Yacht JACK TAR: On to the French Riviera

As I write we are at anchor at Cape Ferrat on the French Riviera not far from Monaco. We had spent a week at anchor at nearby Villefranche sur Mer, but the mistral blew up today and sent huge rollers into the bay forcing us to give up what had been a delightful situation, with a conveniently close public quay at which we could leave the dinghy while away touring. But, updating progress, we sailed from La Spetzia to beautiful Santa Margherita Ligure where we spent another week at anchor in the harbour, the weather being quite benign. It is a lovely place and while there we visited Rapallo, Portfino and a San frutuoso, a small village on a rugged coast accessible only by boat or by foot. We walked from there back to Portofino via a rough track with coronary inducing climbs at either end. From Sta Margherita we crossed to the so-called Italian Riviera before coasting down to our present locale. The coastal scenery along this part of the French Riviera is simply stunning; the best we have seen with high mountains dropping down precipitously to the sea. And the French culture and cuisine, [ the bread is to die for], is refreshing. And we have discovered that the locals are very fond of a fine pale rose wine which is delightfully light and not at all sweet. A wonderful aperitif. Whilst at Villefranche we have taken the train to visit Nice, Monaco and Menton, all well known attractive places. On the eve of the Bastille Day holiday we had a front row seat for an amazing, sophisticated fireworks display; the best we have ever seen, including Sydney n. year. And we continue to meet like minded yachties, lately American and Australian, with whom we have shared salty stories and a few libations. Some of the photos are again out of order as the blog editor played up. Double clicking on the photos brings them up full screen.