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