A trip to France   

We flew to France in March of '22 from LA to Nantes where we rented a car and drove south to Les Sables where the boat would be commissioned. This turned into an excellent opportunity to haul our new cockpit cushions and some other equipment  to the yard. We packed up 4 rolling duffels and a box with a towel warmer to go to the yard.



While in Les Sables we were able to pick up our electric bikes and deliver them to the yard as well. The yard had us load up a pallet so they could shrink wrap it and put it in their warehouse.


 While in Les Sables we did some shopping to determine where we will provision and where we will buy housewares for the boat. When we went to the supermarket we were sure that we died and went to cheese heaven. This is the regular grocery store! You got to love France.



In Les Sables we discovered that the Oceanis store had closed and the closest place to receive items from the Uship catalog was La Rochelle. Fortunately we found a comparable place, that had a similar catalog to Uship, called Accastillage Diffusion. They were also the shop that would build our bimini and dodger.

The next day we were able to go to the Jeanneau factory in Cholet and see our boat in production. The hull was complete and the deck sat separately with the teak inlays installed. We were very happy and beyond ready to receive our boat. We were able to get on a nearly complete JY51, hull #119, and see some of the inner workings of the boat.





Satisfied with our factory visit we wrapped up our boat business for now. We took the train to Paris and spent a few days as tourists. From Paris we trained to Geneva, Switzerland for some more touring. The final stop brought us to Milan where enjoyed an opera at La Scala and toured the city.

In Milan we rented  a car for the day and drove north to visit Beltrami outside of Bergamo. Suzette was in her glory picking fabrics and exploring the options for custom linens and pillows. It was a fruitful visit and afterwards we enjoyed a great Italian lunch with the Owner, Stephani.




We accomplished a lot on this trip, it is becoming very real.

Hoping to hear that we have a confirmed delivery date...

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