A little Pinsteration...

Hey buzzy travelers!!! So I don't know about anyone else, but Pinterest is where I have been spending a lot, a lot of time, like a lot. I found some awesome pictures and quotes about the cra awesomeness of traveling! Check it y'all... I hope this helps you get through the boring school days so that when summer comes the traveling can finally start again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OXOX SOPH

Sailing in the Porquerolles

The next stop on our sailing trip was one of the bigger islands, Porquerolles, where we spent two fun, adventuresome days. On our first night there, us and our friends anchored out in the bay, enjoying the protection of the mountain and looking out at the beautiful sunsets. 

the bay we anchored in

sunset on our first night

group picture before dinner on the island 

 Porquerolles is a relatively big island so throughout the day there is a large amount of tourists who visit. At night though, the packed boats have headed out, leaving the locals and vacationers in peace.
To get to shore, we took a put-put, but ours was a wreck and broke down more than once on the trip.

boarding the put-put to head to shore

 Here are a few pictures of the town on the island, it's very cute and charming with people riding bikes, vendors selling ice cream, and families in the square playing bocce ball or pétanque.

people playing bocce ball in the square

the church at the end of the square

We began the next morning by swimming around the bay. The water was pretty amazing, except for a few jellyfish swimming about. We ended up swimming all the way to the shore in search of sea glass. Although the swim to the beach was a little rocky, the sea glass we found was definitely worth it. As the photo below shows, there were tons of beautiful colors and so much of it scattered and hidden under rocks and the soft sand on the beach. 

The adventure had barely begun at this point... We later decided a nice, casual bike ride would be a fun way to spend the afternoon. Our ride began as we coasted through the bustling town and then into the peaceful trees on a smooth dirt path. This, of course, was just not enough exercise for my dad so he forced both our family and our friends to take a detour, and take the longer path. 

What the map failed to tell us was that this path was for hiking and not biking. We ended up having to carry our bikes up steep, rocky slopes, something that was really meant for a rock climber. But the view at the top was pretty spectacular and almost worth the fun time we had carrying our bikes up a mountain. 

 After this extreme hike/bike we rode down the mountain as fast as we could to get to the bike store in time before they closed. By this time it was late afternoon and time for us to move our sailboats from the bay into the actual parking area. This is a whole other ridiculous ordeal and nearly impossible to get a decent spot, if one at all. Most of the time, half of the boat spots will be open, they just won't let you take one, for no apparent reason. In the end, after much yelling and chaos, we got a spot but our friends were denied one even though there were plenty available. The system is ridiculous and one of the biggest issues with this place, if you're planning on sailing here. 

Overall though, the two nights we spent here were a blast and filled with tons of great memories. The scenery is gorgeous and the town is a great atmosphere and the perfect place to stock up on some much needed food before sailing somewhere new. Here is a photo of one of my favorite desserts, la tarte tropezienne, something that is very popular all over the South of France but especially in St.Tropez (where it got its name).

tarte tropezienne 

XOXO Rana 

Sailing Trip, South of France (Day 1-Cassis)

Over the summer, one of my absolute favorite trips was sailing in the South of France. My family and I have done this a couple of times and each time always proves to be a crazy adventure. 

A few summers ago, the sailboat we rented actually burned down days before we were supposed to take it out. Then, after planning to rent out a new boat we had to deal with the problem of a skipper. Everything was set until the morning of our departure we learned that our captain had gotten in a car crash and was now in a coma! Clearly there was a ton of bad luck circulating us. Aside from all of this, it was monsoon season and when we did finally set out it poured rain on us for the 7 hour sailing trip. This year was not nearly as crazy but as usual we planned the entire trip and boat rental basically the night before departure. 

We ended up getting a boat called Idra and a great captain to sail it.

The sailing there was amazing and much more peaceful than the previous time. The water was smooth as glass and it was a beautiful day to lie on the deck and relax. 

We sailed to a place in Cassis, to a gorgeous little cove, enclosed by the surrounding rocky cliffs.  

the cove by Cassis 

The parking here was a bit of an ordeal as we had to rope the boat around a rock, which was extremely difficult to do. 

Once that was settled though and we had some extra rope, my brother and I attached our boat to our friend's boat. This turned out to be a great transportation system as we took the little dingy back and forth between boats using the rope as a guide. On the downside though, there were a ton of rope lines running everywhere so it was pretty much impossible not to fall over them.

The water was gorgeous and a great temperature so we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming around the cove.

This serene cove made for one of my favorite stops out of the whole trip. The next morning we took a small detour to the actual town of Cassis. Here are a few photos I took of it... 

XOXO Rana