Days 104 & 105: 24th and 25th September 2017 Hobie Cats and Long Walks

Sunday

The really nice guy at the watersports beach on kindly offered us the chance to return and have another go at sailing the Hobie Cat as it was too windy for the kids on Friday so we duly returned. We got there quite early and were concerned there would not be enough wind so the kids went for a swim while Patrick and I waited and deliberated about how much wind was enough. We had already discussed that Patrick would just take AJ out and I would stay on the beach with Esmé as she really wasn't interested and we didn't think her squealing would help AJ's anxiety one bit!

AJ was enthusiastic which was encouraging although he did run back for a quick cuddle before jumping on board the cat and off they went.... no screams! After watching them sail off Esmé and I got on with some digging and sand sculpting.

Esmé also did a lot of swimming while I chilled out on the beach.

The boys were out for almost an hour and thankfully the guy didn't charge us any extra. Both had a great time and AJ really wanted to go again but with a harness so he could use the trapeze. He had been hiking and also had a go at helming. He said that he preferred it to mono hull dinghies as the tacks and gybes were slower.

After a picnic lunch and a bit of relaxation we drove back to the house and I got on with some pre packing laundry before an early night.








Monday

Patrick had been hankering after a long walk "up a hill" so we packed him off with some lunch and my phone so we could keep tabs on him whilst the kids and I did school.  We used the "where's my iPhone" app to follow his footsteps inland and up a hill.

He then took the coastal path back pausing to look at some interesting little bays, one with a lovely narrow entrance.

Most of the rest of the day was spent packing, just a little more to do now before cleaning the house tomorrow.

As the kids had been indoors all day I took them to the beach after tea. Esmé had been wearing a swimsuit all day for some reason so AJ was a bit put out that he wasn't dressed for swimming. As his swim stuff was all ready packed I let him going swimming in his pants which amused him greatly!

Showers and a movie night followed!

Also today Lynita sent us a picture of the work so far on Laurin. It was really good to see progress!

Days 102 and 103: 22nd and 23rd September 2017 "Feel the fear and do it anyway"

Friday

As the kids had worked well at school all week we decided to have a different focus on Friday. AJ is often very nervous about new things but we knew he really wanted to have a go on a Hobie Cat so todays school was to be PE at the beach. We packed a picnic and drove to the watersports beach on the way to Propriano to find very little wind. The boat rental guy said that  although there was a little wind inshore there wasn't much further out where the sailing area was. After half an hour of indecision and the kids getting soaked swimming we decided to hire one of the pedalos and go out and take a look.

Esmé was desperate to go on these pedalos as they had a slide on them!

After 45 minutes we were all pretty bored of the pedalo so we went in and swapped for a hobie cat. Unfortunately the wind had picked up a little too much and the kids were extremely nervous. Eventually we got them to sit on the trampoline and then Patrick and I got on and we were off. The kids flipped between screams of terror and giggles of laughter, however it really was a little too much for them so we turned round and came back in. The guy was really good and said we could come back another day for the rest of our time. As we were getting off a German guy asked Patrick if he would like to go out sailing with him so Patrick had a lovely hour of kid free time sailing with somebody who wasn't screeching!

Meanwhile Esmé and I joined in the craft session of some local school children who were learning to sail. They were having a whole year of sailing as a topic and were spending 1 day a week learning to sail as well as learning about sailing in class. We gave them our blog details and the teacher said that they would follow us. Esmé made a lovely flag and we promised to reply to any comments they make on our blog!



Saturday

An early start and the kids dressed in jeans as per the riding school's instructions, then top down on the car and off we went. We were supposed to arrive at 9:30 for a 10am lesson however we had got lost last time we went so we set off in plenty of time and arrived at 9:10 to be greeted by Cassie the dog.

I'm not sure Rory would approve of us going down this lane more suited to our Land Rover but needs must!

The riding school is a lovely place where old horses are retired and looked after, and the working horses are given plenty of space to roam around. By 9:15 the kids were being shown around and handed the equipment for their ponies before being fitted with hats.

