A steady rain starts to fall so we cancel the town walk and stay in the boat and wait for the weather to clear up. We cook a nice lunch and prepare to leave and move o over to the next marina where we will stay two nights.

Leaving L’Herbaudiere marina

We expect hard wind but it had not reached us yet so we go over to Pornic and its marina. We enter in bright sun and we get a nice place on a hammerhead of one of the pontoons. Works swift now when everyone knows what to do – fenders, cables and lines come out in no time and it is just to glide into the pontoon and watch it happen. Nice. We sit in the boat talking, relaxing and enjoying the sun and forget the time so we nearly miss the closing time of the marina office.

Coming into Pornic

We continue to talk before we head into the town. Pornic is centered around its old drying harbor and is one of these pleasant cities that you like instantly. We find a nice restaurant and have a nice evening before we head back to the boat. Another nice day!

The Pornic Marina

Beach walk to town

Pornic harbour at HW

Harbour inlet to Pornic

Pornic

Pornic harbour at LW

This day will be an interesting day. The wind will build up to a gale during the weekend and we decide to do the major part of the distance today.

There is only one opening of the bridge at 8:30 and we manage to get fresh meat and bread before that and slip through just before closing time. The tide is shooting us out from Vannes through the Gulfe du Morbihan and the water gets wild in some places. A good security distance is good when the boats dance. It looks weird – sailing boats coming in high speed sideways on open water. Like running in a wide rapid.

Leaving Vannes

A bouy in the currents

We pass the entrance and set sail. The first planned stop is Ile Houat where we should stop for brunch and a swim. The weather does not look too inviting but as usual, everything sorts out. The sun comes out just as we drop the sails in the bay. We drop the anchor in about three meter depth and jump into the water. Tastes great with fresh meat Burgers after the swim looking out on the wide sand beach. To top it off – we open the last Isle of Wight Blue that I was recommended by Rocky at Quay Fifteen. It should be at its best just before it is out of date. It was a good decision; the cheese is extremely ripe and creamy.

The blue cheese just before it goes out of date

The bay at Ile Houat

As we go east, we go close to the sister island Ile de Hoedic and salute another Lagoon – this time the new 39. First time I see this successor to the 380 at sail.

Lagoon 39

The wind and the waves grow as we approach Ile de Noirmoutier. This is the first time in Biscay for the crew members and it seems they like sitting in the net enjoying the scene. We glide into the big L’Herbaudiere marina at High Water.

Jocke in the net

Tony at the helm

Ile de Hoedic

Tony, Micke and Jocke in the net

Jocke at sea

The crew bounces off, pay the harbour fee and buy more food for the week as I collect the sail and the lines. We celebrate this day with a glass of champagne in the boat before we head to a seafood restaurant in the harbour. Going back to the boat, we slip into a bar and look out on the marina. Here we start talking to a woman from Paris that is retired and lives here in the summer. She tells us a lot on the place and promise us to show the town the day after. Always interesting to meet local people that can give you more information.

Celebrating a good day

View from the marina

The Marina

Seafood again!

Today is sadly the day when my family should go back. We all feel that we have had a great and interesting time but as many nice things; there is an end to the fun. I take a walk through the town up to the train station where I reserved a rental car. It is a very nice woman sitting at the desk and after a discussion on the options; she gives me a free upgrade to a larger car. Good start of this day, as I should spend 10 hours behind the wheel.

Chateau de l’Hermine in the morning

As I come back – we pack the last stuff and clean the boat before we enter the car and set course to Paris. Nothing exciting to tell about this trip – a normal motorway trip topped with the toll stations. Here in France, the tolls are as expensive as the fuel when you travel.

Road tolls

It is sad to see the family go as it will take some weeks before I see them again. But it is nice to welcome the new Crew: Tony, Micke and Jocke. They had been touring Paris during the day and came out to the Airport just in time. After the 6 hour drive back, it is good to sit down and have a beer together.

Having a beer with the new crew

We take a slow morning and then we walk in the town – just discovering nice views in this beautiful town, eating some Moules. If you like narrow streets, old houses and slow pace – this is it.

Yet another nice bakery

Nice

Nice narrow streets of Vannes

In the afternoon, I took a nice moment on my own just enjoying the Chateau de l’Hermine at the ramparts. Sitting in the shade on a bench looking at the castle really gives a good feeling.

