SUMMER AT HOME part 1

 

This summer we are staying at home for a change as we have a project to get on with.  We have been planning for years to build 2 new garden sheds and at last we are doing it!  So I thought it would be nice to show you some of the lovely places we have within walking distance and which visitors from all over France and Europe come to enjoy for their holidays.

 

Every other year we have always been away either on the boat or in the camper car after the boat was sold so this is a big change for us.  Already we are having our meals on the terrace and Bob is busy cooking on the barbecue.  I've searched my sketchbooks from the last 12 years and found lots of drawings to put together as a collection.  The 2 sketches above were both drawn from the terrace of the bar Escale, our favourite for a rosé on Saturday lunchtime with our friends.

 

 

These 2 old customs houses are on the quay next to another little bar, the Titine, a favourite with the local sailors where they serve a delicious chilled 'Bordeaux blanc' for only 1.30Euros a glass.

 

 

We came to live in Perros nearly 12 years ago and chose it mainly because we needed somewhere to moor the boat and because we had been coming for our holidays for the previous 10 years. We had a place in the marina and these cottages appear in a sketchbook every year as they were part of the view from our deck where we sat to enjoy the sun and aperitifs.

 

 

After the boat was sold in 2011 we felt very fortunate as the next winter the pontoons where we had been were badly damaged in a storm and the whole length had to be replaced and reinforced. We had been complaining for years about a broken part of the walkway and this had obviously turned out to be the weak point!

 

 

We spent many happy summers staying on the boat, in the marina as well as out sailing to the Channel islands or the rest of Brittany.  This is the walk along the arcades towards the beach at Trestrignel, lined with pink valerian flowers growing out from the granite rocks on the shore.

 

 

If you looked across from the arcades you would see this tiny lighthouse in the distance across the bay.  It's now a pretty holiday home right on the beach with fabulous views.

 

 

Another part of the coast just beyond the marina next to the sailing club with Ile Tome just visible beyond.

 

 

Perros marina is at the head of a bay which dries out at low water so there is restricted access for boats only 1 or 2 hours either side of high water.  When we came back from our sailing trips we had to moor to one of the deep water buoys to wait for the tide to come in high enough for the harbour gates to open. I spent many happy hours here with my sketchbook drawing the houses as well as the seabirds.