Our Attempt at Landlubbing
⇚ Friday, October 31, 2014 / Stephanie / News ⇛
Port St Louis du Rhone, France is located at the mouth of the Rhone River. The Office of Tourism tells us that this town "...is one of the three gateways to the wild Camargue." I am anxious to learn more about this area! For the moment, however, Brian and I have just relocated ourselves to Port St Louis du Rhone and we have quite a bit of adjusting to do!
During the next six weeks, Brian and I will stay in Port St Louis du Rhone while we work on Detour, our new sailboat. Detour is located at the Port Napoleon boat yard; she's on the hard which makes living aboard extremely difficult. So to make this transition a bit easier we've rented an apartment in town. Through the Office of Tourism website, we found Mistral Apartments, and contacted Michel to inquire about renting an apartment during our timeframe. Michel had an available apartment and it was just right for us.
When we first arrived at the apartment we were exhausted! We'd just traveled 24-hours by plane and then hopped into a rental car and drove approximately 4-hours from Nice to Port St. Louis (we stopped along the way for coffee and food). Michel's hospitality was superb! Fortunately for us, he speaks English well. He was also very patient with our undetermined arrival time. He had asked that we call him along the way, but this proves difficult when you've just arrived in a foreign country and don't own a telephone. We were able to stop at a McDonalds and use the free wifi to call using Skype. This was approximately 30-minutes away from Port St Louis. Then when we arrived, luckily there was a public telephone across the street from the apartment, and we called Michel again so that he could come to greet us. That's right, France still has telephone booths and they take credit cards (this was an expensive call at €2.78 for less than one minute, but totally worth it to access the apartment that night!). Michel and his daughter greeted us and gave us a brief apartment tour so that we would know how everything worked. They helped us to unload our luggage from the car. Michel turned over the keys, told us where we could find him the following day, and bid us goodnight.
It took only a few minutes to unpack all of our stuff. Apparently we hadn't brought much in our 128 pounds of luggage! All of our clothes fit neatly into the wardrobe in the bedroom. It took several days, however, to adjust to a 6-hour time difference. During those first few days in between sleeping, grocery shopping, and eating, we managed to make ourselves quite at home in the tiny apartment.
The courtyard/walkway and front door. We have one adjoining neighbor and several roosting pigeons. We have a nice outdoor table and there is a clothesline beyond the front door.
The main room with kitchenette and couch. The kitchen is fully stocked with pots, pans, Tupperware, dishes, utensils, glasses, etc. There is a coffee pot, microwave, and a hot plate for cooking. The couch is a pull-out sleeper.
The bathroom. The corner shower has a rain shower head and steamy hot water, nice after a long day at the boatyard!
The bedroom. There are a wardrobe and desk in the bedroom. The two windows (exterior security shade is down in the photo) open inward for a view of the clothesline in the courtyard.
I find it most interesting that we have relocated to France to move aboard a new sailboat and yet somehow managed to acquire all of the necessities of landlubbing. Hope it's a fast transition, I could use a little wind in the sails!
When we first arrived at the apartment we were exhausted! We'd just traveled 24-hours by plane and then hopped into a rental car and drove approximately 4-hours from Nice to Port St. Louis (we stopped along the way for coffee and food). Michel's hospitality was superb! Fortunately for us, he speaks English well. He was also very patient with our undetermined arrival time. He had asked that we call him along the way, but this proves difficult when you've just arrived in a foreign country and don't own a telephone. We were able to stop at a McDonalds and use the free wifi to call using Skype. This was approximately 30-minutes away from Port St Louis. Then when we arrived, luckily there was a public telephone across the street from the apartment, and we called Michel again so that he could come to greet us. That's right, France still has telephone booths and they take credit cards (this was an expensive call at €2.78 for less than one minute, but totally worth it to access the apartment that night!). Michel and his daughter greeted us and gave us a brief apartment tour so that we would know how everything worked. They helped us to unload our luggage from the car. Michel turned over the keys, told us where we could find him the following day, and bid us goodnight.
It took only a few minutes to unpack all of our stuff. Apparently we hadn't brought much in our 128 pounds of luggage! All of our clothes fit neatly into the wardrobe in the bedroom. It took several days, however, to adjust to a 6-hour time difference. During those first few days in between sleeping, grocery shopping, and eating, we managed to make ourselves quite at home in the tiny apartment.
The courtyard/walkway and front door. We have one adjoining neighbor and several roosting pigeons. We have a nice outdoor table and there is a clothesline beyond the front door.
The main room with kitchenette and couch. The kitchen is fully stocked with pots, pans, Tupperware, dishes, utensils, glasses, etc. There is a coffee pot, microwave, and a hot plate for cooking. The couch is a pull-out sleeper.
The bathroom. The corner shower has a rain shower head and steamy hot water, nice after a long day at the boatyard!
The bedroom. There are a wardrobe and desk in the bedroom. The two windows (exterior security shade is down in the photo) open inward for a view of the clothesline in the courtyard.
I find it most interesting that we have relocated to France to move aboard a new sailboat and yet somehow managed to acquire all of the necessities of landlubbing. Hope it's a fast transition, I could use a little wind in the sails!7 Comments
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From Stephanie Grandjean on Nov 05, 2014
Lorraine, we will keep you posted as plans formulate...great to hear from you! Are you and Phil headed south once again on Changes? -
From Stephanie Grandjean on Nov 05, 2014
Scott, thanks for your well wishes! I've been living vicariously through your travels south on FB - fair winds to you! We are still formulating plans for Detour's ventures...but I appreciate the tip about Lagos Portugal in case we decide to explore the Med. -
From Scott Kuhner on Nov 05, 2014
I hope your land adventure goes smoothly and you are back on the water soon. Will you stay on shore until the weather turns warmer in the spring. If you are planning on doing the med and staying on the hard in Europe next winter, you should definitely look into staying in Lagos Portugal. We loved it there, and you can easily buy a car in Portugal and sell it the next fall when you are ready to leave. We did and we sold it for exactly what we paid for it. -
From Bill on Nov 04, 2014
Charming apartment! What a cool adventure to live in arrange while getting a boat ready. -
From Phyllis Pardee on Nov 03, 2014
So happy to hear from you again. Good luck with Detour and your land lugging experience. Phyllis Oh,My! DeFever 44 trawler -
From Lorraine Dolsen on Nov 03, 2014
What a great little appartment. Are you planning on cruising the Med once everything and everyone is together? Lorraine SV Changes -
From Brian Schmoyer on Nov 03, 2014
Its so nice to read something about your adventures again! And what a cute place you have while "landlubbing"!!! It reminds me of the movie "Under The Tuscan Sun" with Juila Roberts, its a total chick flick. So, would I fit in that car? Maybe I'll find out if I get to visit before you set sail. One never knows in our crazy circle of friends... We could just show up one day :)