Author: John

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L’Isle de Noirmoutier

Noirmoutier is an island off the coast of France, in the Atlantic, just below Nantes and Brittany. We vacation here frequently as there’s a summer cottage of the family in a small town, Herbaudiere, at the far end of the island beside the port. The island is flat. So flat that at times with the combination of a high tide and a storm, at times the ocean has made its way completely over the island. It is just 12 miles long and only 4 miles at its widest beam.

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Sailing on the Manitou

In April of this year we had a very special opportunity when asked by our friends Argie and Pat to join them for a day on the bay of Cannes on Pat’s classic 64-foot racing sailing boat the Manitou. Each summer Pat and his partners enter the Manitou into about 14 classic boat sailing regattas that take place in different ports around the Mediterranean. This was to be a first cruise for the upcoming season, to see just how ready the boat was. Although sailing conditions were not ideal, it was great to be out on the bay on such a beautiful boat and to get a glimpse on just how the boat can perform. After sailing for awhile we anchored in between the island of Saint Marguerite and Saint Honorat for lunch and a little wine, before heading it back to port ahead of the incoming rains.

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Istanbul, Turkey

On our way back from Bodrum we stayed in Istanbul for a few days. This was when protests had been going on for two weeks in Taksim Square over a park that is supposedly going to be turned into a shopping center and parking lot. Seems this was the “hair that broke the camel’s back”, as the protests grew into anger over what some of the Turkish people see as Prime Minister Erdrogan’s strong Islamic position that he is trying to bring more into what has been mostly a secular country up to now. On the Saturday when we left the army came in with water guns and pepper spray and ousted all the people from the park who had been camping there. I don’t think this is the end of it though.

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Bodrum, Turkey Sailing Trip

After our Cappadocia trip, we flew back to Istanbul, catching quickly another domestic flight that took us to Bodrum on the southern coast of Turkey. We arrived at lunch time and met up with our hosts, Jack & Yvonne, at the boat. The boat is a wonderful 70 ft motor sailboat, a copy of the German-made Jongert, a boat that Jack has admired for many years. When he saw it for sale last September in Bodrum, he bought it that same day. Very spacious, especially with deck space, making it more comfortable cruising than your traditional monohull sailboat. This would end up actually end up being more of a “motoring” than a “sailing” trip, as there were adjustments still needed to be made to the sails, and the the mizzen’s mast was cracked and needed to be repaired. But that didn’t stop us from having a good time!

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Cappadocia, Turkey

Cappadocia is a place that should be on everyone’s bucket list for places to visit before we actually “kick the bucket”. We visited at the beginning of June in 2013 for a couple of days, before heading out on  a sailing trip through Bodrum, staying in the town of Urgup at the boutique hotel Meleklerevi. A nice place with great hosts (Arzu & Muammer) who gave us plenty of great ideas of what to do and see while in Cappadocia. Muammer has a map  he can supply you with for all the places you should try to fit in while in Cappadocia. We were there for three days, which seems to be just about the right amount of time to get to know the area without rushing.

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Nice Apartment – Finally finished…

Our spring project was the purchase and renovation of an apartment in the central part of Nice, France. We returned to Nice from Mexico in January, with really no intention of buying a place in Nice, but we were getting tired of living out of suitcases and moving from one rental apartment to another. We knew we eventually wanted to get a place in France, we just weren’t sure where, although Nice was looking better and better. Well, we ended up finding a for sale by owners that offered all we were looking for, so we went for it.

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Apartment Buying in Nice, France

About a year ago we thought we were heading over to Europe to begin a period of nomadic travel. Well, it didn’t last long. As our daughter was attending school in Nice, we ended up setting up the town as our base to explore other towns in the area, Italy next door, and the hills behind. And through that, we ended up enjoying Nice so much that we really couldn’t think of another place we’d rather live. We knew we wanted a place in Europe at some point, we just didn’t know where and when that would happen. Well, it happened.

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