We spent a last couple of relaxing catch up days back on the dock at Ile de Porquerolles. We met a very nice family from Lyon, France that had three young kids. Ryan and Wesley were ecstatic. We had a wonderful lunch with Jaques, Veronique, Annabella, Theo, and Augustin. It was a wonderful French meal with pate, crackers, olives, wine, pizza, more wine, cheese, a number of desserts-it went on and on. Not only did Ryan and Wesley have someone to play with, they also had their first opportunity to practice their French. Although they did use quite a few hand movements, and some help from Mom, the twins did all right with their French. However, they were not as good with their fishing experience. As they were trying to catch jellyfish from the dock, Ryan inadvertently tossed the bucket into the ocean. Of course, this bucket was unique, an asphalt bucket.tough as all get out, and of course, not easily replaced. So someone had to go dive and get it. Dave had his hands full with anchor woes at the moment, so guess who had the "pleasure" of jumping into the deep blue sea. So with wetsuit on, and in full gear, I jumped into the dark waters, and dove to the bottom to search for our favorite bucket. It was dark! But luckily, on my first try I was successful and had my prize.
After a few days, we were in Marseille. The best way to compare this location is to the docks on the edge of Long Beach, California. We quickly realized, we were safe, but could not leave the boat alone. The Vieux Port was a bustling area during the day, and actually at night was nicely lit and was a beautiful sight. However, we took turns getting take-out food since we just couldn't feel safe leaving the boat unattended. We continued to arrange our plans for the next part of our trip. We had a few entertaining moments (or actually three hours) with the douanes (customs). Good thing we had jumped all the hoops with the French Consulate in Los Angeles to acquire our carte de sejour (long term visa) and had all the documentation. We actually think they were simply training a new member of their team, but an experience and entertaining nonetheless. The following day, the people whom we bought the used car in Courchevel, drove it down to Marseille. After a pleasant breakfast on the boat, the "deal" was completed. The boat was then made ready to set off to sea solo for Dave, as someone had to drive the car over to our final destination. Port St. Louis. Luckily, the weather was calm, and Dave was able to motor the whole way. I met him on the dock, tucked the boat down, and we settled to wait for the big day to take the boat out of the water.

Although the weather was stormy until an hour before the boat was lifted out of the water, it was a smooth transition. Please see the crew's description for the big event Check out the "Sailing Twins"http://www.sailblogs.com/member/sailingtwins/

Now, our travels at the end of the week take us to London to see the opening of Harry Potter. We will stay with a sailing family in Cornwall for a few days we met during our travels through Menorca. Follow the Weasley twins (alias Ryan and Wesley) through a trip of London and the English countryside.