Les Sables d’Olonne France, will be our base for the next few months while we continue to wait for Kiri Maia2.
Marcel & I are very fortunate to have found a comfortable sunny one-bedroom apartment with a reasonable-sized living kitchen area and a small balcony with views over the marina. This great little apartment will be our base till we move onto Kiri Maia2, all going well Mid February.
As to be expected the waiting is not always easy. Especially as we don’t speak or read French, also we don’t really know anyone except for our newfound family Greg & Virginie it’s a shame they live so far away as we really enjoyed our time with them.
Funnily enough, going back to Greece felt a bit like going home, as we were used to the language, customs, and the sailing environment we were living in and there was always plenty of English-speaking people for us to talk to. Even the set out of the supermarkets where products are located & the packaging on the groceries was familiar. So coming to France has been a bit of a challenge. Who would have thought grocery shopping could cause so much anxiety that quite often I would give up and leave.
Creaming the 10,000 steps a day challenge we have set
We have settled into a daily routine, of which walking to various places takes up a lot of our time as we are now car less. The daily challenge has become to achieve 10,000 steps. So far the weather has been very kind to us sunny not too cold and very little rain so it hasn't been a hardship to spend a few hours out and about exploring Les Sables. To add to the excitement of our regular shopping ventures to the local supermarket a five-minute walk away, once a week shopping is combined with a trip to the laundry to dry our sheets. While the apartment has a very efficient small apartment-sized washing machine there isn't a drier and the balcony isn't big enough to hang the sheets on.
Shopping mania
Prior to returning the rental car, shop till we drop, was our motto, slowly each day more and more purchases were stacked up in our apartment. Before heading out each day quite a lot of research went into figuring out where to buy everything. Just like Greece, it was not always obvious which shop stocked a particular item we were after. For example the Webber barbeque, this was purchased from “Darty” an electrical store even then Marcel had to ask as they weren't on display. Lucky for us Darty also sold all of the essential electrical items required to get us back to Greece, best of all Darty had very friendly staff that could speak some English. The staff seemed delighted to see us each time we arrived at the shop, we are very happy with our purchases especially a TV which Marcel has managed to connect to his phone so we can watch Netflix & YouTube on a big screen instead of my very small tablet.
No car, but we have super cool e bikes
So far not having a car hasn't really bothered us, especially since we purchased our super cool Orange & Electric Blue fold-up Eovolt bikes, enabling us to travel further and quicker than walking does. Mind you this probably won't be the case once winter sets in next month. Marcel is very happy as our apartment is within a short walking distance to where Kiri Mia2 will be delivered and launched. So far Marcel has been able to organize with the local contractors most things we need to enable us to set sail and make our way back to Greece.
Time has raced by since leaving NZ
So much has happened since leaving NZ on the 25th of August, arriving in Greece being back on board Kiri Maia even if it was only in Cleopatra's yard, finally meeting Mark & Stacy - so looking forward to sailing with them next year. Finalizing the sale of Kiri Maia, a relief for us all. Our road trips to spectacular Meteora and the lovely seaside town of Patras, then a second road trip to the Peloponnese Olympia and Delphi.
Finally 7th October, it was time to leave Greece & set up home in France. Leaving Greece caused us quite a lot of stress as the night prior to leaving a major storm hit Preveza with torrential rain and high winds. Then as we were getting ready for bed our phones blasted out a warning alert from the Greek Government, I have to say the alert scared the living daylights out of me, my first thought was oh no we are in “Alert Level 4” and won't be able to leave for France tomorrow! Fortunately, this wasn't the case it was just a storm warning, and everyone needed to batten down the hatches.
Cute town quay Ambracian Gulf not far from Preveza View from our apartment in Les Sables d'Olonne
On 7th October 2021 we said goodbye to Greece & hello to France. In all the excitement of finally moving onto the next stage of our adventure towards setting sail on Kiri Maria2, we forgot how challenging & unsettling moving to a new county that we hadn't been to before could be!
The first of many issues upon arriving in France was not having a French sim card!
