Barcelona - France - 3rd, 4th & 5thOctober

We only stayed the two nights and one day in Barcelona after all but we really filled our time there and thoroughly enjoyed it. The following morning we needed to restock the fridge and managed to find a thriving indoor market - fish, meat, fruit and veg stalls all crowded with customers, it was a hive of activity and all the produce was beautifully fresh so we grabbed all the provisions we needed, headed back to Zaffina and headed out of port. We discovered on departure that we had taken the long route into the port on our arrival, and in actual fact there was a short cut behind the cruise ships, so we didn't get the chance to wave at all the passengers this time!
As we moved on up the coast we had overhead entertainment in the form of an ongoing air display. It meant there were a lot of other boats around but we soon left them far behind as we cruised along the Costa Brava - what a beautiful coast it is! There were dozens of small inlets and anchorages and it would have been lovely to have the opportunity to nose into a load of them but we needed to press on. We did drop the anchor at lunch time in a lovely bay and enjoyed a couple of hours sunbathing on the flybridge where it was pleasantly warm but not as hot as the last few days. We moved on to a tiny port called Palomas for the night, where we were moored on the fuelling pontoon and had the whole area to ourselves. We ate by candlelight on board and in the morning the place was still pretty much deserted when we glided out of port onto a lovely calm sea.
Again the scenery was glorious and this time, when we found an anchorage and laid out in the sun, it was positively hot again! Frank dived straight into the azure water to cool off but once he'd told me that it wasn't as warm as Mallorcan waters, I declined the opportunity to join him but gave him encouragement from on board! The anchorage was probably one of the loveliest we have been in on the entire trip and it made our last day in Spain utterly memorable for all the right reasons.
We pressed on in the late afternoon as we still had a fairly long trip to port, the next one being over the border in France.
Neither of us were keen on Canet-Roussillon; it was large and impersonal and we certainly weren't inspired to stay there more than the one night, so in the morning we refuelled and took ourselves back out to sea.
What a change! The forecast had told us the wind would be behind us when in fact it was directly in front and there was quite a swell. It was the strongest head sea we'd encountered for several months and although Zaffina took it brilliantly, it was quite hard going. In fact, I nearly got bounced off the seat when we took the largest couple of waves whilst I was sitting on the loo! It's not often you have to hold on when you're having a pee!!
The whole trip was messy, we hugged the coast but whichever way we were facing, the wind was straight on, dying down for a time and then rising again. It was one of those trips when we were glad to get into port, and although we expected Port Camargue to be equally soulless as our harbour the previous night, we were pleasantly surprised by it. It is the largest leisure port in Europe with 5,000 berths and although we're moored just a stone's throw from the Capitainerie, it's across the water and apparently it's a 6km walk to get there overland! It was lovely to be in still, calm water again and we sat in the cockpit after dinner, just watching the lights on the water and savouring the whole experience.
This morning (Tuesday I think) we locked Zaffina, hired a car and drove to Eze (just outside Nice) and now we're in one of our favourite hotels, the Chevre d'Or, for a couple of nights. And we're off to the Genova Boat Show tomorrow to meet those nice people from Azimut!
Mark and Terri, if you're reading this, don't panic! We'll be back in time for your arrival.