St. Raphael should have been a delightful stop over and apart from being in a goldfish bowl with every mouthful of our dinner inspected by the passing throng, it was looking good – until… When approaching midnight, the disco struck up seemingly 2 metres from our mooring! We simply closed the hatches, pulled the curtains and with the alcohol and AC doing their job, we had a good night’s sleep. Stephen and Mary suffered however and had yet another interrupted sleep deprived night.
Having booked a berth in Cannes for the night, we expected to be positioned on the outer visitor pontoon which suffers the wash of all the passing traffic. You can imagine my relief (given the above) when we followed the rib into the most tucked away and tranquil position on a new concrete dock in the heart of the Port and we were helped to moor.
The reception in the Capitainerie was nothing short of stunning. We were given (by a very pretty and enthusiastic lady) our passes, a discount card for shops and restaurants, a goody bag containing maps, free tourist tokens, washing stuff and a pair of slippers. We were given free tokens for the laundry machines, wi-fi codes, and free use of electric bicycles. Water and electricity on the berth were also provided of course. The new adjacent facilities block contained the cleanest toilets and showers (with whole body air blowers!), vending machines, computer terminals, laundry, book swap and a still and sparkling water dispenser. All this in the heart of the lovely town and for 46 Euros for the night which is one of the cheapest since leaving the UK. Contrast this with 121 Euros in Puerto Banus – without electricity or water, 70 Euros for a mooring buoy in Cadaques and 40 Euros for a lumpy mooring buoy in Cavalaire sur Mer.
We previously spent a night in Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol which claimed to be the ‘Best Marina in the World’! Let me tell you that Port de Cannes is 100 times better !!!
As the afternoon progressed, the tender from a monster motor yacht came in a couple of berths down from us. They clearly had a problem with their engines, two 627HP outboards (yes really, 2 x 627hp !!!) and borrowed an adjustable spanner. When the problem was sorted, the revving of the engine was not popular on the dock but they very kindly gave us two bottles of wine for our troubles.
Stephen googled the wines and we clearly did very well out of the transaction and could have bought a socket set for the short loan of the adjustable !
Stephen writes:-
So Cannes does live up to its reputation and is well worth a visit. Number six is very happy as there is not a big white ball in sight and he still thinks he is not a number but a free man (don`t tell Paula!). The fish have still had the upper hand so tonight`s meal will be Lamb Shanks not French fish. I realise I have yet to post a limerick so I shall be prepared to see what I can find to rhyme with Nick and Shanks. We have had a great day and tomorrow will have a relaxing day and hopefully I can catch some fish.
Hope springs eternal
Leave a Reply