Port-Louis

Two views of Port-Louis

Port-Louis is just across the river from Lorient – not to be confused with Port St Louis where Kalessin spent a few weeks in 2008. We thought it would be nice to move out of the Port de Plaisance in the middle of Lorient, but as Simon is a complete beginner to yacht sailing, to start with a very short passage and straightforward mooring rather than the bunfight of finding a mooring on the Ile de Groix. So we popped over here yesterday afternoon and it's lovely – a medium-sized, sheltered marina attached to a small, classically Breton town, with a large citadel on the river, and owing to a weekend event a large number of stunningly beautiful wooden yachts to admire.

Just across on the next jetty is Cyclone of Langstone, another Westerly Storm and the one we used in 2013 to work out whether Sam could get on and off a Storm, thanks to the generosity of its owner Rob. Sadly Rob & Jo are in the UK for a few days but hopefully we can catch up later in the summer.

Not long before we came out Camilla had root canal work done. It had a temporary filling and the plan was to do the permanent filling when we get home in July. It has been a bit achy but for the past few days Camilla's cheek has felt hot and her throat sore, which is a worry. The forecast for today is mostly NW5 which again is not ideal for Simon, so we decided to see if we could find a dentist to take a look at the tooth, and stay another night. The appointment is this afternoon so we will report back. Our neighbours in a Westerly Konsort say that this is the kind of place you can arrive at and never get around to leaving. We'll see what the dentist says.

Last night we thought we'd eat out and Simon, who speaks fluent French :) asked the marina staff for a recommendation. The place they suggested turned out to be closed. As Terry Darlington observed in Narrow Dog to Carcassone, restaurants in France often close because it is a Tuesday, or a Sunday, or August, or February, or because it is dinnertime, or because the proprietor’s grandmamma is unwell. So instead we patronised an establishment facing the harbour which says it is unique in France in offering 70 different recipes for moules, including sweet recipes with pineapple and cider. Sadly, and I still can't believe this, they had run out of mussels because they had an unexpected run on them at lunchtime. We had the €20 menu with a sardine pate and ling, which was fine, but I felt we should have had a discount for the absence of moules.

Sam struggled a bit with getting back on board. It's a difficult balance. If he stays on board and rests, he doesn't use his legs enough. If he gets off and walks he gets so knackered that getting him back on board is not entirely safe. We have some exercises from his physio and I will get him to do some now.

Fishmonger in Port-Louis