Went to the bakery and got fresh cresents for breakfast. Went for a beautiful beach walk on the beach at lesconil. Going to have a crab dinner tonight, jennifer and I went to the fish market at the docks and got some crabs, and fish.
Getting all packed up for the trip home. it is going to be ugly. Kirks flight leaves at 6 am Gale and Haley leaves at 12, then kirk arrives at Indy at 5, G and H arrive at midnight. Planned that out well. Gus will pick us all up and it will be abck to WL to see by midnight to see the wild dogs.
Adieu France.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Benodet and home again Lesconil
Weather was over cast and in the morning but allowed us to get to the cafe for cresents and coffee. Took a short walk to the point and found a medevil castle. Kirk did his best impression of Monty Python riding horse with coconuts. Got back to the boat in time for more showers. We decided not to go up the river in the rain so we read and slept most of the day.
Jennifer came and picked us up for crepes at their favorite crepery. Yummy yummy, sooo delicious. We have never eaten better.
Spent the last night on the boat and the wind settled down. We walked up the hill for some pasties and also found the farmers market. Got some cherries and strawberries. Had our last meal aboard and packed up.
Checked out with Oliver and headed to LesConil. We had lunch and headed to Quimper. Girls went shopping and we visited the Museum, Monet and many other painters with paintings of the Brittany Coast. All the landscapes had big storm clouds in them, would not be right without them. Big waves and rocks also.
We stopped by the Super U and got some fresh shrimp for dinner and had another delicious dinner.
Jennifer came and picked us up for crepes at their favorite crepery. Yummy yummy, sooo delicious. We have never eaten better.
Spent the last night on the boat and the wind settled down. We walked up the hill for some pasties and also found the farmers market. Got some cherries and strawberries. Had our last meal aboard and packed up.
Checked out with Oliver and headed to LesConil. We had lunch and headed to Quimper. Girls went shopping and we visited the Museum, Monet and many other painters with paintings of the Brittany Coast. All the landscapes had big storm clouds in them, would not be right without them. Big waves and rocks also.
We stopped by the Super U and got some fresh shrimp for dinner and had another delicious dinner.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Omg
Up at 5and weather did not improve. Blowing 20 to 30 , looks like a tight reach all the way up the coast. We hugged the isle de groix to stay out of the full atlantic experience for as long as possible. Jennifer and gwenelle took the ferry home and Haley should of, but she was a real trouper and earned her salty dog badge. It was really rough cold and in her words the definition of les miserables.
Got out into the ocean and the waves were GInormous, and yes that is with a big G. The squalls hit us one after another with a little sunshine in-between. It would not have been bad if we had wet gear but we were using wool blankets as outnwet gear. Se le vie, les miserables.
We had a rainbow the spanned tow squalls and still was not enoughnto make it worth it. Then the white sided dolphins came and visited us as we crossed the open water. We had a Lot of dolphins.
I put another blanket around Haley to keep her warm. The waves and wind were relentless. Haley kept asking are we there yet, dads response 2more hours, this was the response every time she asked. Haley was none to happy. Dad is this purgatory, the never ending two hours.
We all were wet and miserable, the glenan islands gave a little relief from the Atlantic swells, but did not stop the squalls from hitting us one after another. I kept promising haley as many tokens for the shower as she wanted.
The driving kept you warm and was a challenge to keep the waves from crashing over the bow and keeping the boat on course but fun if it was not soooo cold. We rounded the buoy to Benodet and were able to crack off a bit and make the sailing not so wet. Drenched to the bone and freezing we rounded the bouy for Benodet and could head down a bit.
Got into the harbor at 12, 6 hour trip. Haley was first off to the showers. We tied up the boat and hung out wet gear to dry so we would have blankets for the night. Now that is ugly.
Had gwenelle and Jennifer to dinner, they made home without any problem on the train, where we all wished to be.
Nice cozy night in the harbor. Alls well that ends well.
