Current Position
47 06 51N
002 06 71W
Pornic, South Biscay
After a 47 mile passage with a Force 6 wind from WNW we arrived in Pornic. Having passed the large port of St Nazaire and the Loire River it became very obvious we were now in South Biscay as the architecture immediately changed from white buildings with slate grey roofs to white buildings with terracotta tiled roofs thus giving a very Mediterranean look. It was an instant change, almost as though a line had been drawn. Pornic is a very attractive seaside resort with a delightfully southern feel and has many elegant holiday villas set in large gardens. There are lots of pine trees as well as grape vines reminding Andreas of his family’s island of Ikaria, and the green of the trees is the origin of the name, the Jade Coast. It has a lovely marina with about 750 boats and a good working yard. It had been a long passage with quite a swell running and by the time we arrived on our berth in the marina, we were feeling very weary. As a result, my plan for the next day was to do absolutely nothing and that included cooking, so we treated ourselves to Sunday lunch out.The quayside is awash with bars and restaurants all of which overlook the marina and being just a little way out of town wasn't too busy but still had a buzz and the whole place had a nice feel about it. We chose a lovely little restaurant and had an equally lovely waiter – Alexandre . We went the whole hog, 3 courses, all of which were outstanding, and then spent the remainder of the day chilling in the cockpit- after that lot there was little else we could do!!! . We needed to stay in Pornic for a few days as Andreas was going to be busy with the monthly pay roll (that came around incredibly fast!!!) as well as a few other business issues to sort so I did nothing more than catch up with laundry and a few chores.
Business matters dealt with, we took a walk beside the estuary and passed the 11th century Chateau de Pornic which is a beautifully restored castle but unfortunately, due to being privately owned, is not open to the public.
We had lovely neighbours on our pontoon, Pierre-Jean and his wife, who was from Bali, Esther. Andreas spent a short while chatting with him and we agreed to his request that we help with his lines as he left his berth the next morning.
We just loved Pornic. Not only is it very attractive, it had a lovely vibe, but no one we know who has cruised this area has stopped here and we reckon they have all seriously missed a trick. It was also the first time we had seen the French ‘season’ in full flow. Up until now, we had kept hearing and reading about the ‘season’ ( July and August) but had seen no sign of it and were constantly wondering if indeed we ever would. Well, it had arrived, with a vengeance, in Pornic!!!
Song for this post : Busy Doing Nothing by Bing Crosby
Thought for this post : It’s all to easy to follow the crowd, sometimes you need to turn left instead of always turning right
Highlight for this post: We turned left, and found a real gem!