We then went to collect their ponies. As we walked through the field of larger horses the kids were most amused when one butted me up the backside... I'm not sure I really like horses but I kept my cool in front of the kids!

The were shown how to brush their ponies and then get them ready for riding.

After that followed a 1 hour lesson where they learned to make the horses go, stop and turn. Later on they did some funny games and Esmé was brave enough to trot!

All in all they had 2 hours of learning about horses, and again trying something new. I was so proud!


Back to the house via the supermarket and the toy shop next door where I managed to secretly buy Esmé some glitter pens for her birthday. We had lunch and a bit of a rest before a walk along the beach to buy ice creams with the kids pocket money and collect sea glass.

Finally dinner and bed for the kids followed by a lovely skype call with my good friend Leonie. Lovely day!

Days 100 & 101: 2oth and 21st September 2017

Wednesday

Started with kids being really tetchy so to avoid an argument I dragged them to the beach for a walk before breakfast..... Esmé with no shoes as I couldn't find her sandals and couldn't be bothered to find socks. Unfortunately it was quite cold so I had to lend her my flip flops which was quite amusing but she soon got fed up with them and went barefoot again. Nothing like a beach walk in a lovely place to get rid of a bad temper!

School went reasonably well as I had promised Esmé we could have her made up recipe of pancakes and lots of things chocolate for lunch if there were no paddies during lessons. AJ made it all the way through the morning without losing the plot and Esmé almost got there so we had a very unhealthy and chocolatey lunch. In the afternoon we went for a drive to check out a horse riding place. We thought it was about time the kids had a treat and they had really enjoyed the little pony rides in Lyon. I had phoned this place as it advertised horse riding on the beach which I thought would be a lovely memory of Corsica, however the lady on the phone seemed to be saying that the kids were a bit small for this but to come along and have a chat. Once we got there (after multiple satnav fails by me) she was very accommodating and said that we could take the kids and ponies to the beach for an hour if we as parents led the horses... but we would be on our own. The other option was an hours lesson. AJ didn't really mind either way and Esmé wanted the lesson so we were glad to be off the hook and be able to hand over the responsibility of horse and child minding to somebody else. Kids first horse riding lesson booked for Saturday morning! Next we called in at a different beach on the way back as we had  seen some Hobie Cats from the cliff road. The guy there was happy to hire us one and for Patrick and I to take the kids out. The waves were pretty rough and we had no change of clothes so we decided to come back another day.

Back home for the usual evening meal, cards, engine building and bed.

Also today we got the quotes for the work on Laurin and emailed these over to the insurers. We also chatted to them about instructing DMS to carry out the work before having any agreement with them as we were keen to get the work done ASAP. They said that this was fine as long as we understood it was at our risk but they would cover the initial investigation costs regardless. We called Matthew at DMS marine and to our dismay he said he couldn't start work for another week!!!!!! I regretfully asked if he could recommend anybody else to do the work as we really couldn't afford to wait that long if we could help it and he said he would ask his brother. Within an hour we got a phonecall from his Dad saying that he could do the work and would work all weekend to get us in the water by the end of next week if we could send him an email saying that we would cover all the costs of the initial investigation and the further work to be done. Result!

Thursday

As soon as the insurers were open we called to let them know what we were doing and get it in writing that they were covering the initial investigation. They told us to get DMS to invoice them directly for the initial investigation and they could be paid within a day. We then instructed DMS to get going on our repair, and then booked the Tuesday overnight ferry from Propriano to Marseille which was significantly cheaper than flying.

School went well again with the kids really engaging in the "Story of the world" lesson on Hieroglyphics.

This afternoon we took one of the paddleboards from the house to the beach and AJ again showed us how good he is at this.

I took the opportunity of shallow water to actually stand up on it rather than chicken out and kneel the whole time. I'm sure I provided entertainment for the lunchtime diners at the beachside restaurant, particularly the comedy moment when as approaching the beach I was hit by a wave (ok slight ripple) and found myself running backwards off the board with a big splash! Luckily this part was not caught on camera.

Back for a dinner and a lovely video call to grandparents.

