Foreign Legion. It is a very quaint place built around it’s harbour and is far better than the guide books portray. We discovered the ideal restaurant for dinner, sited on a terrace high up in the Citadel and overlooking the harbour, just perfect.
The west coast of Corsica is very rugged and reminded us a lot of New Caledonia, with red coloured cliffs sweeping straight down into the sea, but is exposed to the prevailing westerly wind with no secure anchorages, so we had to pick our weather window carefully.
Ajaccio is the capital city of Corsica and the birth place of Napoleon Bonaparte. After a disappointing first impression entering the Tino Rossi harbour, we found the usual narrow streets and the cosmopolitan lifestyle a few streets back and our impression changed, in fact we had a great first day. The second day the weather moved in with a storm and some heavy rain, which provided the opportunity to update this site!!
St Paul de Vence
19th June
Unfortunately our Corsican campaign was not a successful one. First we spent a few days in Calvi while it blew up to 40 knots, we then went down the west coast to Ajaccio when the wind abated, but then got stuck in Ajaccio for a week while it also blew hard.
During our stay in Ajaccio Harbour, the surge became quite dangerous in the harbour but before we could leave a particularly bad surge slammed us into quay. Obvously some lesson learnt the hard way here about the potential hazards in some marinas!! The damage was quite bad but not serious so we rode out the rest of the bad weather at anchor before returning to Calvi and then the mainland.
We are currently in Port de La Rague, which is just west on Cannes on the Golfe Juan, sitting on the hardstand where the transom will be repaired, have new seals fitted in the port stabiliser and a couple of other minor repairs undertaken. While this is happening, we have decided to hire a car, stay in a hotel and do a bit of land based travel.
Golfe Porto - West Coast of Corsica
26th June
We are now back in the water after having all our repairs attended to and I have to say that the yard here at Port de La Rague, which is run by a Dutch company called Arie de Boom Services, would have to be one of the most efficient and friendly marina's we have seen. They have two travel lifts here which are in constant use and the trades people are excellent and actually do what they say they will do and do it on time.
During our period out of the water, we made use of the time by staying in a small hotel in Rouqefort Les Pins and visiting a village that rivals St Paul de Vence for beauty called Valbonne and also had excursions along the coast to Nice, Villefranche and Monaco. We also went across the border into Italy to visit San Remo and back into the hinterland to Fayence.
Nice is a lively town with a harbour close to all facilities, lots of good eating and very cosmopolitan. Villefranche is at the head of a beautiful bay and is a delightful place with some great views from the surrounding hills and a good anchorage for future reference. Monaco is exactly what you would expect, exclusive, very busy with some beautiful buildings like the old Monte Carlo Casino and the Hotel de Paris and a busy maina with some huge boats.
Monaco was particularly busy as Prince Albert gets married on July 2nd so preparation were in full flight, together with the dismantling of facilities after the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix
It was actually good to have a break off the boat and we have found that hiring a car at various places along the route, is an ideal way to get a good look at the area and have found some great places in the various hinterlands, which you would not find when restricted to the coast.
We will now have a relaxing cruise for about 10 days before we have family arriving for a couple of weeks holiday.
Trish walking the walk at the Casino at Monte Carlo26th July
We have not moved far since the last entry, we cruised along the coast and spent a night in Antibes and then continued on to Villefranche for a week, which has a fantastic bay to anchor in, although it can be subject to a bit of swell. On one day there, we had taken the dinghy ashore and when we returned, there was a Nordhavn 55 Trawler anchored next to us, it turned out they were a bunch of Aussies who all live in Monaco. We then returned to Port de Lall a Rague via Ile Sainte Margeurite as we were expecting family.
Sara (daughter) and two grandchildren, India & Harry arrived on the 7th July and we had a ball taking them around all the best of the places we had already discovered; St Tropez, Antibes, Monaco, St Paul de Vence, Villfranche, Valbonne etc.
We also managed to add another couple of amazing places to the list, Mougins which inland and is another fortified hill top village functioning an artists colony and being famous as the place where Picasso lived and painted for 15 years until his death in 1973. The other place was Theoule Sur Mer, which is a quaint little village around the bay from Port de La Rauge that has a nice sandy beach, protected water and some of the best views imaginable, overlooking the marinas, Cannes and then beyond to the alps that still had snow on them.
Trish entertained the children on board by making them aprons and performing her version of Junior Master Chef where they helped cook dinner, served pre dinner drinks as well as the meal, and took the time to bake some cookies as well. Kids just love to be given a job!! There is a cute picture of them in the Travel Photo section with their aprons on helping clear up.
Sadly, after two weeks, all good things had to come to an end and they had to return home, via stopovers in Paris and Singapore. At the same time Trish also returned to Melbourne to take care of some business and will return early August when we can continue our journey through Italy and on to Croatia.
Relaxing in Mougins