Chateau de l’Hermine

In the evening, we stroll the streets, sit down, and have crepes on a Square overlooking the Cathedral that is squeezed in between the houses on the narrow streets.

Nice square with good crepes

We decide to go to Vannes today and make a stop at Ile au Moines to take a swim. The weather is great and it is going to be a hot day. We wait out the tide to rise a bit but as the tide return, the current pushes us towards the buoys and the guard lines. We try to get loose by running the machines gently, and at one point we think that we got a line into the propeller. Better safe than sorry – I jump in the water with a line and swim out with the boat so we are clear of the boys before Jessica engages the propellers. Not too stylish but it worked out. Best of all, we could have a nice trip back on the lazy Auray river instead of explaining for the harbour master why I needed to cut his ropes.

Going down the river

Nice morning

At the end of the river, we pass the entrance again and the currents are very strong. There are even some eddies that make the boats dance and make the passage interesting. We go up the Gulfe du Morbihan towards Ile au Moines and we reach the bay where we intend to anchor up to wait out the tide to Vannes.

Coming to the entrance – sailing here is an interesting experience

Eddies

Another current strait – note the calm waters just behind this spot

We throw out a safety line just in case since the current runs strong. The water is warm so we get a nice swim to cool down. The island really looks nice and it would be nice to go ashore and explore but that would mean that we could not get into Vannes until next evening.

At anchor – time for a swim

We postpone the walk to next time and continue the short leg to Vannes where we come just in time for the first opening. There is a long line of yachts and as we have read that it is crowded harbour, we hope to get a good spot. As the harbour master shows up – we get a very good spot alongside just at the beginning of the old town. Perfect spot.

Meeting yachts before Vannes

Crowded inlet to Vannes

We hear bagpipes in the town and get curious. There is obviously something going on and later we understand that it is the last day of a three-day harvest feast. The streets are closed and there are many market booths everywhere. First some food and we go to the recommended creperie – Dan Ewen. It turns out to be a good recommendation – the crepes were great with a variety of different specialties. We manage to eat three rounds and they all tasted great.

Street of Vannes

Street of Vannes

Street of Vannes

Nice 2CV – the french cult car

Feeling stuffed, we take a walk on the town and we see that people are waiting for something. It turns out to be a parade where each town and village has its own part of the parade. The bagpipes sound mighty in the narrow streets. The Celtic heritage is very clear. After the parade, there is a firework over the city.

The harvest parade

The harvest parade

The harvest parade

The harvest parade

I get up early to do some laundry. As I walk on the pontoons in the beautiful weather – I get a rush of gratefulness of being born in a peaceful time where people can just get along and you are able to travel like this. Throughout the history, it has been difficult to explore, meet new people and exchange experiences and ideas. I feel sad that so many people want to drag the world back in that ignorant direction where “our way” is the correct way and that every other way is wrong and should be (at best) corrected or ignored and at worst overturned by violence. This fear track does not make the world a better place to live but is sold by so many people. I will never be one of them. In this mood, I put on my morning coffee and write yesterday’s blog post that incorporates a number of pre-written ones that I have not been able to post due to lack of “wiffeee”.

We fill up the fridge, as it is uncertain if we will go into harbours the next days or just stay at anchor. Today we will go to the Gulfe du Morbihan, which was actually the original plan. This gulf should be like an archipelago and from the pictures it looks nice and people have been talking about it ever since I start asking about it. It is like a lot of other things in life. I have lived a whole life thinking (“knowing”) that the French coast was a stretch of sandy beaches and rocky cliffs with some rocky islands outside Brest. When you learn more you get curious, find out new facts, and start hearing (and understanding) more and more. The more you get to know, the more you get interested and the more you learn. The spiral works perfectly because you want to experience and learn so much more. I think that the moral here is that it is it is nice, comfortable and easy to stay unaware and live in a comfortable world where you have all the “facts” – especially if you get them confirmed by the outer world (like news or large-scale maps). The more you learn you see a detailed coast line, interesting people and places, interesting history and development and the life experience grows so much larger and complex. This goes with everything in life and travel is not an exception. Gulfe du Morbihan is such a place. At best, it is a lake on the French map to me before. Understanding that we have limited time to explore, we decide to pick three main spots. The city Auray and its oyster river, Ile au Moines with its views and Vannes, the capital of Morbihan.

We do as recommended by the pilot book and enter the entrance just before high tide. Even so, the currents are considerable. I can imagine how it should be half tide when the lake should move through this tiny inlet with its islands and underground rocks. After this section of currents, the slow trip up the river is pleasant.

