Our guitar has survived the trip from Fareham and at Le Crouesty, so we hosted an impromptu sing-song on board Flinesse on Sunday night and most of our guests were French.

 

On Monday, our flotilla of 9 British yachts was led through the Morbihan by our French hosts and after a couple of hours, we arrived at Vannes marina, which is right in the middle of town.

That evening, we attended the first of 3 formal meals and because of our efforts at Le Crouesty, we were asked to join the French accordion players to provide musical entertainment after the meal.

On Tuesday, after an official reception at Vannes Town Hall, individual crews were hosted by French families. We spent the afternoon strolling around an excellent and very interesting nature reserve in an area of salt marshes, as well as visiting a restored castle which obviously had provided inspiration for the castle at Disney World. Francois and Laurence were brilliant hosts and we enjoyed an excellent meal at their house followed by even more Irish songs and accordion tunes.

On Wednesday morning we wandered around the market at Vannes, followed by a boules competition and then another formal meal, where Nicola and Terry provided all the entertainment including leading the audience in a rousing rendition of Frere Jacques, sung in the round and in French!

On Thursday several boats made the trip the Isle Aux Moines for a picnic featuring savoury and sweet crepes, both local specialities. In the evening the Rally concluded with yet another dinner followed by lots of speeches and the exchange of gifts.

Most of the fleet left Vannes on Friday morning and we bid farewell to John Fago who was returning to Fareham by train and ferry. We enjoyed having him on board, for he was easy company, fitted in very well and always insisted in doing the washing-up.

 

The pace of the Rally had been pretty much full-on all the time, we were short of sleep, we had lots of dirty laundry and we hadn’t had a chance to explore Vannes. So we have decided to stay on in Vannes for another couple of nights.