May 2009 Photos

The quaint little town of Sant Feliu was our first stop after leaving Barcelona (we had spent 7 months in a berth). It feels good to be on the move again.	We made another little hop to L'Estartit a couple of days later. This was our jump-off point to do an overnight crossing of the Gulf of Lion to France. We waited here 6 days for the right weather window to go.
	We are going to miss Spain. We love the plazas and all the festivals. Plus, I was getting pretty good at speaking Spanish.
We arrived in France on May 7, 2009.	We arrived late and the office was closed, so we just took this spot like we knew what we were doing. It was a holiday weekend and the office didn't open for 2 days!
	A very lovely little seaside town.
We rented a car for several days and drove inland to visit the medieval walled city of Avignon.	In the 1300s, the Vatican moved the headquarters of the Catholic Church to Avignon for nearly a century.
This is the pont d'Avignon of nursery rhyme fame built between 1171 and 1185. Only 4 of 22 arches remain.	Another night was spent at a hotel within the hilltop castle town of Les Baux.
	It was raining the day that we explored the ruins of this 11th century citadel in Les Baux.
We spent a night at a friendly bed and breakfast nestled in the trees near the tiny town of Tourves.	I loved listening to the sound of the river which ran behind the hotel.
As you might imagine, we saw many vineyards as we drove through the countryside of France.	We enjoyed pulling into wineries for a little sampling along the way. We took a side road 5 km for this one, only to find it closed. But it was a nice drive through the extensive vineyard.
Mike in his glory with beer and anchovy pizza.	After our road trip, we set sail for the islands of Porquerolles. This was our first anchorage since last summer. It was wonderful to be out of a marina.
We hiked the island with our friend Tom (another American-flagged boat, s/v Chérie).	We stripped and varnished all of the exterior teak handrails and fiddles. I'm really getting the hang of it.
In St. Tropez, we met up with our friends Patrick and Christine (we met in Barcelona last year). It was great to see them again. Their Nordhaven yacht is so spacious!	St. Tropez is a great place for people-watching.
	We stayed in the marina in Cannes for a few days. It was surprisingly affordable. We missed the Cannes Film Festival by a week. Patrick & Christine said it was a zoo.
We anchored at this island for a couple of nights. This is the fort where the 'Man in the Iron Mask' was imprisoned. It was so beautiful at night all lit up like this.	And here we are now! In Villefranche, awaiting the arrival of our kids and grandkids from mid-June through mid-July.
Read my "Letter Home" for this update.