The French Riviera

A long weekend in May on the French Riviera is something everyone should have on their “to-do list”, especially when it involves eating good seafood, drinking great wine and looking at sailboats. What more could you possibly ask for?

We flew to Nice and spent the first part of the trip driving westwards, going from marina to marina, looking at catamarans together with Alexis de Boucaud from the Multihull Company. Alexis had set everything up and was our guide to not only the boats, but also to the Riviera. It was excellent. We looked at a wide range of catamarans and I feel that I really got a proper impression of what’s on the market and what we can expect to get within our budget.

We had an in depth look at 15 different catamarans, but saw many more. We also had plenty of time to discuss the merits and flaws of the different boats, so I felt like the trip was very worthwhile as a catamaran education.

As a side note: Our plan was to buy a catamaran relatively soon, to set sail on a circumnavigation in 2014, alas that was not to be the case, because Kjersti and I split up shortly after we got back to Norway, throwing the timetable out the window, but that’s a different story.

In addition to seeing all the great spots along the French Riviera, we also ate some amazing seafood. I was particularly happy with a sensational meal we had in Nice at the excellent seafood restaurant Cafe de Turin.

In Marseille on our way to the airport, we stopped by the largest freediving store on the Riviera and I was happy to pick up a new set of carbon fiber fins that I look forward to taking into the water in Norway.