Mid June 2016 – Lezardrieux and Perros Guirec

16th June – Thursday – To Lezardrieux (pronunciation still up for debate)

A long hard slog to Lezardrieux from Guernsey.  We set off at 05:30 and arrived at 17:00 BST.  There was a 2 metre swell with the wind on the nose.  The wind was also very cold, though it did brighten later.  We were relieved to arrived in Lezardrieux, which is a Class A (all states of the tide harbour), excellent for the weary sailor.  We moored on the hammer head, and as the days passed we realised it was a good and bad decision.  Good, because the other pontoons were very short and many people struggled on arrival.  Bad because we were asked to make a space on the hammerhead to allow other expected visitors.  They did not arrive, but all the large boats wanted to try their arm at using the space which was proved to be only large enough for a 10m boat.  Mick had to use his scariest stare to ward off a 15m chancer.

Lezardrieux harbour is on a river and as such has the most charming approach.  Our berth had a beautiful riverside view.

We collected a substantial amount of weed around the rudders on our way here.

17th June - Friday

A small but perfectly formed market appeared in the High Street today, framed by a charming church.

18th June – Saturday

Mick serviced the engine.  Ironically, one boat turned up crewed by an American who was born in Bolton.  And we had drinks on Albatros with Richard, born in Burnley, and Marianne who are both now from Northern Ireland.  We had a jolly few days guarding our pontoon, as they were the boat at the other end of the hammerhead, and enjoyed swapping sailing stories.

The weather was quite cold and overcast during our stay so we did not explore as much as usual.

A small folly by the riverside.

It is possible to go further up the river to mooring buoys, which seemed popular, maybe next time.

Lezardrieux Marina

There is a marina with a sill used by locals and we used the visitors mooring outside.  29 Euros per night.  There is a Friday Market, up the hill on the High Street. A Super U supermarket at the end of the High Street (signposted) and an excellent Boulangerie again on the High Street.  Near the marina sailors are well catered for with Chandlers and Yacht servicing.  Wifi was very poor.  The facilities near the office are poor, slightly better ones are to be found around the harbour-side.  Disaaaster - my hairdryer blew up.  A bang and smoke, I threw it in a skip, from where the captain retrieved it for the plug!

21st June – Tuesday – To Perros Guirec

We were told about Perros during our first years travels and decided to take a look.  People are put off because of the sill and gate access at neap tides, but we are glad we took the chance to visit.  There are a few days a month when there is not enough water to enter or leave.

29 miles with at 10:00 start, arriving to the anchorage (marked on the charts) at 15:00.  There was a slight swell and no wind, early morning drizzle to start and mist which cleared. 

We anchored until 18:30 when the gate opened.

The wall is not visible at high water.  Boats enter to the left of the marina control tower, between the large concrete posts.

Same view at Low Water.  Crikey.

We were met by Maryvonne and Jean-Pierre on yacht ‘Impression Soleil Levant’ who had overtaken us on the way to Lezardrieux from Guernsey and had taken a photograph of Fleur.  They asked us on board for drinks and we had a very pleasant evening discussing sailing in England and France.  A very enjoyable evening with great hospitality and warmth.

22nd June – Wednesday

A small market appeared near the marina.  We walked up into town, which is pretty, with many nice shops and restaurants. 

Perros Guirec town centre.

15th Century Church in the town centre.

23rd and 24th June – Thursday – Referendum Day

What a pickle, whichever way you voted.

Friday

The Friday town market, which has signposts around town, to make sure everyone knows about it, was on three levels on three car parks, linked by paths, which also had stalls.

25th March – Saturday

We walked to Ploumanach after several people had said we must go.  It was a 1 and a half hour walk, through town and up and out on the top road.

We diverted through Clarte and stumbled upon this charming old church, Notre-Dame de la Clarte.

Built in 1445, it has beautiful stone carvings on the outside and a very simple interior. 

We followed the signs for Centre Ville and the Beau Chateau to emerge by the waterside to view the remarkable ‘granit rose’, literally rose coloured granite, piled boulder on boulder in amazing formations.  Sadly the camera does not show the pink colour that you witness through sun glasses.

There is a walk through the boulders which emerges at the port, which is separate from the small town.

We are told these are the most expensive visitor moorings in Brittany.

You do have to negotiate the boulder lined channel and the sill (above) to reach the moorings, and there are no pontoons.  We have already decided that our lives would have to be in peril to attempt this channel in our precious Fleur.

The bus ‘Le Marceaux’ was a sight for sore legs, from March to 24 June it is free.  But it was only one euro to take us back to Perros Guirec Town.  Another small bus operates to the port.

26th June – Sunday

Today we walked to two beach resorts in ‘la commune de Perros Guirec’.   Follow the road west along the coast and just keep walking, it is a little hilly, but worth the effort.  The first beach you come to is Trestrignel.  The beach was deserted today, but we both commented how busy we thought it would be mid-season.

