French (dis) Connection

Following a short sojourn back in the UK which involved a hugely enjoyable trip to Ireland, I returned to Marseille with my wife, Paula and Stephen and Mary Williams to continue what should be a relaxed passage towards our winter berth in Baie des Anges, just west of Nice.

Stephen may be remembered for his entertaining  blog contributions on the Atlantic crossing and the passage from Plymouth to the Algarve. He latterly indulged, encouraged no doubt by Ollie, in limericks so best brace yourself for some ‘low brow’ poetry.

Notably our return to Marseille coincided with a national disaster in the area with campsite evacuations due to flooding and a death from the torrential rain. Our evening meal ashore was excellent but the rain was incessant and our table under a giant umbrella was damp at best.

I was particularly ‘put out’ on our arrival by the unplugged shore power on the pontoon. This can only have been malicious as there was no pressure on the supplies with no other yachts ‘plugged in’ and our neighbours (who had earlier complained about our Air Conditioning outlets) sheepishly staying below during our return. Thankfully, there was no damage done as we had emptied and turned off the fridge and freezer so the only connected ‘load’ was the Ultra Sonic Anti Fouling which was mostly covered by the charging from the Photo Voltaic panels on the coachroof but there is no excuse for such a petty and vindictive act.

We took the ‘Petit Train’ on a tour to the landmark church on the hill overlooking the City (from where the picture below was taken) and the Marina kindly sent a rib to pick me up to pay the 800 euros for the 13 day stay in the marina – all be it without the electrical connection !

A short passage to Port le Frioul on the island just offshore was a good introduction for the crew and I write from there.

Stephen writes:

Greetings Dear Reader,

I hope you are well and not confused by an evening blog instead of the usual morning version, quite why `The Master` delayed his early morning  yell of `BLOG` may have something  to do with our wives being on board…..!

We have had a lovely day in Marseille today (definitely worth a visit despite its reputation) and are now in Les Iles du Frioul enjoying the evening sunshine .There has been no threatening of me with `the cat` despite our difficulty in catching the bow mooring buoy so it could be a violence free voyage much to my surprise  and I probably will not need my Kevlar vest  which is a relief when it is so hot.

I have yet to construct a limerick despite it being ‘gin o`clock’ so I am sorry to disappoint you. I do blame our diesel fume inhalation for lack of rhymes for the moment but `The Master` did spent some time on his knees cleaning out the bilge of diesel so there may be a limerick in the next few days as long we don`t have further leaks.

I wish you a pleasant evening and will keep you updated on a daily basis.

`The diesel fumes fill up our noses`

Despite the Master`s cleaning hoses

…………