Got out into the ocean and the waves were GInormous, and yes that is with a big G. The squalls hit us one after another with a little sunshine in-between. It would not have been bad if we had wet gear but we were using wool blankets as outnwet gear. Se le vie, les miserables.
We had a rainbow the spanned tow squalls and still was not enoughnto make it worth it. Then the white sided dolphins came and visited us as we crossed the open water. We had a Lot of dolphins.
I put another blanket around Haley to keep her warm. The waves and wind were relentless. Haley kept asking are we there yet, dads response 2more hours, this was the response every time she asked. Haley was none to happy. Dad is this purgatory, the never ending two hours.
We all were wet and miserable, the glenan islands gave a little relief from the Atlantic swells, but did not stop the squalls from hitting us one after another. I kept promising haley as many tokens for the shower as she wanted.
The driving kept you warm and was a challenge to keep the waves from crashing over the bow and keeping the boat on course but fun if it was not soooo cold. We rounded the buoy to Benodet and were able to crack off a bit and make the sailing not so wet. Drenched to the bone and freezing we rounded the bouy for Benodet and could head down a bit.
Got into the harbor at 12, 6 hour trip. Haley was first off to the showers. We tied up the boat and hung out wet gear to dry so we would have blankets for the night. Now that is ugly.
Had gwenelle and Jennifer to dinner, they made home without any problem on the train, where we all wished to be.
Nice cozy night in the harbor. Alls well that ends well.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Ile de groix
Had a few rain squalls come through in the night but the day proved to be beautiful. We showered and moved to the inter harbor so we could have a slip with a dock. We are docked right next to the wall, which is a damn that only raises at high tide to let the boats out, craziest thing you ever saw. I will send a picture at low tide.
We bought a bunch of fish, mussels, and abalonies for dinner at the fish market. We rented bikes and took a tour of the island. Similar to the size of Mac island but has more towns and coves all around. it also has cars, but small cars. We had a beach walk and heard back to Port Tudy, looks a little over cast but not raining yet.
Planning on a big sailing day THursday, there is a mountainy with half the crew, it looks like it will be rough tomorrow. But the sailing will be fun. A little wild for the faint of heart. Hope to make it up the coast as far as possible tomorrow.
We bought a bunch of fish, mussels, and abalonies for dinner at the fish market. We rented bikes and took a tour of the island. Similar to the size of Mac island but has more towns and coves all around. it also has cars, but small cars. We had a beach walk and heard back to Port Tudy, looks a little over cast but not raining yet.
Planning on a big sailing day THursday, there is a mountainy with half the crew, it looks like it will be rough tomorrow. But the sailing will be fun. A little wild for the faint of heart. Hope to make it up the coast as far as possible tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Lie de glennan voyage to groix
Beautiful sail to glenan lots of rocks and we had to weave our way into the anchorage. The tide is 4 meters and one island turns into two islands at low tide. We landed at low tide and did Manage to accenditly put where. Hide tide would not wash away the dinghy,lucky us did a beach walk and found lots of glass. Big sailing school on the island we watched go out. Took a stroll around the island and by the time we returned there was one island and the dingy did not float away.
Had a great scallop dinner and a beautiful sunset. Nice clam evening.
Next morning we woke to rain and low visibility so we had pancakes and decided to see if it would clear. We had some great entertainment, a 30foot sailboat tried to cross the low water area and got stuck on the rocks, we got to see them successful get off the rocks with the help of the sailing instructors. Better than Internet or tv haley thought.
We headed out when the rain let up. A light mist and small swell with 5 mile visibility. The waves built and we had large swells before we got far. Waves and wind from different directions the crew was none too happy. We ended up tacking down wind but the ride was rough. This was a mr. Toads wild ride not a good idea with newbies. Only one auto jib, i was on the helm, oops, I got a whack to the head, just in case I did not remember that is a bad idea. The waves and wind were at two different directions, when you could surf it was great, when you missed the wave it was let's say no so good. It took both Kirk and I steering, it was exhausting.
