After sailing past the Citadel which overlooks Port Louis and berthing the boats we were pleasantly surprised to find an evening market on in town, and what a market, with stalls selling everything you could imagine, music outside restaurants and a great atmosphere all in the evening sun.
The next day, after a quick tidy around Lily headed up the river to L’Orient for the arrival of Suzanne.
On the journey up the river you pass by the old Nazi U boat base, the submarine pens a stark reminder of times past.
The marina at L’Orient appears to be the perfect place for a crew change, with good facilities ( even a sauna in the shower room) and easy access to the railway station.
Suzanne finally arrived at midnight, after a long time travelling she hit the bar on the train, not realising her train was slightly delayed she got off at Auray, only to think it odd that I was not there to meet her, so she asked somebody in the car park where she was and when she realised her mistake ran back, luckily the train was still there, it was the last train of the day.
Next day we went to the Halles to get some supplies, with the usual good quality fish,Chas’s favourite chickens with heads on and maigret ( more about that later), large choice of cheese and much more.
Then a quick motor back down the river, during which we watched the French forces training.
with all boats back together we were ready for our next sail to Le Palais.
12 July
With the weather forecasts all different, and not a lot of wind forecast, at 0830hrs we set of for Le Palais on Belle Iles. Sails set we had a great 4 miles of sailing before the wind died, knowing that there was no rush because we would have to wait for the lock to open, we waited for a bit of wind. The wait was worth it, after 15 mins the wind picked up turned SW, soon after Shades of Blue hoisted her cruising chute and was flying along, followed by Lily, the thought of having to wait outside for the lock to open didn’t seem so bad. we all had arrived around 1230 hrs, picked up mooring bouys, and waited an hour for the nod to move into the harbour. When we entered the lock we asked the harbour master if we could be fairly close together, he then rafted us all on to each other virtually blocking the lock.
After two nights we decided to stay an extra one for Fete National ( Bastille day )
Cruising to Brittany 