Going through the entrance to the Gulf

Meeting boats on River Auray

Auray river

Auray river

Before Auray, there is a bridge that is too low for us so we ask another sailor if there are visitor boys and he points us to a unmarked buoy. Settled down, we take the dinghy to the city and tie it up at a pontoon.

The bridge to Auray

The east river bed is actually the original town of Saint-Goustan and Auray is on the other side. Saint-Goustan/Auray was a pleasant surprise – nice houses and nice relaxed atmosphere. We walk through the cobbled streets, sit down for some crepes and climb the hills of the town.

Saint-Goustan harbour

Auray

Auray

Saint-Goustan church

We then head out to Melody to relax. I take the dinghy down to the neighbour village of Bono to have a look. Nice village but nothing compared to Auray. I head back and we have a dinner on the boat. The moon comes out aft of us and it feels like another good day.

Taking the dinghy down to see the neighbour village Bono

Bono

Bono

Moon

View of the city in the evening

After the morning ritual to a nice bakery, Alexander and I take a walk up to the Citadel. As usual, these fortresses offer a good view of the town. It had a small museum before you step out into the open air. It offers some nice view and has a lot of history. During the 7 years war with Britain, it was taken and left back as a part of the peace treaty. Now it is privately owned and hosts a museum, hotel and a restaurant that looked really nice.

The nice bakery in the harbour

Entrance to the Citadel

A model in the museum

Map of the Citadel

View of the harbour and town

View to the north from the Citadel

The ”Governors” restaurant in the CItadel

We leave Belle Ile to go to Ile Houat where we plan to take a swim by some of the beaches. The wind should get stronger so we decide to not anchor up during the night and head for a calm night in a marina. We head for Port Haliguen that sits at the top of the Quiberon peninsula. As we enter the marina – there is no harbour master so I think it is one of these more “do-it-yourself-marinas” and ask to berth outside another yacht. The HM comes with an angry look and a fast series of French words that I interpret as critics. I say sorry and go to the place where she wants us to stay.

Ile Houat

Ile Houat

The rest of the day is lazy. We go for a swim on a beach nearby, have a dinner in the boat and make the twenty minute walk down to Quiberon in the evening.

Quiberon shows up to be a busy summer town with a lot of restaurants and bars by the beach promenade. We walk around and look at all the people and sit down for a drink just enjoying this nice evening.

Our beach at Port Hauliguen

Quiberon beach walk

Quiberon beach walk

Moon over Quiberon Bay

Time to start yet another day with the ritual visit to the bakery. I find a nice one up in the small town and try some new variants of bread. The combination of morning walk and getting fresh bread is a good combination.

Morning view of the Citadel

Walk to the bakery

My morning temple

We have been talking about the submarine base and its museum so we go over the river and find a berth in the La Base marina that is obviously more oriented to racers and have no visitor’s pontoon. The harbour master however let us stay for the visit to the museum but we are told that they could let us in first in the evening because it was full. Looking up at the huge bunker complex and some scattered visitors – we wonder how full it can be. But no idea to argue so we leave and go to Belle Ile.

Some really nice boats in the La Base marina

Leaving La Base

As we met with Alain and Cecile in Roscoff, Alain pointed out that we should avoid the main town Le Palais and head for the smaller Sauzon instead. As we come to Sauzon – it felt picturesque but a bit too small so we continued on to Le Palais. Alain was right. This is a small harbor with a lot of traffic both from fishermen as well as tour boats. We find the harbour master and after a brief hesitation, he shows us a nice spot right in the middle of the town in front of a tour boat.

Sauzon, Belle Ile

Entering Le Palais harbour

Found a spot in the inlet to the inner harbour

The harbour promenade in Le Palais

This should be the first time that I tie directly to a pier in tidal water. I have seen enough pictures of boats hanging in the air to get a bit curious of how to tie up. I go for the theoretical model with long lines adjusted to lowest possible low water. As the harbour master comes by I consult him about my theory and he tells me that I will be just fine. I still was curious so I stayed until LW just to check and it worked nicely and I added an extra line so that the current should not bring us out in the passage when the high water comes in.

Waiting for the LW to see if the plan works out.