We found the harbor and were escorted in. They have pilot boats that come out and take you in. We rafter up to a boat that was on a bout and everybody was ready for some dry land. This was a harbor that has a damn at the entrance of part of it to keep the boats a float. We are not in this part but it is really funny looking, but allows more boats to anchor in the harbor.
Went up to the grocery store and had some pizza, headed to a cafe for some drinks and then lamp chops on the boat. Another delicious dinner by Jennifer.
There is a huge ferry that comes in here almost hourly, it is huge amazing how it fits in here.
Great coffee this morning. Off to the shower.
Got to lie de groix at 5:30 and we were all glad to be ashore. We had a boat boy show us how to get into the harbor And we gouged up next to another boat.
Nice and warm on land. It was welcome by all. Cafe at a cafe and little of shopping and we were back to the boat.
Had a great scallop dinner and a beautiful sunset. Nice clam evening.
Next morning we woke to rain and low visibility so we had pancakes and decided to see if it would clear. We had some great entertainment, a 30foot sailboat tried to cross the low water area and got stuck on the rocks, we got to see them successful get off the rocks with the help of the sailing instructors. Better than Internet or tv haley thought.
We headed out when the rain let up. A light mist and small swell with 5 mile visibility. The waves built and we had large swells before we got far. Waves and wind from different directions the crew was none too happy. We ended up tacking down wind but the ride was rough. This was a mr. Toads wild ride not a good idea with newbies. Only one auto jib, i was on the helm, oops, I got a whack to the head, just in case I did not remember that is a bad idea. The waves and wind were at two different directions, when you could surf it was great, when you missed the wave it was let's say no so good. It took both Kirk and I steering, it was exhausting.
We found the harbor and were escorted in. They have pilot boats that come out and take you in. We rafter up to a boat that was on a bout and everybody was ready for some dry land. This was a harbor that has a damn at the entrance of part of it to keep the boats a float. We are not in this part but it is really funny looking, but allows more boats to anchor in the harbor.
Went up to the grocery store and had some pizza, headed to a cafe for some drinks and then lamp chops on the boat. Another delicious dinner by Jennifer.
There is a huge ferry that comes in here almost hourly, it is huge amazing how it fits in here.
Great coffee this morning. Off to the shower.
Got to lie de groix at 5:30 and we were all glad to be ashore. We had a boat boy show us how to get into the harbor And we gouged up next to another boat.
Nice and warm on land. It was welcome by all. Cafe at a cafe and little of shopping and we were back to the boat.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Sailing on riv Odets river
We arrived at saint marine at 11:30 and found the marine and the boat. No like CYC but next best. We got checked out in French started loading the boat, the good news was that we are only a half hour away from Jennifers so we could go back to her house and get what we forgot.
As we got checked in Jennifer made her first trip back to the house. The dock boy showed up so we signed up for the night. When Jennifer returned we headed out for the river. Wee did a river cruise to check out the boat. The tide was coming in so we went upstream real fast. We rounded on sharp bend and came face to face with a big river boat, lots of current and a little exciting. Every now and then around the next bend we would see a chateau, really pretty scenery. Made it all the way up to quimper. We found an arm of the river we went up and anchored in for dinner.
Kirk could not refrain from a river adventure in the dingy. We left the girls in the boat and got in the dingy, this time with the oars, extra fuel and headed up the river. We were rewarded with running out of gas but had a back up, and another chateau.
Dinner for us was scallops with a wonderful sauce and the girls had brauts. We almost finished the macaroni. We re informed that to add cheese to macaroni was the worst faux pau you could do. So we have not been able to ad cheese to the mix, so buy more pesto.
Had a quick trip down the river as the tide was going out, under the big bridge and back to the dock. Our slip was taken and could not raise the Dock master, so we went into another slip that was pretty tricky, only a few bumps and twists and we settled in.
The stars were out and the skies are clear.
Heading out to the islands tomorrow.
The tides. Had turned so we jaded back down river.
