Sapphire Princess docked at Le Verdon on the peninsular and we were taken to Soulac-sur-Mer. A beautiful French resort with miles of beautiful beaches.
After leaving the peninsular we had a day at sea before reaching St Peter Port.
Our seven day cruise on Sapphire Princess took us from Southampton to La Coruna, Bilbao, Le Verdon, St. Peter Port and finally back to Southampton.
Day 5 Le Verdon, France: Wednesday, 29th May 2019
The port was surprisingly empty, there were just three container cranes, a large concrete apron and a warehouse and nothing else!
At first there were only a few cars and a mobile crane by the ship. Then three motorbikes and a van arrived, all were French customs.
Our breakfast was in the International Dining Room and as a treat I had the breakfast special of the minute steak, which was excellent.
Leaving le port
Princess Cruises had laid on a shuttle to take us to a nearby town. The ship was operating a ticket system for the shuttle service. Embarrassingly we were able to jump any queues and picked up our tickets in the Savoy restaurant and went straight down to board the shuttle.
As we left the port we passed Nazi concrete bunkers left behind from WW2.
We had expected to be taken to Le Verdon but instead we were taken to Soulac-sur-Mer.
Soulac-sur-mer
After a brief stop to let off a passenger in a wheelchair, the shuttle took us to a road close by the town’s church. We walked across the church car park to the Rue de la Plage. Around this car park amusement rides were being set up for the town’s upcoming June celebration weekend.
The Rue de la Plage in Soulac-sure-Mer was pedestrianised and we slowly walked down it stopping to look at the interesting shops on both sides.
On the left hand side of the Rue is a covered market and we wandered around looking at all the local produce on offer.
At the end of the street we came to Soula-sure-Mer’s promenade and a road that stretched both to the left and right.
There were cafes and bars along its sides.
The beach at Soulac-sur-Mer
In front of us were a couple more bars at the top of the beach accessed down a simple path of wooden boards.
The sun was shining and the wind had dropped – what a beautiful day!
We sat and watched the sea and regretted not knowing that we would be on a beach after leaving the ship.
I could see a stone breakwater along the beach and I walked to see it more closely.
Walking back up the Rue de la Plage
We stopped at the first cafe for a drink after we left the beach. Clearly Soulac-sur-Mer is an upmarket resort (or thinks it is) as the drink prices reached the dizzy heights of Paris.
On the way back up the Rue-de-la-Plage I bought a new wind chime for 7 Euros – a bargain compared to the prices in the other shops.
We walked through the covered market to visit the SPAR supermarket that we had seen. We stocked up on Diet Cokes and tonic water (plus some chocolate of course) for the rest of the cruise.
Past one of the small squares off from the street I went to have a look at Soulac-sure-Mer’s town hall.
In the small square was a crepe stall. We couldn’t resist buying some crepes. The stall had a meter long hot plate for making the crepes and as expected they were delicious too.
Leaving Soulac-sur-Mer
On the way back to the ship the land on both sides of the road was fields.
We were too far up the peninsula for vineyards it seems. We passed a series of artificial of ponds.
Back onboard
We passed more old bunkers and could see an old pier away in the distance.
There were no security checks after leaving the shuttle, so we just walked across the concrete apron to the ship.
We went through Sapphire’s security checks in the Atrium. Standing by the x-ray scanner were three armed French customs officers – not sure what they were looking for though!
From the buffet I had a late lunch of a curry and then an apple dessert with lots of custard – both were delicious.
Leaving Le Verdon
The sun was on our balcony and I settled down with my book and watched the comings and goings below on the quayside.
At 5 pm the shuttle buses were joined by returning excursion coaches and below became very busy.
Evening
The headline act act in the evening was a ventriloquist, Gareth Oliver; and we wanted to catch his early show. The Savoy was full and we were directed next door to the Verona. After our meal the night before we declined to sit on the same table which had a low couch rather then chairs.
This request wasn’t met with a lot of enthusiasm by the maitre d’it and by the two servers that whose table we were placed on. These two guys were by the far the most miserable of anyone that met on the whole cruise. I wasn’t excited by the menu (or perhaps it was the miserable servers?), I had the US version of a prawn cocktail, a Caesar salad and a (disastrous) burger. This was on a limp bun, the promised bacon was missing in action and the burger itself was way over cooked. We walked out without waiting to be subjected to dessert or any more of the grumpy service.
The Theatre was not too full and we enjoyed a drink while we waited for the ventriloquist. By 8 pm there was standing room only and we were treated to a short performance by the ship’s entertainers before the ventriloquist came on stage.
He did 10 minutes of stand-up comedy which was in his own self-deprecating style and very funny. His puppets were as we’d seen him before but his act was different enough that we all had a great time.
Myles and I headed off to Club Fusion and perched ourselves on a couple of stools to watch the European Cup Final. We had missed the first 10 minutes or so but it seems that we hadn’t missed much. The second half was more exciting and Myles (as a Spurs fan) enjoyed each of the Chelsea goals.
It was a late night for all of us but the clocks went back an hour to align with UK time so we did get an extra hour’s sleep.
From the Cruise Log
Le Verdon – Wednesday, 29th May 2019
Overnight Sapphire Princess maintained various north-westerly courses through the North Sea. At 06:50 we embarked our local pilot who assisted us with his local knowledge. At 06:42 the Officer of the Watch instructed the Engine Control Room to ‘Stand by Below’ as once again we readied the vessel for manoeuvring. With the pilot already on-board, Sapphire Princess proceeded inbound as we prepared to come alongside our berth. Sapphire Princess cast her first line ashore at 08:33 and we were, ‘all fast’ at 09:07, at the same time the Officer of the Watch instructed the Engine Control Room that the Bridge had ‘Finished with Engines as Sapphire Princess settled down for a quiet day alongside in the Port.
At 17:18 Sapphire Princess was almost ready to depart and once again the OOW rang ‘Stand by Below’. The Gangway was shipped and with all of our guests on-board we let go our last line at 17:50. Sapphire Princess then followed reciprocal courses out of the harbour. Once clear of the port limits we set a north-westerly course towards our next port of call St. Peter Port.
At Noon
Position: Le Verdon
Sky: Overcast with heavy rain
Air Temperature: 11°C / 51.8°F
Pressure: 1007 mbs wind; Southerly, Force 4
Sea: Calm