After our brief stay in Sardinia, we boarded our boat for a
short sail to Toulon, France. Spirits were up with the knowledge that we had
only five days to our next port rather than the two week voyages we have only
known to this point.
This leg of our journey, although short, still had many sail
maneuvers, which is difficult due to the rope work and my eventual aching hands
but I enjoy being able to climb to the t’legant and ungasket the sails. I find
working aloft my favourite task, not only for the view but I have also come to
appreciate the peace and quiet of working alone in the breeze high above the
rest of the crew, boat and rolling sea beneath me. I find it strange how many
students do not feel comfortable doing this type of work due to the heights,
especially when I was able to sit on the mast platform and gaze out over the
ocean to see France peeking out from the fog in the distance. Idle time when
not on watches or in class consists of catching up on homework, deck work when
required or visiting with friends. There is always something going on and to
look forward to, but it is the small things in our days that provide breaks in
our routines, like Survivor Club. I haven’t watched Survivor forever but I do like
my downtime with the group watching the latest downloaded episode and following
the player I drafted. The last man standing based on the winning Survivor
contestant wins our own style of jackpot, that is made up of our own snacks we have
surrendered for the wager. Believe me, this is worth more than money out here
when snack rations run low.
We arrived in Toulon a day early due to an approaching storm
and had to anchor at port because of high winds, which made tasks and homework
very difficult on board before we were able to disembark. Toulon is beautiful
surrounded by the water and mountains and is a historic naval port which is
still being used to this day. Our Port Programs consisted of a walking tour of
the coast, city, local markets and a vineyard. Toulon is world renown for their
wines especially their roses but it must be an acquired taste that I obviously haven’t
acquired yet. It has been nice to use my French language again and although I
still understand, surprisingly I can also still speak it and have been working
as somewhat of a translator and interpreter to others in the group. Our last
full day at port was the highlight though, rather than exploring the local historical
areas, or taking a train to Paris or the French Riviera we decided to jump on
the train to Monaco. Surprisingly, our Shipboard Director allowed us to leave
the country and let us miss morning provisions detail due to our train time.
Monaco is quite a sight since it is built into the side of a mountain and
overlooking the ocean. At its’ base the harbor is filled with the most
luxurious yachts and the streets have every expensive car imaginable including
Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, McLaren, etc…Once seeing the sights
we decided it was time to visit my first casino and thought I might as well go
big the first time with THE famous Monte Carlo
Casino. So my friend Dallin and
I went into the main area after being searched where the public was allowed. We
then decided to go into casino where I nervously walked up and gave the
security my ID. He allowed us into the slot machine area and we continued to
walk towards the huge doors into the main section of the casino with all the
tables. We weren’t allowed into this area, so I had to play slots which we
would’ve done anyways. Perhaps we weren’t allowed due to having hat hair, runners,
shorts and t-shirts where as everyone else in the casino had tuxedos and suits
on. So I was about to have my first casino experience in one of the world’s
nicest casinos. We sat at two slot machines and put 2 Euro in. Neither of us knew
how to use them so at first we started just pushing buttons with small numbers
on them. We soon started figuring it out but couldn’t tell if we were winning
or not. We were trying so hard not to laugh out loud as we were confused while
the machines made loud noises. At one point we thought Dallin won 100 Euro as
it said jackpot and did some weird thing for 4 minutes. We quietly freaked out
and cashed him out. When the receipt came out it said 2 Euros. It was so
funny and we had no clue what was going on. Once we ran out of money we switched
to one more machine and put 10 more euros in. Here, I Won 2 euros!
Without winning the big jackpot we hit the train home where we
relived our day of the rich and famous before we returned to the boat and
reality of homework, ship duties and readying for our next sail to Spain. There
is a little more anticipation than normal in regards to the next port as it is
our only Parent Port this semester and only chance to see Mom and Dad until
semester break.
Au Revoir,
Easton
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