We also received an email from the insurers stating that they wouldn't pay out for the further work on Laurin as the cracks were deemed by the surveyor to be "not the result of an accidental event but are a matter of the mode of construction of the boat and of her age.” This was pretty much what we were expecting although ever hopeful for a miracle pay out. We are actually very grateful that they have covered the cost of the surveyor as well as the initial investigation costs as this has given us confidence in the repair plan as well as reducing the total bill for us as we would have had to pay for the investigation in order to start the repair anyway.

So hopefully all systems go again. I think we can now focus on enjoying our remaining time in Corsica.

Days 98 & 99: 18th and 19th September 2017 We got the roof down!

Monday

As we were running out of fresh fruit and veg we decided a trip to Propriano was in order. The weather forecast was for sun in the morning and rain in the afternoon so we decided to do school in the afternoon so that we could put the top down on the car!

We tried Carrfour this time as it is what we are used to but there seemed a decided lack of their value brand products so the food bill was again quite large. Back to Casino if we need another shop before we leave.

School in the afternoon is always a challenge as AJ really appreciates routine and school in the afternoon is definitely a break from routine, however we pressed on with French, History, English and Maths whilst observing the change in view as Campomoro clouded over and it began to rain.

A bit of a disaster for tea as the steak I cooked was really tough... going to have to be creative in how I cook the other 2 portions which are in the freezer. Lots more story time today and then playing cards before bed.

Tuesday

School in the morning and AJ requested an easy maths day so I printed out some maths colouring and did a bargain that if this was all the maths he was doing then he also did some work with Dad on the rock formations we had visited on Sunday. Tantrums from both kids during school today but eventually we were done and AJ requested to revisit the rocks so he could collect some samples.

After lunch there was much disgust at our plan to walk the other way round the hill to the rocks as AJ wanted to take the shorter route, however once we were walking both kids enjoyed running ahead and hiding from us, and the inevitable scrambling on rocks in our path.

Occasionally there would be a fork in the path where we would take differing routes and then meet up again however on the last one of these Esmé and I went the wrong way and lost the boys for about 15 minutes.









Luckily there were plenty of people coming the other way so I could use my best French to ask if they had seen a man with a boy so at least we knew that we were heading in the right direction. We eventually found them at a small rocky beach where they were busy collecting stones. Esmé (AKA Maca Paca) quickly joined in and enjoyed some time with Dad.

On the way back we stopped to watch a solo diver launching his "craft" but with his enormous flippers he was soon too far away for us to see him dive.

We also caught up with Matthew from DMS today who had just got hold of the prices he needed to finish our quote which he promised to do this evening. It feels pretty uncomfortable to be reliant on somebody else to keep our adventure on track. We couldn't in all honesty have stayed at Port Napoleon living on the hard but I can't help wondering if progress may have been quicker if we were on site, or at least we would have a better understanding of what was going on.

Days 96 & 97: 16th and 17th September 2017

Saturday

A lazy day. Short walk to the Post Office to get a stamp for Esme's postcard and a quick look at the shop at the other end of the village (not much more there than at the one 10 seconds away from the house). A nice walk along the beach on the way back collecting sea glass before an early lunch, then off to the beach for a swim in the afternoon. Pizza for tea then we taught the kids how to play rummy. Patrick won much to AJ's disgust

Sunday

An early morning ready for our hike up to the Tower. The kids were not impressed by the idea of a walk but soon came round once they could climb on some rocks. As luck would have it there was some kind of saint day and so it was free entry to the tower. We climbed up and admired the view, and although the literature given to us was a little too much for the kids we spent some time thinking about how old the tower was and which parts were original.

Even more to the kids disgust we decided to walk the long way back via the rock formations on the shore. Once there however the kids absolutely loved climbing and scrambling over the rocks.

The walk back seemed much shorter and the kids were enthralled by the cairns spotted on the sides of the path and decided to build their own.

Back on the road to the village Esmé complained of tired legs so as Patrick and I refused to carry her AJ decided to give it a try... didn't last long!

A lazy afternoon followed... must have been extremely boring for the kids as AJ actually asked to do maths!