A tense thriller of child abduction set in LONDON
Talking Location With: Carole Bumpus: Sailing along the COTE d’AZUR
25th November 2024
Adventures on Land and Sea (Searching for Culinary Pleasures) by Carole Bumpus
SAILING ALONG THE COTE d’AZUR
Adventures on Land and Sea: “This is a charming introduction to the South of France and excellent reading companion to Peter Mayle’s now-classics like A Year in Provence and Toujours Provence.”— Booklist
My husband, Winston, and I have traveled many times to Provence, probably for the same reasons others do who want to follow in the footsteps of . . . yes, Peter Mayle. Being a non-French speaking couple, we thought we could manage this. You see, we fell under Mayle’s spell the first time we read A Year in Provence.
We often began our trips traipsing through the Roman ruins liberally sprinkled throughout Provence. We hiked through medieval villages perched high in the Var hills. We indulged in wine tasting at local wineries, sampled olive oils, and gorged ourselves on fresh produce, cheeses, olives, paté de foie gras and tapenades from the numerous farmers’ markets. We often cooked at our rented home but preferred to dine where the locals were. How else could we learn to appreciate the traditional foods, as well as the local people? We were there to savor the best cuisine the area had to offer. Can you say Moules Marinière? Or Bouillabaisse?
But it was during our forays to the beaches of St. Tropez or St. Maxime, while I was luxuriating in the sun with a glass of wine, my husband found himself staring out at the Côte d’Azur. “One day,” he said, “we, too, will sail along these crystalline waters.”
Not long after, my husband took up sailing lessons on nearby San Francisco Bay. He had grown up sailing in Massachusetts as a kid, but it had been a long time since he had taken the helm. But he was determined to complete and pass all the courses within U.S. Sailing.
One day, while scanning a U.S. Sailing newsletter, he ran across an opportunity to sail on Mediterranean waters! What?? Yes! If he filled out the application, submitted a fat check of $25 along with proof of his passport and sailing credentials, he, too, could sail on Mediterranean waters. Once the certification arrived, it was like his own ‘secret decoder’ ring was in hand and the adventure began to unfold.
We had chartered sail boats previously with the Moorings in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), so they were the first charter company he Googled. Lo and behold, they had a facility at the Old Port in Nice, France. They could easily accommodate us, along with four of our ‘closest’ sailor friends as ‘crew,’ on a 443 Moorings monohull sailboat.
Then, the hunt was on for crew! To whom would we offer this marvelous opportunity? Who did we feel would be a comfortable fit spending a week together in close quarters on a boat? Not being proficient in French, we asked some dear friends who were French to join us, and it was a go! Our other good friends, who had just retired, were also open for an adventure.
From the moment all six of us came together for the first time in the Park Hotel in Nice, our lives were bound together! “Cin Cin!” (pronounced Tchin-Tchin) we said, as we hoisted our first glasses in celebration of our adventure together along the Côte d’Azur.
For me, one of the most challenging, intriguing, and yet difficult conundrums is to provision the boat in a foreign port. Being insufficient in the language is always hard. But thankfully, dear Karine guided us with nary a misstep through the aisles of the marché in Vieille Port-Nice. We were quickly able to stock our larder for the week, plus pick up cases of beer and wine. Once three shopping carts worth of groceries were unloaded and stowed on the boat, our guys finished the all-important Moorings check list. Grand Cru, our boat was ready.
I knew my husband was nervous to take the helm as captain, but this had been a dream of his for many years. He pressed forward. Just as he requested our ‘crew’ to drop our lines, a young man came running up the dock shouting to him!
“Monsieur Bumpus, Monsieur Bumpus, you cannot go!” Now, clearly flustered, he wondered if he had completed all the paperwork. He started to get back off the boat, but then, another young lad came racing up. With a grin on his face, he thrust a bottle into my husband’s hands, “Monsieur, no self-respecting sailor on Mediterranean waters can sail without this—a bottle of Ricard Pastis!”
Laurent, our French friend, nodded in agreement. “He’s right; no one can sail the south of France without Pastis!’”
Within moments, the tension relaxed, as the lines once again dropped, and we were on our way, gliding through the waters of the Vieux Port and into the electric blue of the sea! The Côte d’Azur!
Carole Bumpus
Carole Bumpus began writing about food and travel after stumbling upon the amazing stories of women and war in France. She has written an historical novel, A Cup of Redemption, followed by her unique companion cookbook, Recipesfor Redemption, as well as the Savoring the Olde Ways Series: Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table Books One & Two and A September to Remember: Searching for Culinary
Pleasures at the Italian Table. She is a member of the National Women’s Book Association, National Association of Memoir Writers, and The California Writers Club, through which she was honored with the Ina Coolbrith Award for years of service to the entire 2,200-member organization. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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