View East in Trestrignel

View West in Trestrignel.  After a nice sit down we set off for Trestraou.  At the top of the hill just outside Trestraou, you find yourself near to the centre of Perros Guirec Town.  Aim down the hill and Trestraou Plage appears through the pretty granite houses and trees.

View west at Trestraou Plage.

View east at Trestraou Plage.

Trestraou is a fully fledged holiday resort and was buzzing with day-trippers.  A well deserved ice-cream and people watching, gave us a rest for the walk back.  Ice-cream or bus, ice-cream won.

The hill home makes the ice-cream calorie neutral.  Now orientated you can also nip through town back to the port.

Fleur in her visitor mooring.

Brian and Kathy of ‘Itinerant Child’ invited us for drinks, we have the same type of boat and it is always great to swap ideas and sailing stories.  Happy sailing to you both.

Perros Guirec Marina

159 euros, 7 days for the price of 5, although we only stayed 6 it was still worthwhile.  The marina office is in a small chateau near the jetty entrance. Well appointed Unisex showers and separate toilets (at the rear) are located in the basement.   The wifi is poor.  There are two bakers shops near the port with more in town.  Restaurants and shops surround the harbour-side and up in the town centre.  There are 2 x Carrefour supermarkets in the town, small but more than adequate.  A small market near the port on Wednesday and a full town market on Friday mornings.  A bus to Lannion has the nearest large supermarket.

We will definitely return here.

Next stop Roscoff.

Early June 2016–Guernsey

4th June – Saturday – Cherbourg to Guernsey

0800 start for the 48 miles to Guernsey.  We started out fully wrapped up as it was a very cold morning, but fortunately warmed up later.  The tricky part of the trip should have been the over-falls in the Alderney Race, but we managed the smoothest of passages.  Well timed by Mick.  Mostly motor sailing we arrived at 15:00 to gather at the waiting pontoons for entry into the inner harbour at high water approx. 17:30.

The lighthouse on the Castle Cornet breakwater at the entrance to St Peter Port.

The new waiting pontoons at St Peter Port.  It is now possible to walk ashore, whilst waiting for the tide to rise.

View from the waiting pontoons just outside the sill.  The harbour dories tell you to raft up here before high water and then escort you inside one or two at a time, very civilised and orderly (unlike Jersey which is organised chaos).

The same sill at low water.  Note : Large concrete lab, not to be messed with.

After being Chippy Starved for over a month, we headed to the Fish and Chip Cafe, just behind the Town Church.  Pure Joy.

5th June – Sunday

Or should I say ‘Seafront Sunday’, an occasional pop up festival.  They appear throughout the year and are well attended.  An array of brightly coloured stalls started to arrive at 0900, representing all kinds of groups, hand made items, with lots of food and drink stalls.  Along with 4 stages for bands, performers and dancers, all along the seafront.

One particular young band managed to perform their full set on each of the 4 stages throughout the day!  The whole thing finished at 1700 and by 1800 you would not have known it had been there. Great people watching from the boat.

Also today Jill from Yacht ‘Peggy’ made herself known to us, we had been chatting via email last year as we were both travelling in Holland and it was lovely to put a face to a name.

7th June – Tuesday

Our friends David and Carol came to collect us and we had a trip around the island and a lovely coffee at a posh garden centre.  They then came back for lunch on-board.  It was really great to have a catch-up.

9th June – Thursday

Whilst washing the bedding the other day, Mick checked the stern gland, which is located under the back cabin bed.  It is made of rubber and appeared to be slightly perished, as it was only 2 years old, Mick photographed it and talked to the importer of the part in England, who contacted the manufacturer and sent them the photograph.  The manufacturer said they had never seen this before and would send a replacement part to Guernsey free of charge. 

Replacing this part involves taking the boat out of the water.  We could either use the marina crane costing hundreds of pounds or take the boat to the Drying Pad (concrete with wooden sleepers) on the harbour wall and wait for the tide to go out.  During which time the job has to be successfully completed.

Fleur on the Drying Pad.  My job was to constantly watch the ropes and alter them as the water level changed.  Very necessary but makes watching paint dry seem exciting.

We left our mooring at 12 noon and waited for the water to subside.  At approx. 15:00 Mick started to replace the part and checked all the stern gear.  It was 19:45 when the tide came in, no leaks were found and we were able to float back to the mooring.  A long, tense and challenging day.

10th June - Friday

Fish and Chips with Ferne and Steve from ‘Walkabout’ and later had drinks on board Fleur.

11th June – Saturday

To celebrate the Queens 90th birthday, the local museums were free to enter.  No prizes for guessing, we managed to fit two in.

First we went to Castle Cornet.  Every day at noon a canon is fired from the ramparts, today it was a 21 gun salute.

The castle is arranged on many levels and by noon there were people hanging from every vantage point.  Quite a spectacle. 

There are 4 small museums within the castle grounds, enough to keep us occupied for 3 hours.  Worth the normal £10 entry free. 

We had lunch and made our way to the town museum which is in Candie Park.  It currently has an exhibition of photos of all the small creatures that we can’t normally see that live with us.  I personally prefer to be in the dark on such things, so amused myself in the gallery, which is on a time line and features many works by local artists from the 1700s onwards.  The museum did not represent the £5 normal charge.  However it is undergoing refurbishment.

