Debi and Jack sailing on SV Iroquois

In this part of France the marinas have genderless toilets and showers. It's taking a little getting used to after a lifetime of trying to always go into the right bathroom. It might not hurt for people who have an issue with gender and bathrooms to spend a year in French marinas. This one has about seven toilets and an equal number of showers, there are also three urinals tucked into a corner. It is also more crowded here, maybe because it's July or maybe the location, but we were rafted up several deep on the visitors pontoon last night. They didn't lose much time this morning though. There's been a constant stream of boats exiting the marina this morning. We are waiting for the tidal streams to carry us up the bay of Morbihan to Vannes, where there will probably be a line of boats catching the tide into the bay with the intent of carrying it up river to Vannes. It may also be crowded there based on the number of people we've heard talking about it.
At the market in Loctudy we found some fabric we thought might work as window coverings with the suction cups we bought a while back for that purpose. So we laid it out, measured and cut, but then we couldn't find the suction cups. We looked everywhere and did some cleaning and reorganizing in the process. The boat has an uncanny ability to eat things. They were found, of course in the last place we looked, which was the last place we had not looked.
We are deep in the heart of Brittany and France. The buildings and even the people could not look more provincial, even if they were illustrations in a children's book, which may be where our image of provincial France comes from. The water is beginning to have the look of warm, sand and sun. The houses are a mix of earth tones with pastel accents. The plants are both lush but look able to withstand periods of hot dry weather, some of the old men look the same but the lush might be due to a life time of cider and wine with meals. The majority of those passing through like us are also French, mostly families or groups of friends on holiday together, otherwise they are British, many of whom keep their boats here for a few years or more. This morning while waiting for the dryer, I thought about getting a cup of coffee from the adjacent cafe/bread store, but did not as I realized that I needed to switch the load in about ten minutes. The issue was not that there would not be enough time to order and drink the coffee but that there was not enough time to sit without thinking about there being enough time. Perhaps this is one of the keys to French gastronomy, time to be with the eating experience. The food is better here than many other places, but the experience and expectation about eating are different than even those places where excellent food is available at home. Despite this being the home of Dannon and Yoplait yogurt is sold here in only small containers, I am not sure why? There are large containers of fromage blanc, but it is not cultured just curdled with vinegar. We prefer the Scandinavian yogurts. But the bread and produce here are phenomenal.