European Vacation Day 10 - July 2022

 July 19th - Day 10

Day in the Sun

After looking through guidebooks for things to do, we decided to take a boat over to Foret Domaniale de l'Ile Sainte Marguerite, St Marguerite Island. Cannes is very busy and full of traffic. Cars are not allowed on St. Marguerite Island. So we thought it would be a great escape. Today was really hot. It was 93 degrees F with high humidity and no breeze. We had adjusted to the mid 80 temperatures. The heat ended up making our day a little bit miserable. 

Before the heat got to us.

The island was very pretty and peaceful. It was so nice to hear the sound of the birds and to be out in nature.

We had some fun wandering around. There were miles of trails to explore. 

There were loads of perfectly round rocks for skipping rocks.

These two had a competition going for a while.

We walked the trails for several hours. 

There was a sign on another structure that looked like this so we think this was used as a cannon furnace. Cannon balls were heated up in it before being loaded into a cannon and fired.

The shoreline was all rocks.

It looks like this bird is posing for a picture.

Beautiful views 

Loved this little natural table and chairs.

The views on top of Belvedere du Dragon were beautiful.

Belvedere du Dragon looks like an old bunker.

Of course we had to visit Fort Royal while we were on the island. Fort Royal was used as a state prison. It was built between 1635 and 1637 when the island was occupied by the Spanish. The French completed the fort and used it as a prison and for the military. 

This was said to be the prison cell the Man In The Mask was held in. His identity is unknown. He was a prisoner for 34 years and held in four different prisons during those years. There are lots of theories about the identity of the Man in the Mask. Some think he was the twin brother of Louis XIV and was kept a prisoner so he could not challenge Louis XIV's right to the throne. There are also theories that say the mask he wore was made out of iron and other theories say it was made of velvet. 

The doors on the cell were very heavy and hard to move.

This window only had one set of bars. The window on the cell of the Man in the Mask had three sets of bars, all slightly offset of each other. The three sets of bars would definitely make it difficult to escape.

There was a museum inside the fort. It showcased items salvaged from the sea and some information about the Man in the Mask. It was an uninteresting little museum.

The view from the top of the fort was spectacular. The Mediterranean Sea has such a deep blue-green color, so beautiful.

We grabbed a bite to eat at the hot dog stand before finding a cove to go swimming. I think we were all getting a bit grumpy from being hot and hungry. Eating seemed to perk us up again. 

We saw a couple of star fish in the water.

This seagull found a little bit of rock sticking up above the surface of the water. It perched there for quite a long time.

The water was the perfect temperature. We enjoyed swimming around and cooling off. There were many large flat rocks in the water that were perfect for standing on and swaying with the waves.

I did not get a picture of it but while we were swimming, an ice cream boat came into the cove. People swam out and bought ice cream from it. 

We took the second to last ferry back to Cannes. Visiting the island was a good way to spend our day. Here is a last look at the fort perched on the top of the hill.

Back at the condo, we went for a swim and then went out to dinner.

The food looked very pretty but was just average. We felt we had eaten better when I fixed food at the condo. The fish was dry and the food was not seasoned very well. 

There was a wall of greenery behind our table. I really like this picture of my husband and I together.

European Vacation Day 9 - July 2022

 July 18th - Day 9 Dive Day!

What a great day! We spent the day in and on the water. I think today was my husband's favorite day of our entire trip. We got up early and drove to Port Gallice to the Easy Dive Shop to meet Rafael, our dive master. We tried on wetsuits for size and then headed out to the boat. 

Boogs was excited to get underwater again and dive.

Once on the water, we had to meet up with another Easy Dive Boat so that Louis could drive our boat. It had been 4 years since our last dive trip to Bonaire. I was a little nervous about diving, but ready for another adventure. We motored out to La Fourmigue Light House for our dives.

At 30 feet, the water temperature was 60 degrees Fahrenheit. It was colder the deeper we went. Of course I had a typical Keitha accident. The wetsuits were very thick and have rough knee patches. When I was pulling on my wetsuit, the rough texture peeled off the skin of my fingertips.

Even with a thick wetsuit, I was a little cold. Our first dive lasted about 55 minutes. It was amazing to be underwater again. It was a very different seascape than I have experienced before. We usually dive in tropical waters. In this part of the Mediterranean Sea, everything was covered in seagrass. On our first dive we saw 2 octopuses/octopi (apparently both spellings are correct), quite a few fish, and neat rocks. It was really exciting to see octopuses in the wild. We did not take a camera underwater so I don't have any cool shots of the octopi.

Rafael talking about some of the fish and formations we had seen underwater.

My ears were not cooperating so I did not go on the second drive. I snorkled above Raphael, Boogs, and my husband. They really enjoyed the second dive.

This is how my husband came back from the second dive.

I had a good time swimming around the boat until I got stung by a jelly fish. Wow! That really hurt. Rafael called the other Easy Dive boat and we met up with them to get some cream to put on my sting. (As I write this, it is September 17, 2023 and I still have a scar on my leg from that sting.)

It was so pretty out on the water. We could have stayed out all day long.

We went back to the condo and relaxed for the rest of the day. We swam in the condo pool and then I made dinner. We ended the day sitting in the living room, watching a movie. It was a really nice day.