Bonjour!
Arrived in France and a moment for reflection
Bonjour from France! Last weekend I finally made it to France and have spent every minute since getting the boat ready to sail. I was not even sure if I would be allowed in when I landed in Paris since American tourists are still not allowed in the country (France continues to take their time on this topic…), but I needed to arrive and start preparing Terminal Leave for racing!
I am taking this pause, in another long day of boat work, to reflect for Memorial Day. There are so many men and women who have paid the ultimate price in sacrifice for our great nation. It is difficult to put this day into words for many of us and I believe it is rightfully different for everyone. Today we all honor those who gave their life to protect our country. For me, I primary think back to the late, dark nights of standing on the tarmac in Helmand Province, Afghanistan at Camp Bastion/Leatherneck. We would form a path saluting the American flag draped caskets as they reached the tail of the aircraft. Each Marine gone too soon and just so young. You couldn’t help but wonder standing there if the mission was worth the cost, when we knew we were leaving on a set timeline. We all knew it was over for us, just a matter of months before turning over the base to the Afghans. It took so long to move all of our equipment and personnel out in an orderly approach, most of which by limited air craft (which were being diverted for a “new” enemy called ISIS). It was a complicated situation with too many layers to describe here. I can only imagine the similar feeling of those in Afghanistan today, on all sides, as we once again shift our focus, resources, and people away from that distant land.
Traveling to France
The flight over actually felt quite short compared to my previous international travels, but barely enough time to recover from packing and buying a plane ticket less than two days earlier. The overall travel started with leaving Annapolis during one of the busiest weekends of the year and graduation gridlock. Then a flight from Washington, D.C. (Dulles) to Paris (Charles de Gaulle) on a mostly empty flight. Next a train from Paris to Rennes which took about 2.5 hours, a bus to Redon for 1.5 hours, and another train to Auray for 40 minutes. Despite not knowing any French I was happy to have made each connection on time!
Once in Auray, my Airbnb hosts Alain and Francine were kind enough to pick me up and drive 20 minutes down the road to La Trinité-sur-Mer. I know they felt bad about my travel challenges and were happy I rebooked with them. Their generosity did not stop there. After dropping off my bags in a lovely studio condo across the street from the marina (it was the best price in town too), Alain and Francine invited me two doors over to their condo for coffee and croissants. What a welcome!
Despite being exhausted from the red eye flight, I could not pass up the opportunity for a tour of the town that same day by Alain and Francine. We walked the docks and all-around town. Seeing three large ocean racing trimarans in person was unbelievable, especially compared to the Minis on the same dock! Again, they were a big help by taking me into the marina office and asking where my boat was in the town. The marina is not used to receiving American Minis in France. Turns out the boat was about 2 km down the road. An interesting part of this town is that boats are frequently transported along the main road with their masts up to and from this additional storage lot.
The cold rain started and brought a perfect opportunity to change up walking for the car. Alain drove us to Terminal Leave where I got to see my boat for the first time in over a month. I was relieved to observe everything was in place and secure from the long transit over. This rain would be on and off for most of the week. We called it a day and headed home.
This is when I began to realize just how small the town of La Trinité-sur-Mer really is here. Walking the streets my first night on a Sunday, everything was closed. Luckily I managed to find a small pizza shop and ate the little pie while walking back to my new temporary home.
The following day, Monday, turned out to be a holiday so once again everything was closed! This included the market and most stores. Walking around I asked someone where I could buy a French sim card for my phone, and his response was as expected. “It is hard enough to get a loaf of bread in this town, let alone a sim card!” So I borrowed a bike from my hosts and made the trek two towns over (about 6 miles) to the closest store that sold any in a kiosk, according to the internet. Once I purchased the card, it said it would be mailed later that week…ahhh! Wifi was difficult to find anywhere in the town, and without communication I could not put my plan in place to prepare the boat! So I bought a few other prepaid cards and just could not get any working. Even with Alain helping me call the help lines, we could not get anything functioning.
On Tuesday, I was about to bike farther back up to Auray (where the train dropped me off) and happened to run into my Airbnb hosts again who were heading to the market so they offered to drive me. I finally found the cell phone store for one of the sim cards I purchased the day before and was sure they could help me out. Unfortunately, the American identification was preventing the system from accepting me. The only other cell phone store they recommended was closed all week. I was feeling a bit helpless at the time. I could not find a sim card that would accept payment, the Verizon international plan was not working, and the only way I could message anyone was through my Garmin GPS (which proved very helpful yet still difficult).
Finally, almost defeated (and after a lot more walking) I found a little corner store on the way to the bus stop that sold more sim cards. After a few more hours of trouble shooting back in La Trinité, using a few different restaurant’s wifi connections, I got one card to work in my phone!
The first few days proved challenging and the boat work had not really started yet. Endless rain did not help, so even if I wanted to unload the boat I could not without getting everything soaking wet (not a risk worth taking).
That is the update for now. I made good progress on the boat the rest of the week, and will save that for the next post. The delay in obtaining my passport from the French Consulate really affected my overall strategy and I continue to press ahead. I am working on the final updates to the plan and need to finish coordinating a few details before I can release anything more.
Thank you for continuing to follow my campaign and your support! I can’t wait to get out on the water and show everyone what this boat is capable of in France!