Low water

Jessica and Alexander decide to go on their own to a seafood restaurant that we got recommended so we go to the second recommendation “Le Verre á Pied”. It turned out to be full and they did not have a waiting list so we sat down at the bar before we got a table outside. He recommended the Pouces-Pieds (Gooseneck Barnacles) for starter. I never heard of it so I decided to give it a try. This was really nice suggestion – the small tentacles was awesome and perfect as a starter. Sadly, the waiter told us that they only live on Belle Ile so they are probably hard to find elsewhere. But I will try!

Pouces-Pieds

Night in the harbour

Night view from Melody

Today, we plan to leave the beautiful Glènan islands and head for Belle Ile or Ile Croix. But first, we need to make a stop at the Belon river and have some seafood in Chez Jackys. They should be something out of the ordinary. We leave the archipelago through the south entrance and go towards Belon. As we approach, we get with the common sight of kids learning to sail. Wonderful to see the joy and the determined spirits. Chez Jackys are located a mile up the river and we steam and try to find a buoy to tie up to. The ones outside the restaurant are too close to each other so we tie up down the river and take the dinghy ashore.

Another sailing school. Brings back fun memories

Going up the Belon River with oyster beds all around

Chez Jackys

Melody tied up at the large Visitor buoy

Chez Jacky is all about seafood. They have a shop where you can get the seafood and the pools for oysters are next to the restaurant and the shop. The restaurant in itself is a pleasant surprise with nice interior and good view out on the river Belon. We share a seafood platter and what we get is a huge collection of seafood framed by Belon oysters. Just to dig into the juicy things. I feel bad for Birgitta who as a vegetarian has to settle for a salad.

Seafood platter that deserves its name

One of the oyster pools overlooking the river.

Feeling stuffed, we release ourselves from the buoy and go back. The lunch took far longer than expected so we decide to stay the night in Lorient or Port Louis instead. As we read more, we decide to stop in Port Louis that seemed like a nicer town.

Lorient was originally founded for the French East India Company which explains its name – “L’ Orient” (The Orient). During the WW2, this was the headquarters for the German submarine fleet so this city was also heavily bombed but stayed occupied until the end of the war. The bunker complexes still stands at the entrance to the harbour. We enter the modern Kernével Marina next to the submarine base for a service stop. At the entrance, we see the futuristic “Race for Water”, the largest solar-powered vessel ever built. When we stop, we also meet the international crew from Kapitan Borchard again. We have a chat before their guests return to the ship and we over to the much more basic Port Louis.

Leaving the Belon River

Windsurfer making good speed outside Lorient

The submarine base

Race for water

Meeting old friends

Port Louis is dominated by the large Citadel and the small town looks nice sitting in the afternoon sun. The harbour captain directs us to a place in the fishing harbour and settle down for the evening with a dinner on the boat and the evening sun shining in.

The sun sets again

Nice setting for a fisherman harbour

In the morning – I make my normal ritual – go and look for fresh bread. I found a nice bakery and they had a dark bread called Viking that looked nice and tasted even better. I also went to do some shopping and found a Carrefour outside the city and my arms were very long after carrying the stuff home along with a new gas flask. Sweden and central Europe has different systems for gas so I also need to get new bottles, which adds to the load. We bought one in Holland and it is still burning but it is just a matter of time until there will be no hot coffee. Important stuff.

Ile Tudy in the morning light

Morning promenade through Loctudy

The destination of today is the tiny islands in the Benodet bay – Les Iles Glénan. As we approach the white beaches, we understand why people has been so excited about telling us to go there. It is a truly beautiful place with crystal clear water and white sand beaches. I am born at lake Vättern where the water is very clear and I like to be able to see what is underneath the boat. We anchor up and go for a swim. A lot of activity is going on among the islands – kite surfers, dinghy sailers, tour boats and many yachts. I take the dinghy up to Ile de Saint-Nicolas and take a look and the row of houses that hosts a couple of bars, a sailing school and a diving center.

Crystal Clear Water!

Taking the dinghy ashore

Jessica at the beach

Sofie at the beach

Melody in the distance at Ile Cigogne

Lifting the anchor

Ile du Loc’h

The tour boats come loaded

A lot of sailing activities going on

I need to mount a new anode again. Even though the design of the anode is clearly made so they fall off easily, they should last more than four weeks even in this salty water. The mount is easy is the clear water where I can go down with a mask and mount the one that is missing and tighten the other that is on its way. We spend the evening in the boat just enjoying sitting in the outpost to Bay of Biscay and watch as the sun sets.

Melody at anchor

Sunset