St Anne
Thursday 25th May is bank holiday in France, another one… so 4 days off for everyone. It is bound to rain! We move to St Anne just outside of the bay, for a change of scenery. We’d seen racing boats leaving early this morning and there they are, getting ready for the off. We park ourselves behind the marker and we are treated to a very exciting start. Around 20 boats are competing and rounding the mark under our nose before the spinnaker goes up and they disappear towards the Diamant rock. Lovely sight.
That was not the end of the excitement; there we were, minding our own business, checking our transit as we do when we anchor somewhere new, when we were rammed at the front by the boat nearest us. St Anne’s bay is huge, there are loads of boats but plenty room. We’d anchored miles out away from everyone, but we still managed to get rammed. The American people on board had started their engine and disappeared down below. We thought they were charging their batteries. Ian ended up suspended from their dinghy trying to keep it away from our furler and the rigging. We spent ages calling them. When they finally pitched up back on deck, they explained that they were working on their engine which was obviously going backwards. So off we went to get a new spot to anchor, not staying near them!
One of the reasons to come here was that there are loads of walks along the coastal path starting from there, over 40 km of it, starting in St Anne. Doubt we will be able to do it all but we will be giving it a good go.
Friday 26th may
The wind is not so strong this morning so Ian is sent up the mast to reattach the wind instrument. That‘s half the morning gone. Still we do need a leg stretch so we go and explore St Anne. Another pretty church complete with chandeliers and a town square. There is a Calvary also but in the midday sun the incline might just kill us… need to do this either in the morning or late afternoon. Bet the view from the top is fabulous though. The little town is very pleasant. Outside the town, we find the trail and we are off. The coastal walk takes us along the shore between beaches and woodland. Absolutely stunning places. There are plenty of people about, being bank holiday weekend, we are amazed by the camping with all mod con we see. The locals are actually building full on camps with generators and music and table covered with table cloths, proper crockery and hammocks. Big family groups just chilling out, eating and having fun, kids splashing in the water all day long.
Further on, the path is sandwiched between the shore and the mangrove, full of birds and red crabs scurrying around in the fallen leaves. We have lunch on a white sand beach under a palm tree, there is nearly no one there only a handful of people in the water. It takes us a little while to realise that all are male and all without any clothes on… Oh well never mind, it would take much more to put Ian off his sandwich!
We carry on to the Bay des Salines, we know this beach, we came here in January with Carole and family. Another fabulous beach with blue water, white sand and coconut trees. Still too early for a glace and a swim so we carry on to the next bay, we are soon stopped by a creek which is forded by stones and a wooden bridge. The tide is high and the stones a bit too far away for me to jump. Well this is my excuse anyway; quite fancy that swim and that ice cream we were talking about. The beach is so different from earlier in the year, not as crowded despite being bank holiday. There are still a few restaurants open but not near as many. Very pleasant though. After a refreshing swim we head back to St Anne along the same path but different. The light is not so strong and the shadows are lengthening giving it a very different feel. After an hour and a half we are back in the village before dusk.