As we got checked in Jennifer made her first trip back to the house. The dock boy showed up so we signed up for the night. When Jennifer returned we headed out for the river. Wee did a river cruise to check out the boat. The tide was coming in so we went upstream real fast. We rounded on sharp bend and came face to face with a big river boat, lots of current and a little exciting. Every now and then around the next bend we would see a chateau, really pretty scenery. Made it all the way up to quimper. We found an arm of the river we went up and anchored in for dinner.
Kirk could not refrain from a river adventure in the dingy. We left the girls in the boat and got in the dingy, this time with the oars, extra fuel and headed up the river. We were rewarded with running out of gas but had a back up, and another chateau.
Dinner for us was scallops with a wonderful sauce and the girls had brauts. We almost finished the macaroni. We re informed that to add cheese to macaroni was the worst faux pau you could do. So we have not been able to ad cheese to the mix, so buy more pesto.
Had a quick trip down the river as the tide was going out, under the big bridge and back to the dock. Our slip was taken and could not raise the Dock master, so we went into another slip that was pretty tricky, only a few bumps and twists and we settled in.
The stars were out and the skies are clear.
Heading out to the islands tomorrow.
The tides. Had turned so we jaded back down river.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Off to the Races
Another beautiful day on the Brittany coast. Walked to the bakery then the internet cafe. Finally updated my Ipad and figured out how to take and send pictures. I am doing a survey on how to ask for coffee and get it the way I want it, seems to change with the cafes, cafe ole, coffee latti, the soy is out of the question no soy in France., the key is to get a big cup of coffee and cream, skim is also out of the question. Pretty much getting what I want most of the time.
Got some laundry done and went to the close beach. It was low tide and the boats were all beached, it sure looks funny. The boats are stilted with their keels stuck in the sand. Simply amazing.
Went grocery shopping for boat stuff and got all packed for the boat. Had dinner and I got to drive to Brest to pick up Kirk at the airport. Driving is interesting. Round about after round about after round about. Once you have the rules down it is easier. Stay in left lane when you enter round about, you have more rights. Once in round about you have all rights, that includes cutting someone behind you off if you want to exit round about. Try you hardest to avoid being on the left, because everyone on the right has priority over you. Driving is pretty much passive aggressive,like Gwennelle says he whos has the most guts wins. The drive to Brest was uneventful, thankfully. There was little or no traffic that made it nice.
Kirk was only 15 minutes late and we were back in Lesconil by midnight. Kirks plane ticket was a whole nother story, I thought I was bookingit at 10 in the morning, oops, Gale really is not goof at time but we all know that.
Perfect timing with the leftovers, Kirk cleared out the frig so we are ready to head for the boat.
Got some laundry done and went to the close beach. It was low tide and the boats were all beached, it sure looks funny. The boats are stilted with their keels stuck in the sand. Simply amazing.
Went grocery shopping for boat stuff and got all packed for the boat. Had dinner and I got to drive to Brest to pick up Kirk at the airport. Driving is interesting. Round about after round about after round about. Once you have the rules down it is easier. Stay in left lane when you enter round about, you have more rights. Once in round about you have all rights, that includes cutting someone behind you off if you want to exit round about. Try you hardest to avoid being on the left, because everyone on the right has priority over you. Driving is pretty much passive aggressive,like Gwennelle says he whos has the most guts wins. The drive to Brest was uneventful, thankfully. There was little or no traffic that made it nice.
Kirk was only 15 minutes late and we were back in Lesconil by midnight. Kirks plane ticket was a whole nother story, I thought I was bookingit at 10 in the morning, oops, Gale really is not goof at time but we all know that.
Perfect timing with the leftovers, Kirk cleared out the frig so we are ready to head for the boat.
Paris, yes, but lets go sailing too!
