Category Archives: Activities

Things we have done during our travels.

Welcome to Isle de Porquerrolles, Cote d’Azur, France

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Yesterday, Eric went to check in as soon as the marina opened. The lady asked us if we intended to leave Le Lavandou at all. Yes, we told her, we wanted to go to Paris for a few days, possibly as long as a week. She told us we would have to go to the marina on the other side of town. Apparently, the waves can be violent and crash over the sea walls and cause damage to the boats near the wall. She had no “safe” parking spot for us, so we either had to stay with the boat in case we needed to move her or we needed to move marinas.

We had noticed yesterday that Continue reading →

Welcome to Le Lavandou, Cote d’Azur, France

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This morning we woke to winds screaming at 22 26 knots an hour. The marina was lumpy. The ocean was full of whitecaps. We attached a second mooring line to the bow, even though it didn’t really fit right, figuring something holding us to a second concrete block under the water was better than nothing. We guess we aren’t moving Kosmos today, after all.

We decided to go for the four hour hike along the coast that was supposed to be absolutely beautiful. But after Continue reading →

Welcome to St. Tropez, Cote d’Azur, France

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As soon as we got up, we started working on getting ready to go to sea. We were only making a short day hop, so getting ready went fairly quickly. When we checked out with the marina, we found out there was a 20% VAT (sales tax) on top of what we had been quoted. We wish they had mentioned the VAT before the moment we pulled out our wallet to pay.

We pulled out at 1100. We are sad to report that the fenders were all covered with a thick black slime that managed to get all over the entire exterior of the boat. It is pretty gross.

The ride over to San Tropez was Continue reading →

Hiking the Alps and Visiting a Medieval Village

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Continued from yesterday”¦ As we trudged up, we passed through a clearing with two small buildings surrounded by a grassy field. They were well maintained and looked like they were actively used as vacation houses. Christi was amazed that anyone would want to be in such a remote place, with such a long hike down to the closest village. And there wasn’t much of a village there, for that matter. To get to the nearest grocery store was a fairly long drive. Antonio explained that in the olden times, these were summer houses. One building was for the people, the other(s) for the cows and goats. Farmers would bring their livestock up for the summer to graze in the cleared fields. The farmers made cheese and other goods, then would go to their winter homes lower down on the mountain.

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We continued upwards through the forest, and passing through two or three more of these cleared areas. Each clearing had two or three small buildings in the traditional style with a circle of grassy fields around them. They were all abandoned, which Christi thought was no surprise. They were too high up and too isolated to be practical. We stopped for lunch in a shady spot in the forest.

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After lunch, we continued up and came to Continue reading →

Exploring Monaco

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Monaco has the biggest per capita police force in the entire world. There are closed circuit cameras everywhere. The entire city is closely monitored. This made Christi worried as we got dressed. With so many closed circuit cameras, there was absolutely no way to hide from the fashion police, a division that must surely exist here. We were both wearing pants purchased before we set off on our journey and they were way out of style now. Our shoes are practical camping kind of shoes, always totally out of fashion. Going out was risky. We could very well be arrested and deported for our clothing. But we’re risk takers.

We were delighted to see that one of the restaurants on the boardwalk served breakfast. Praise the Lord! We love going out to breakfast, and we hadn’t expected to see breakfast here. When we got our meal, we were sad to see that breakfast consisted of one soft boiled egg, toast, and a 16 ounce cup of tea, all for only $11.00 USD. So, yes, in this case, Monaco has lived up to its reputation for ridiculously expensive restaurants. And tax in restaurants here is 20%, which can add up fast.

After breakfast, we headed over to the historic district to do some sightseeing.
We couldn’t believe how nice the weather was. It was bright and sunny with no clouds in the sky. It was warm, but not hot. Talk about a nice change of pace from cold, rainy and gloomy Rome. We walked southeast down the boardwalk towards the mouth of the bay. At the end of the boardwalk, there is a set of stairs that takes you into what looks to be an old fortress. The round area on the right is now used as a theater.

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The fortress is built on a sheer cliff, and these days is Continue reading →