Joined by two other friends of Morris we flew to Naples and took a taxi to Sorrento.
Marino di Cassano is at the bottom of a steep sharply winding road which our taxi driver could
only maneuver with a three-point turn at each bend.

After we settled down on the yacht and after meeting Morris and his outstanding staff
(Captain Mike, Denis, Jan and Jeanie) we watched the local vehicles, including trucks
whizz up and down the same mountainside as if it were straight.

After an excellent dinner prepared by Chef Jan – all the meals were outstanding – we sailed through the night to the island of Elba. The crossing was very rough in parts (Click here or on the picture).

Breakfasts on the boat were excellent, as were all the meals. Here Allon, Eitan and Barney start the day with a breakfast feast.

We arrived in Elba in the late afternoon, docked in the bay of Porto Azzurro, and  went ashore to have dinner. It was absolutely crowded with families and their dogs and fun. We later found out that it wasn’t a dog festival but the following day was the Day of Assumption when Mary ascends to heaven. It seems the Italians are like us – they like to celebrate holidays with food.

The next day we went ashore again. Our very good friend and Eitan’s bridge colleague, Maurizio de Sacco, was on the island with his wife Marcella and children Marcello and Matilde. Marcella s from Elba and they have a family home there. We had coffee with the di Sacco family and then joined Morris and Allon and went touring.
We had visited Elba with Morris on a previous sail and the three of us were concerned that Napoleon’s palace didn’t look even faintly familiar. After lunch, when the taxi driver took us to the second of Napoleon’s palaces during his exile on the island we were relieved to recognize it as the one we had previously visited.

We again sailed through the night, this time under much calmer conditions and under sail, reaching Antibes on the French Riviera. After another lazy and delicious breakfast we went ashore. I visited the Picasso museum, walked around the old town and went swimming – I had to be able to say I went swimming on the French Riviera.  The crew had caught a tuna the day before and subsequent meals included tuna, raw or cooked, in delicious ways.

At the market waiting for our garbanzo pancake to be fired; at the Picasso museum. Antibes has an open air exhibit of the statues of David David. Captain Mike holding the tuna he had just landed

The next morning, after a good night’s sleep (I don’t sleep well in rough weather or when the boat is slanting and Eitan is complaining that I am pushing him out of bed) we made our way to the local market, admiring the variety of goods available.

We then sailed past Nice and docked near Villefranche by Cap Ferra. It was nice to swim in the cool waters.  Later Eitan, Barney and I went ashore and I did my favourite shopping – tablecloths and earrings. It too was full of atmosphere. The row of restaurants was on the mountainside of the narrow road while all the tables were across the road literally on the marina edge.

After a final gourmet dinner I went to bed while the others watched a movie. The next morning we went swimming again, more shopping (another tablecloth and a pair of earrings) then took a taxi to Nice from where we flew back to Israel with Morris.