Now that the whole family has been to Paris at one time or another we have never been there together and it is not going to happen this time either. Gus will be home taking care of the dogs and working to pay for college. Haley, Kirk and I will be heading to Paris for a day then Kirk will be off to CERN for work while Haley and I explore Paris. Then we will go to Lesconil, a small village on the Bay of Biscay for some relaxing beach, windsurfing, shelling activity. Kirk will arrive in a week to cruise out of La Marine for a week sailing the islands off the coast. Plans are made so we should be good to go on the 25th.
Friday, July 1, 2011
June 29/30
Early morning trip to Lesconil. Up at 7, got to CDG and lots of flights were canceled, baggage strike. . . Our flight was only delayed and not canceled. Thank goodness for Jennifer we negotiated CDG, we had gotten off at the wrong terminal and did not realize it but had plenty of time to get to the other terminal. Went to board the flight and they stopped me from boarding with the rest, I had to wait for the next bus even when I told them my daughter was ahead of me, it took about 20 minutes to catch up with them but we all ended up on same plane. We all slept though the flight and no noisy kids on board.
We rented the car after a bit of a delay, attendant went home since we did not show up on time, plane was delayed. So he had to catch the bus back to the airport. And we were off through the round abouts and weird traffic signs and made it to Lesconil in about a little over an hour. Driving is definitely a little strange, even different than in Switzerland.
The cottage is on Sables Blanc, white sand street, old cottage with modern interior, really cute and cozy. We unloaded and started to work opening up the cottage. I worked in the garden to fix it up. Went grocery shopping and got flowers and planted them and weeded a lot and everything was good as new, very small garden. The cottage is a block from the beach, bakery and harbor, the village is a lot like Leland, with a fishery, restaurants, café and all. Beautiful beaches and weather. The houses share walls and the streets are not much bigger than our sidewalks. Nothing is straight everything kind of curves with the coast line so you are never quite sure where you are. And not many speak English so there is a lot of hand signals going on when I am alone. Haley has been a great translator. There is a sailing center similar to TACS, with all kinds of lessons. Lots of kids in Optis’s, also lessons in windsurfing, kayaking and the most amusing, water walking.
The shrimpers come into the harbor and you can buy shrimp right off the boats, fresh and delicious. The tides are 12 feet high. Amazing half the harbor is out of the water at low tide and half the boats sit cradled on the sand when the tide is out. It is really funny to see a sail boat with the keel in half way sunk in the sand and just beached waiting for the next tide.
We went up to Quimper and checked out the local pottery, cathedral, town square, shopping and had lunch in the park. Lots of shops, cobble stones, small streets that double as sidewalks, you think you are on a sidewalk until a car toots at you to get out of the middle of the street. It is similar to Nuevo Paseo in Santa Barbara but with cars.
We are all taking it easy recovering from the Paris adventure, beach walks, cafes, and crepes to die for. We went out to a crepery, what fun, all that is on the menu of course is crepes and you order one crepe at a time, similar to ordering susihi but crepes, until you are full, then you order sugary crepes for desert, loads of fun and delicious.
A real relaxing vacation. Spent the afternoon on a beautiful beach Gwenelle took us to, gaint granite rocks similar to the North Channel landscape, jetting out into the Atlantic with grainy white sand beach. The coast faces south so if you went straight out from the port you would run into Spain, just like Santa Barbaras coast. Weather has been just wonderful.
We pick up Kirk tonight at Brest and board the boat Sunday, Bon voyage!
JUNE 28
Now this was going to be another marathon day. We were up early, cresents and juice and headed to the Metro. The first stop was Musee d’ Orsay. A beautiful renovated train station, the line was long but we manage to buy a ticket from an outside vendor and leap frogged one line, he informed us on how the system worked. It was good. The girls got in free and we ended up with a 2 day pass good for all the museums in Paris almost. It was like a Minnie Louvre a little of everything but you could get through it in a reasonable amount of time. Favorite was Degas sculptured Ballerina, I read the book and that was great to see it. Haley liked Cornets self-portrait, Matisse I also liked a lot.
