The AirBnB apartment was in an old postal building that had previously housed the horses and carriages for mail delivery back in 1839 (according to the plaque above the doors). The town of St Nazaire was 10 minutes from the boat yard, and seemed very sleepy as we didn’t see anyone about when we arrived at 1 pm. The building was split into 3 titles, and our entrance was through one of the large green stable doors, underneath a sign proclaiming “Danse Barrio 9”. 
All the houses in the area appeared to be of the same age and construction which was flat sided, tall, with 1 meter thick stone walls and orange roof tile.
Our contact was Sandrine, who was a Zumba and dance instructor, as well as restaurateur. We had been given a code for the padlocked door and let ourselves inside. Upon entering, we were in a cobble stoned area which was a combination of garage space and patio, with lush plants and cool random sculptures, and paintings. There was also a bird-cage with a pretty green parrot in it who was making quite a racket. We later learned it was an Australian bird whom the eldest daughter had ironically called “Kiwi”. To the left through an open door was the dance studio which was even more artsy with hand laid mosaic tile bordering a gorgeous wooden dance floor. Straight ahead was an iron staircase up to the second level where the entrance to the owners apartment was. There was a huge glass window that could be opened for breeze, let a lot of natural light into the upstairs areas, and offered a view of Canet in the distance. The tropical theme was continued to the third level, where our apartment was located behind a sliding glass door and narrow metal balcony. It was huge! The large living area had a stout wooden table that could easily seat 8, and there were 2 couches and a coffee table. To the left up 2 steps was the galley kitchen with breakfast nook, and bathroom. Through the lounge you went up 2 steps to the first of 2 bedrooms which had a large (and necessary as it turned out) mosquito net over the ample queen sized bed. There was a window equipped with wooden shutters which gave us a look at how thick the walls were. The second smaller room was up another 2 steps and also had a queen sized bed. Wow, we thought, as long as the internet and air conditioning worked, we would be living like kings! The internet speed was fast but sadly the air conditioner had broken, and there was less breeze inland.
The host family made up for this shortfall though. Sandrine was a delightful, energetic woman who made us feel welcome and spoke English, Spanish, and French. Her husband Richard spoke mostly French and Spanish, had a little Catalon, and could understand some English phrases. The oldest daughter Myra was an art student and also multi-lingual, and the youngest Leanna, was in her first semester of culinary school. They were the busiest people we met, and worked every day in the summer season. Everyone worked in the restaurant in Canet except Richard who ran a take out pizza place in Perpignan. They sold crepes out of a caravan for a 2 week summer fest in Collioure in August. On the side, Richard was also a fabricator, and Sandrine organized cultural trips to Cuba for her Zumba and dance students. They traveled for most of the winter and would be heading to India for a wedding in November, although Thailand was a frequent destination.
In spite of their busy schedule they included us in their family celebration for Leanna’s 18th birthday just a week from when we arrived at the apartment, which was lot’s of fun. It started with a lunch in their apartment of marinated and grilled; chicken, steak and vegey kebabs, then salad, and bread of course. Then later, down in the patio area with the extended family for cake and champagne.
We got into the swing of kissing cheeks when greeting all the family members, 2 cheeks for the French side and 3 for the Spanish side of the family. Todd got a bit flustered at one point and offered his hand for a handshake instead of cheek kissing a cute young cousin. She was a bit indignant but we didn’t get kicked out for bad behavior. I managed a faut pas too. Yep, as the room was filling up I met Sandrine’s Grand mere who was in her late 70’s to early 80’s, and looking fantastic wearing a colorful above knee skirt and amazing 5 inch heels. I was switching from cheek to cheek and trying to recall if this was a 2 or 3 kiss greeting, when I inadvertently swiped her left boob. Fortunately we just looked at each other and burst out laughing. Later when she sat down she patted the space next to her for me to join her. We had a conversation in pantomime, French and Spanish mostly consisting of how much we appreciated Sandrine and her family, and my admiration of Grand meres shoes. Everybody had given Leanne a card which we thought contained a monetary gift which is probably a similar tradition to the rest of the globe for an 18-year-old. We had brought a nice bottle of champagne and that was shared around with the cake. (We had discussed and dismissed the urge to buy a gift as we didn’t know enough about the culture and what would be appropriate). I also spent some time with Richards sister who spoke English and with Sandrine’s Dad, who spoke Spanish and talked of how good Sandrine’s kid’s were and how drugs were a problem for the young folk.
Sandrine’s brother was an avid fisherman and had a fishing boat called Sushi 11 (or 111, I forget), but we didn’t have a chance to chat with him about the fishing conditions in the Med although Sandrine mentioned he often gave her fresh tuna. From what we had read, the Mediterranean Sea experienced a lower oxygen content which accounted for the very clear water and was supposed to translate to less plankton and ultimately less fish overall. The fact that it was bordered by so many countries also meant there would be heavy pressure on the fishing stock, so it was good to hear there were still some opportunities to catch decent fish.
As the party wound down we got to spend some time with Myra and her boyfriend Rudy. Myra had taken Kiwi out of his cage and he was on her shoulder giving the evil eye to her boyfriend. Anytime Rudy would attempt to touch Myra, the bird would squawk, flap its wings and puff up it’s feathers which was pretty funny to see. As a boy, Rudy had spent several years cruising with his parents, an experience that he say’s he should have appreciated more but was slightly resentful of being pulled away from his friends. Everyone seemed open and eager for a laugh, and we felt very fortunate to be included in the family event.
Apparently word had spread that we were experiencing delays with the French boat company, and we were told that this sort of treatment was totally unacceptable to any French person. We were still hopeful that the promise of a test sail and moving aboard the boat were in our near future.