August 9th-13th

                                  Provence
 


We anchored by an island south of Marseille called Iles du Frioul in the cove 
called Port de Banc.  August is the busiest month in Europe because everyone 
goes on holiday and a hot sunny weekend in August, goes over the top!!! Since 
it was still extremely hot, we decided that an anchorage would be cooler!!  We 
spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and relaxing surrounded by sun-washed 
granite hills that looked almost like snow-covered hills at dusk and in the 
early morning light.  I guess it must have been wishful thinking!!!  A young 
boy swam over to us and asked about our adventures.  After Rudy answered his 
questions, he told us they traveled all of 5 miles from Marseille.


                                 Languedoc-Roussillon 

At 6:30 a.m. on August 10th, we were on our way to La Grand Motte.  We could 
see a cluster of Disney-like buildings from some distance off.  The apartments 
are designed so that every room has waterfront view.  Therefore, some of the 
buildings have structures coming out the middle of the buildings, others have 
the sides indented to give a better view and most of them were in the shape of 
pyramids or other strange geometric figure. It seemed that almost every room 
had awnings in different colors to add to the unusual and unique pyramidal feel 
of the place.  Rudy spent many weekends here when he had a project with France 
thru IBM. I even had a chance to stay at the hotel in that same marina on one 
his business trips.  We walked along the waterfront and Rudy witnessed how the 
place had changed.  We stopped for ice cream at Banana Bob's and the gentleman 
selling it was from Santa Cruz, California. What would you expect with a name 
like that in France? He packed up his wife and two small children (5&7) and has 
been in this little town for fourteen months.  They want to stay for about 4-5 
years and then go back to the states.  Bob left Silicone Valley for a quieter 
life.  We exchanged backgrounds as we ate our ice cream and again noted how the 
world gets smaller and smaller!!!

The next two days we traveled to Cap d'Agde and Leucate.  The French 
government has engaged in huge projects along the coast from La Grand Motte to 
Port Vendres.  They incorporate huge marinas, huge apartment/condo complexes 
with their own berths in front of them, many interesting shops, many 
restaurants, amusement parks of all sorts, and last but not least (ha, ha) the 
beaches for the Naturistes (nudist), trying to get people into this area.  They 
seem to have accomplished this feat very successfully!! There were plenty of 
people enjoying the water!

We left La Grand Motte at 6:30 a.m. and we noticed the water was very shallow 
(30-50 feet) and the land was very flat as we traveled.  We were at the very 
top of the Gulf de Lion! (and it can roar like a lion!!) The area is notorious 
for heavy weather which comes up very quickly, but we were blessed with flat 
seas. The tall and modern buildings along the coast seemed like they were 
trying to reach the steep mountains behind them with houses sprinkled amongst 
the trees on the hillside.  Many areas have huge cranes that look like giant 
arms over the tops of buildings being worked on.  We got to Cap d'Agde before 
noon where another young French man asked us about our adventures.  Apparently, 
there aren't many Americans that pass through and we are a curiosity!!!  Well, 
what's new!!!  We had no trouble getting a berth since they have 2480 berths.  
With all the boats, it was another busy marina, but spread out to give everyone 
plenty of room.  We had finger piers on each side of Boundless. What a treat!  
We took a 40 minutes boat taxi to see the complex.  It had a miniature golf 
course, water bumper cars, a huge water park, sling shot ride and an amusement 
park with many different kinds of rides.  We had some oysters and a grilled 
fish dinner before and walking around the complex to people watch!!!

On August 13th, we went into a small village called Collioure.  It was a very 
picturesque town with castles and windmills….everything a romantic novel would 
include!!!!  We visited the town and went into the hotel Les Templiers where 
now famous painters who were struggling at the time, would give their paintings 
in payment for room and board.  I recognized a few of the paintings and some 
first drafts of others.  Some of the painters were Matisse, Van Gogh, Dufy, 
Braque to name a few!!!!  The next day we motored passed Port Vendres to take a 
peek and then headed for Spain.  We had a great last night in France and 
enjoyed the friendliness and hospitality of the French as well as their 
fantastic food and wine!!!!

Au revoir