After my “required” morning soak in the hot
tub on the bow, it was time to head to the Bridge for our tour. A funny thing happened on the way: Dolphins!
Dolphins were swimming full speed right for the ship. It was a beautiful sight.
After a day filled with rest, lectures,
spa treatments and fabulous food, it was time for our champagne and caviar
galley tour. Executive Chef Kurt
Timmermans was, as always, charming, fun and informative. (It is amazing how this young chef has attained the level of proficiency not only as a chef, but as leader and administrator running the galley.)
It was quite enlightening to those
guests who have never been on one of the small Seabourn yachts seeing how such
wonderful food is created in such a small galley (and, honestly, the food on
this cruise has been consistently the best food I have ever eaten on a cruise
ship and some of the best ever…but that is for another article).
Another lovely evening led to a morning
arrival at an island none of us had any knowledge of Belle Ile en Mer. We
arrived to sunny skies, warmer temperatures and calm seas.
We were all up early and met Chef Kurt for a
short Shopping with the Chef (since the original one was cancelled and the real
one was not until near the end of the cruise).
As no one had been here before nobody really knew what the market would be
like. It was tiny…I mean really tiny. Like about 8 stalls tiny. But there was a
fish monger who none of us will ever forget.
There was a long haired, balding, laughing, French speaking salty dog
who made no bones about having a drink or three at 9:00 a.m. He and Chef Kurt had a “unique” conversation
about seafood pairing the quiet and reserved chef with a character.
It was then time to explore the
island. From the sea (as this is a
tender port) the island looked OK, but nothing special. But upon arrival, this little island charmed
everyone…and everyone had different experiences. Some took an impromptu tour of the island
discovery spectacular scenery, others climbed to the imposing fort and wandered
through its halls. My wife and I planned
a “personal day” and wandered the streets, climbed some back roads up a hill,
did some window shopping and also bought some caramel particular to this
island. All the while we were keeping
our eye out for “the” place to have lunch.
Our wandering brought us back to the quay where the Hotel Atlantique’s restaurant has a wonderful view of the ocean and the Seabourn Pride. We were looking for a seafood platter and the hotel’s charming restaurant had a great deal: a seafood platter, a bottle of wine and two desserts for 78 Euros. With the view, the charm and the value, we were happy to settle into a small table in the corner of the elevated restaurant with windows open to the fresh air. The waitress brought over a very nice Muscadet, then the table settings and then an incredible seafood feast consisting of mussels, clams, oysters, welks, snails, langoustines, shrimp, small crabs, and two large crabs of differing species.
For two hours we sat, ate, chatted and watched the world go by. As it was an early departure (3:00 p.m.) we begrudgingly finished our lunch and headed back to the Seabourn tender.
It was a great day and everyone aboard
the Seabourn Pride was charmed by this little Beautiful Island in the Sea.
