Final French frontier

We liked La Grande Motte so much we opt to revisit the place on the way back down the coast.  We even break out the cruising chute… lovely to be sailing again.  At La Grand Motte Marina we discover they are hosting a catamaran show so even less room than before and we have to experience our first pole mooring situation.  It’s blowing 30+ knots but we manage to nose in between the two posts and touch down on the quay without too many hassles.  High five!

The weather is really unsettled so we make another long jump to Cap d’Adge and enjoy a nice gentle sail and even offer a tiny bird a lift for part of the way.  Flocks of them appear to be making their way from Africa to France and this one seemed to be looking for the inflight snacks. 
Cap d’Adge is huge but an OK stop and the attached town is very touristy which means plenty of bargains to be had. 
We hear via email that Poros and Hydra harbours in Greece are up for auction.  23 marinas/harbour in total are being packaged together in groups of three and sold off to the highest bidder.  A sad state of affairs and really sad for the Greek people as foreign ownership will mean they won’t see a penny from them in the future and probably never get ownership back.

 

 

This part of the coast and Gulf de Lion doesn’t have much going for it as far as we can tell and certainly very few anchorages.  Gruissan stands out as a good stop, although if you are staying don’t get stuck on the accuiel pontoon in a easterly as we took a bit of a pounding one night!  Really enjoyed town though especially the old part and the surrounding walks were lovely however we are wondering when we are going to get to wear our summer clothes!

As we continue on down the coast it is like sailing in Kaikoura with snow on the hills (yes, brurrrrr) and tree covered slopes running down into green seas.  Very picturesque but no good for cheap living as there really are only marinas to stop in.  St Cyprien sur Plage holds us captive for a week as we notice weekly rates are cheaper and again the weather just doesn’t want to play ball.  We take the opportunity to tinker with various things on the boat and set up our new BBQ, as well as taking some long walks.
Bramble get to be a bag lady for a day on a bus trip to Perpignan or as we renamed it Poop-in-nan (some amount of dog merde on the streets I tell you!!)  An interesting town with an Otago rugby shop in the main centre??!  Shame it had shut for lunch or we might have had to stock up with memorabilia… 

 

We finally start to chill out again after the stress of the “winter” trip on the Rhone and refit etc and low and behold the sun comes out… on to more exciting places…

We are now at the start of the Cote de Vermillion and luckily the weather is kind as we rock up into Collioure Bay and anchor.  Only boat in the bay and it’s a magical place.  We spend a good day and a half exploring town and the hills around, then BBQ gets christened (and the big thumbs up) while we down a few local beers to celebrate our first night an anchor for some time.  The town is very friendly and as a swell rolls in the next day the tourist office permits us to move into the small deserted harbour… just fantastic to be moored up right under the Templers castle.  It seems a shame to move on but we don’t want to outstay our welcome and Spain beckons.