The French Riviera as seen from Beowulf

Beowulf
Tom Fenton and Faith Ressmeyer
Sat 13 Sep 2014 19:45
43 10.357N 005 36.409E

We're happily at rest in the Old Harbour, surrounded by the Old Town of La Ciotat, a 17th Century centre of shipbuilding for this coast and now a unionised harbour / marina and super yacht base. Interesting combination. Tomorrow the historical maritime museum is open and the Sunday market will, according to our boat neighbour, be spread out at our pulpit (or bow). The bells in the belfry of the Old Church are already peeling.

We arrived late in the day )so photos tomorrow) after a mix of no wind, good wind and contrary wind. But all under a sunny dome, if not nearly as hot as the last few weeks, as we travel north. And it's a beautiful coast, being enjoyed by more boats than we've seen yet. There are plenty of off-lying islands and rocks, captivating visually rather than dangerous, and a coastline mix of wooded hills, towns, scattered chateaux in the hills and a high flat plateau of mountain behind. It's hard not to feel that there is a lot of big land behind all that, not just the hinterland of the islands we've been used to since we left the Spanish mainland 15 months ago.

It looks as if La Ciota is a place that should not be rushed so we're building in a rest day tomorrow.

Tom cooked tonight so I got to write the blog. Yum and Yay.