Along the French Riviera & Côte d’Azur – Part Two

Thursday, 18th August

New day, new problems adventures!

The portside toilet outlet was blocked! FANTASTICO!! 💩

So poor Patrik had to jump into the water and with a coil and my help the disaster was one hour later history. 

Off we went towards Golfe de St. Tropez. As suspected the famous marina was fully booked. Unfortunately, also Port Grimaud – which would have been our favourite choice. In the end we settled for the Marine de Cogolin and booked a berth two nights!

And what a lovely marina that is: Exceptionally friendly and helpful staff, there is a water taxi doing its laps permanently in the marina and the ferry terminal into St. Tropez is just around the corner. We were very happy we ended up in this marina 😊

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First we had to buy a new gas bottle (well two actually!) and bread. It was a long walk in the end to a “nearby” (depends if you have a car or not) shopping mall. At least we found what we were looking for and returned happily to our boat and enjoyed a well-deserved dinner!

The next day Patrik was finally able to give Luna Azzurra a proper wash, while Pascale and I went back to the mall to do some serious grocery shopping! Unfortunately, we almost forgot that we didn’t have a vehicle with us (except our old trolley). And it was HOT! So it took us a while to get back to the boat…. Patrik was already enjoying a beer when we arrived and after everything was stored, we made plans for the evening: Visiting the glamorous St. Tropez, including a nice dinner.

Well, around 6 p.m. we were ready, took the crowded ferry – which stopped at Port Grimaud to let passenger on and off – shortly after stepped on land the bustling city. 

St. Tropez itself is beautiful but the people there, who must see and – more importantly – be seen, was a bit too much for me personally! Too extravagant, too exaggerated, too snobby, too everything… 

However, after strolling around we started to search for a restaurant which wasn’t fully booked (that was a bit of a challenge). At last, we found a nice one, which was also willing to cook a vegan meal for me. Pascale and Patrik ordered from the à la carte menu. 

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It turned out that Pascale’s boss had insisted to pay for our meal in St. Tropez (which was tasty by the way)! Merci beaucoup, encore une fois, Monsieur! 🥰

Afterwards we took the ferry back to the Marine de Cogolin and arrived at “home” around midnight. Bonne nuit, mes amis 😴

Saturday, 20th August arrived and we said good-bye to the bustling lifestyle! The traffic was crazy inside the Golfe de St. Tropez, superyachts and all kind of other motorboats criss-crossed each other, rushing somewhere, without any sense of respect or how close they overtook! Absolutely MAD!

Our next stop was the tranquil Île de Porquerolles, a beautiful island and nature reserve. Patrik and I were briefly there after we purchased Luna Azzurra and sailed her from Barcelona to Loano in 2018. And we promised to come back one day! Ta-daaaaa, here we were! 😛

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The journey took longer than expected. At least it was a beautiful day, hot and sunny 🌞 Around 7 p.m. we were finally safely anchored, after three attempts, just outside (N-W) the marina. It seemed many other had the same idea, it wasn’t easy to find a suitable spot. However, here we were – CHEERS 🥂

 

 

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