Mark & Gill

Wednesday October 8th

Last day of our cruise and the weather eventually cracked up late afternoon with some misty rain and wind. Not such a bumpy night on board last night but still rocky – not so sure about cruising the Atlantic!

Oporto is the port about 30 mins from Porto city itself so a nice ride into city along the waterfront, lots of very old houses again and the vestiges of old city walls. Nice looking beaches with both sand and rock piles. Many of houses have tiles, both plain colours and patterned, typical of Portugal, and like those previously seen in Lisbon. The tiles were used to help insulation as granite somewhat porous at times. Some great tiles at both the Railway Station and the Cathedral. Many houses and buildings under restoration and also buildings of importance such as the High Tower (1763) on Clerigos Church. Much is funded by EU. Apparently there used to be lookouts on the tower and four bells with different tones – a different tone would be rung to signal events- eg fire, flood.

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Tuesday 0ctober 7th

A very rocky night at sea and I along with many others resorted to medication. Thank goodness for my Paihia Bombs which worked a treat and I was all good after about an hour.

La Coruna built on a peninsula is mainly a port area and often referred to as the “Crystal City”. This is due to the windowed balconies – very distinctive and the first thing you notice on arrival. Known as Galerias Corunesas they were built on the front of houses in 19th century to make most use of the daylight hours. Granite houses absorbed the heat and the windows helped to retain it. Of course when the sun shines on the windows it can be dazzling – and for arriving sailors.

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Monday October 6th

Another bumpy – ish night in the Bay of Biscay but no problem.

City of Bilbao is very attractive – lovely walkways along the river on both sides. Plenty of bridges for access. Walked around the old city (Casa Viejo), narrow cobbled alleys and old buildings 4 – 5 stories high. Enjoyed looking in the shop windows and especially at foodstuffs displayed – salt cod, tuna, Iberica Ham, anchovies (bokarta) and various beans and peppers for making paprika. Lots of old churches some more special than others like Santiago Cathedral – connected to the northern route of the pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. Routes marked with signs of the scallop shell.

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Sunday October 5th

Today’s outing took us to the Right Bank of the Gironde estuary and up to Cognac. No prizes for guessing what the principal production is here. Like wine making there are many rules and complex grading systems (6), with only grapes from a specified region being able to be used for cognac.
We went to the Royal Castle of Cognac, dating from the 9th century and birthplace of King Francis I, the first king of France. The castle was bought by Baron Otard at the end of the 18th century to become his estate and business. Otard is one of the best cognacs along with others like Hennessy and Remy-Martin.

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Saturday 4th October

Another lovely sunrise. Drove through the salt marshes at mouth of Gironde River (port of Le Verdon-sur-mer) following The Route des Chateaux into the dusty Medoc peninsula and home to many famous Bordeaux wineries. There is a strict grading system for the chateaux and only 60 in the area are rated in the Grand Cru Class. We visited Chateau Kirwan, established in 1715 and named after an Irishman! The current family have been in residence since 1925. All grapes here are harvested by hand and go through a fancy optical sorter which ensures they are just the right colour and then they are hand checked after that. The processing and lacto fermentation is quite quick, it is the maturing that makes the wine – up to 20 years.

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Friday October 3rd

After a night with some rock and roll and fog horns we sailed into a beautiful sunrise and anchored in Concarneau Bay (southwest coast of France). Another old town with fortified walls in the oldest part and new developments around.

Today’s trip took us to Carnac to see the The Carnac Alignments- more than 3,000 standing stones ereceted in the neolithic period. Stones are in alignment over  4km long. Made of granite, combining rows of menhirs (long stones), and enclosures (space closed off by adjoining or close megaliths). Through forested area nearby also isolated menhirs and individual (mounds) and collective tombs (dolmens).

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Thursday October 2nd.

St Malo is a delightful little port in Brittany, France. The old city built on a rocky island joined to the shore has walled ramparts, with much of the city being rebuilt since the 1940s after heavy shelling in WWII.  Has some beautiful sandy beaches and no doubt a popular summer destination. Some fabulous looking homes on the cliff edges.

We tendered ashore and had a nice drive through countryside to Mont Saint Michel- the second most visited tourist attraction in France (glad it was a “quiet” day!) Built on a small rocky islet in a 200 square metre bay, Mont Saint Michel was once a Benedictine Abbey, then a prison and now once again a monastery with a different group of monks and nuns. The Abbey rises over 500 feet above sea level and is surrounded by sand flats where the daily tides can change as much as 14 metres so it sometimes looks like the Abbey is floating in the sea. Unfortunately the tide was out but still very dramatic with some great reflections on the sand banks.

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Wednesday 1st October

A history lesson today.

The D day landings on June 6th 1944 and the subsequent Battle of Normandy marked a turning point in WWII and accelerated the end of the War. The Allies landed on 5 beaches along an 80km stretch of coastline. Most impressively I think was the building of an artificial harbour that they knew was needed to keep the troops supplied. Two prefabricated harbours were meticulously planned, built in England in pieces and towed across the Channel. The harbour at Arromanches was successfully built using an outer breakwater of sunken old ships which were joined together using huge concrete boxes (Phoenix caissons). Landing wharves were then installed with floating causeways so equipment could be moved from ship to shore. Amazing construction and great exhibit at the Arromanches museum. The harbour was only designed to last 6 months but amazingly parts are still visible 70 years later.

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Tuesday 30th September
Docked at Zebrugges a busy port especially for car transportation. Beautiful curve of beach on the other side of the port which is very popular in the summer they say.

Lovely drive to the medieval town of Bruges- what a stunner. Gorgeous houses hugging canals with overhanging trees and low bridges. Autumn colours just appearing made for very beautiful panoramas and reflections as we floated around the canals hearing about history, houses and business. We listened to the 47 carrillion bells in the Belfry Tower, admired its very tall tower – 366 steps to the top, and again enjoyed great old architecture. Even saw Felix the dog made famous in the movie and the lovely old wooden hotel also of the movie.

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Very smooth sail last night through North Sea. Long sail up the harbour to port in Amsterdam after we negotiated the lock at 5am. Amsterdam known as the liberal city as you may well have heard from stories of red light district and marijuana use. Cookie does not mean cookie as you know it and while there are rules about traffic and like, no-one obeys them. Still everything moves along nicely with the bikes usually winning out over the cars. Cyclists everywhere of course and they expect you to get out of the way. Massive bike parks including tiered systems and double ups. Theft is rampant we are told and we could see huge chains and padlocks in place unlike Copenhagen where bikes just seemed to be mostly left  free. Apparently theft is why helmets are few and far between – no point as nowhere to store. Our guide thought traffic was bad but pretty light I thought compared to Auckland and she has obviously never been in a Moscow traffic jam.

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