Gwenelle and Jennifer headed out for shopping. Haley and I went for the Pompidou, we were pretty proud of ourselves to negotiate the Metro and end up at the right station. Hard to miss the Pompidou when you came out of the Metro, bigger than life right in front of you.
We decided to go to the bead shop first then come back to the Pompidou after lunch. We found the bead shop with a little trouble and discovered everyone shut down for lunch, so we had lunch at a Crepery delicious, this had to have been our favorite restaurant so far. We headed for the Pompidou and found out it was closed, and I had a ticket to get in but alas no getting in today. We went back to the bead store and got a few beads. Found a purse that we could not pass up. Then we were sooo hot we stopped at a café that had a water spriters misting you with water it was great. We asked for a fruit drink and fruit, then we noticed it had a rainbow flag up.
Next stop was Sacer Cour, we did the Metro again and met up with Jennifer and Gwenelle. TTook the funicular to the top, thought it was to hot to walk, well once you were inside you thought you were inside a microwave oven, it was hot. Once at the top there was a breeze and we did cool down. The view of Paris was fantastic. We also toured Montmarte where there were many artists painting in the street. Haley spotted a Dali display and we went through that.
It started to rain a bit so we stopped off for dinner and a café under a big viney tree. Had great food again. The rain stopped so we headed down the hill to the Siene for our bike ride. We were going to make this day happen and fit everything in.
We got to the bikes and figured them out and we were off, lots of traffic but we rode down the Seine to the ET. It was still light and the lights were not on. The rain was starting up again so we stopped and locked the bikes up and found a café for desert. It started raining hard. Jennifer went out to the trinket store and got an umbrella, I had one. We ate desert and had coffee as the heavens opened and poured down. Just as we were leaving to see the ET, the rain stopped, we had another spectacular view of the ET all lite up. Photo op time.
A great success got on the Metro and got on the RER and got home before all the trains stopped. What a day. We all packed up and got ready for the trip to LesConil.
Paris June 27
Shop until you drop. This was the motto for the day. The girls and I took off down Pascal Street where Haley had spotted some great shopping the day before when we were at Luxemburg Gardens. In Europe the sales start at the end of June and go through August. These stores had 50% off , lots of good deals, but some stuff was marked up. Haley found a bathing suit and Gwenelle a skort and other accessories, sun glasses… We then headed for the Metro to get to the Galleria Lafayette, it was getting real hot so some a/c was in order. It was always a surprise after thinking you successfully negotiated the Metro to come out and have the store you were looking for actually appear at the top of the Metro stop you picked. We were lucky, A/C was in sight, it was above 90 degrees and we needed some cooling off. The Galleria de Lafayette had mostly designer stores, on sale but real pricey, Gwenelle found the LongCamp store and it had a line out the door to get in. She had her heart set on a purse so she stood in line. Haley and I looked around, prices were high so we bought a drink at the mezzanine that was a circular set up with many levels and a domed ceiling with stainglass windows everywhere. Even shopping you could not get away from history. We did some people watching, and then found Gwenelle who had no success at finding her purse so we headed home. We met up with Jennifer and had another wonderful dinner, we got this one down to 12 euros a plate, a little more reasonable than Sundays dinner.
For our last day in Paris we discussed what we all wanted to do. Haley wanted to do Scare Cour, Gwenelle wanted to find her purse, Jennifer wanted to bike and I wanted to go to the bead shop. We had not seen a museum yet so we also wanted to see the Musee d’orsay, so we had our work cut out for us.
Haley wanted to see the ET at night with all the twinkles on also. So we headed for the metro and did not check the time. We got on the Metro and figured out there was not enough time to get to the ET and back before the trains shut down. We went 20 minutes out, got off to see if we could see the ET, but no there was only big buildings, this would have to go on tomorrows list. We got back on the Metro and headed home.
We now were very fluent with the Metro and every time we peeked our heads out of the Metro wa la there was McDonalds, we were home. McDonalds was right across from the hotel, great land mark and also gave us internet, what more could you ask for.
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