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| "Le Sky Rider" |
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| Spinnaker training |
Monday, May 27, 2019, Berlin--It's been a hectic two days. It's hard to believe, too, that two days ago we were moving through the last locks of the Canal du Midi and then cruising across the Étang de Thau towards our last port of call, Marseillan. The voyage had been superb. The last day was full of different sights: "le camping" sites, a new amusement park with a smallish roller coaster, and low level dikes into the lagoon, the étang, with its massive oyster farm and sailboats, both modern with spinnakers and trapezes, and old fashioned with steppable masts and lapstreak hulls. 
It was basically a chilly day on the water, visibly so as we ate our lunch from the local waters and huddled in our coats and blankets, enjoying the flesh of the thinly-shelled mussels marinières with roasted potatoes in place of frites.
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| Noilly Prat |
That afternoon we landed in Marseillan and took the time to visit the local Noilly-Prat cellars, the only place in the world making the necessary vermouth for American extra-dry martinis. Lots of huge caskets, a tour explaining of how the various vermouths are infused with spices and herbs, and then a tasting of the four (two dry, two sweet) the company makes. The American market is huge for the product, but one is kept for sale only at the cellars, the sweet amber. Needless to say we invested in a bottle. The tour-guide was officious, (we're being kind), and quite the dictator otherwise.
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| Oysters three ways |
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| Oyster beds, grown on strings |
From there we returned to the boat for the preparation for the Captain's dinner that evening, where we abandoned our jeans and casual clothes to "dress up" for the occasion. The meal was superb. We started with oysters from the lagoon in three ways--with lemon, raw with vinaigrette, and grilled with bits of sweet bacon, à la Rockefeller. Then we proceed to superb beefsteak. We finished off with an excellent cheese course, and a dessert of American-style cheesecakes. All the wines were superb as we ended our tastings of Languedoc and regional products.
The dinner brought all the members of the staff, who had been so excellent during the voyage, together with us to enjoy the wines. They were an interesting group.
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| Marianna from Hungary |
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| Christie from Newcastle UK |
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| Mattieu, our captain bringing the daily bread |
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| Our final dinner |
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| Pierre Yves our pilot, and chef Lee from Wales |
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| Cheesecake with local cream cheese |
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| Adieu Occitanie |
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