12th June – Sunday

Queens Birthday parade.

Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey, a serving Rear Admiral.

Inspecting the troops.  Guernsey brass band also played at the parade and were very good.

A group of old RNLI boats arrived today, there presence was heard long before they appeared.

14th June – Tuesday

We walked to St Sampson which is the next town from St Peter Port.  Approx. 45 minutes along the sea front.  It is a small town based around a harbour with a few shops and cafes.  We then walked to ‘Oatlands’, a visitor retail centre with a large craft shop ‘Craftwise’, two floors of everything crafty.  The rest of the centre was a little quiet as it is low season, but the walk was good.

Guernsey Marina

£31 per night.  4 nights for the price of 3, up to the end of May.  The small facilities on the harbour-side are adequate but small,  the walk to the facilities near the harbour office is worthwhile with proper hairdryers.  Washing £2, Drying £1 – Bargain.  Wifi is free and good depending on the height of the tide and the number of users.  Steve and Ferne took us to Waitrose, Iceland and B&Q which are a 20-30 minute walk.  Located along the seafront, walk to the traffic lights near ABN-AMRO offices, turn left and walk 500m.  The shops in St Peter Port are excellent and the M&S too good for fresh bread etc. 

A really good stay.  Next stop France.

End of May 2016 – Cherbourg

24th May 2016 – Tuesday – Le Havre to Cherbourg

We started the day early at 05:00 to make the 73 miles from Le Havre to Cherbourg and witnessed ‘Mariners Twilight’ which is almost light just before sunrise.  The weather was cold but fine and the wind creating our Wind over Tide situation was from the rear, which is marginally better than from the front.  The 13 hour journey means that we crossed a full tidal set and we had to commence at a time which gave us a fair tide as we rounded Pont de Barfleur, the tricky part of this journey.  As the tide changed mid journey we had 5 hours of difficult sea states and I steered for many hours to relieve the auto-helm and gave me something to do.  Typically the wind blew up on our approach to Cherbourg and a large fast ferry took priority as it was departing.  Optimising the route, our captain saved us an hour of the journey time.   

We have walked the length and breadth of Cherbourg in the last 11 days.  On the 26th we went West along the coast.  A good hour later after passing the military base we came across the beach.

West beach

Passing the Abbaye du Voeu.

Reaching the steel sculpture on the headland, giving up and walking back.

Ferne and Steve arrived unexpectedly today on yacht ‘Walkabout’ who we met on our 2014 trip.  It was really nice to catch up and discuss this years respective trips.

Another day was spent going East, we did not however reach the beach, just ferry and cruise terminals.

27th May 2016 – Friday

‘Harmony of the Seas’ arrived today on her maiden visit to Cherbourg and only her second trip with paying passengers.  She is currently the largest Cruise ship in the world and dwarfed the local ferries.

The whole town turned out to have a look, market stalls popped up and the man with the horse drawn tram appeared.  When she departed at 6.00pm prompt, the harbour walls were lined with people in every direction.

28th May 2016 – Saturday

Southerley, RAF, Chichester and Slipper cruising clubs arrived for the Bank Holiday weekend.  More Brits than French on this pontoon. 

There are markets on several days in Cherbourg, and the Thursday and Saturday events are the biggest.

There are alleys and lanes which are worth investigating and you discover some interesting old nooks and crannies.  The town is a mixture of old and modern and the two main churches have been restored well.

For the next few days the mist came down.

1st June – Wednesday

We went looking for the Lidl supermarket as advertised on-line, up the only hill in Cherbourg to be met by a derelict building and locals laughing at us in a local Tabac.  The other one listed on-line also proved illusive.  So the hunt for the phantom Lidl’s was a total waste of an afternoon, but good exercise!!

3rd June – Friday

Today we paid the marina bill and were given the booklet we should have been given on arrival.  It has discount vouchers for museums and galleries.  Note many of the museums are free on Wednesdays!

The Musee Thomas Henry is located behind the Italian facade of the old theatre in the main square.  The original contents of the museum were a gift from Thomas Henry, born in Cherbourg, who became a famous art dealer in Paris.

The ultra modern gallery was only opened in March 2016.

Named ‘Quasar’ it houses the library and the museum, which covers 2 floors.  5 euros normal price, 3 euros with the discount.  Mostly classical paintings on the first floor, 18th and 19th century on the second floor with a series of Bronzes by a famed local artist.

Cherbourg Marina

Cherbourg Marina has excellent facilities.  With RYA discount and weekly discount we paid 236 Euros for 11 nights, 21.45 per night.  New toilet blocks have been built on the end of the visitor pontoons.  Les Eleises shopping centre on the left of the harbour-side in town houses many shops and the Carrefour Hyper market.  Markets on Tues, Wed, Thurs and Sat.  The Wifi has been mended today.  Wifi has only been available in the marina office.

Our previous visit to Cherbourg is documented in posts from August 2014.