Still in Port Napoleon

Well, progress on the rigging is going slowly - its proved cheaper to have the Beneteau agents in the UK build the rig and then ship it out here rather than get a local rigger - it was supposed to be quicker as well….  After confirming they had all the parts in stock the riggers at the last moment said they were missing a part - the somewhat crucial bits that join the bottom of the wire rigging to the boat hull and now we’ve got to source that bit from Beneteau’s main riggers in France - frustrating but at least the weather has been good and we are able to get out and about and the rest of the rigging is now on its way to us.

So we’ve had trips to Grand Mot, Beaux en Provence and back to Arles as well as Les Saintes Maries de la Mer for the horse riding.

This plaque and doors below brought home the horrors of the Nazis

Carole loved the riding - on a white Camargue horse through the marshes and galloping along the beaches.  She initially went with a couple of other paying riders but the rest of the stable hands joined them and they ended up riding out for nearly 5 hours - 60€, very, very cheap compared to the UK.  Good, responsive horses that looked liked they’d had a good time after the ride too.

The stables round here are very basic compared to home

The drive out to Grand Mot meant that we could meet up with some friends and have a seafood lunch overlooking the harbour.

We went to Beaux en Provence after dropping Megan off at the airport so she could fly back to Aus to see her new grand-daughter.  Hubbie Steve came with us, he’s stopping here as they are in the middle of selling their boat.  The art exhibition is based inside a limestone mine and they project the paintings onto the walls and create images detailing various parts of the art works - the current artist is Marc Chagall.  Amazing images - he’s described as a colourist and you can see why.  The mine also showed a homage to Lewis Carole.  All very atmospheric and with a thumping good sound track too!  Not to be missed if you get to the Provence area.

Beaux en Provence

Chagall sound and light exhibition the tunnels - fabulous

Full surround senses

We took the car back on Friday, had another day wandering around Arles - great  place, famous for its links with Van Gogh. We went to the Van Gogh Foundation but were a little disappointed to find they only had one of his paintings - suspect they couldn’t afford any more, but the rest of the centre was filled with works by a modern artist - Urs Fischer, that was well worth seeing.

Urs fisher exhibition - intriguing 

All made of bronze, but looked like clay!

Rooftop reflections

Its all got quite busy on our pontoon - for a while we were the only ones living there, but in the last few days a lot of boats have come and gone - most to be lifted out for the winter or to have their masts taken down so they can go up the canals back to Northern Europe.  I always thought the French were fantastic sailors but having seen quiet a few try and park their boats I’m not sure now!  Still keeps us amused.  The English speaking group of sailors keeps changing and we’ve had quite a few good nights out meeting them.  The bar and restaurant at the harbour is pretty good.

low-flying planes have been spraying for mosquitoes

Black rice - locally grown (very good)