We left Sydney on a sunny Sunday morning, bound for Paris.  We decided to stay in a non-tourist area of the city and chose Montparnasse.  Around the corner was a wonderful cemetery, with both very old and very new graves.  We were fascinated by some most unusual gravestones.  We went to the local street market and bought some of the local produce and a necessary jacket for Dimitri as the fresh spring Paris air was not what we had expected. We enjoyed going  to a  “cave” one evening – basically an old torture chamber dungeon which is now used as a  jazz dive- and saw some awesome ballroom dancing by members of the crowd during the jazz breaks.

We reached Barcelona on 7^th May and Artemis V was a very welcome sight.  She looked bright and shiny with the new work that was being done and her mast was back in place. Over the last two weeks, while the tradesmen were completing their jobs, Dimitri and I have been doing lots of bits and pieces of maintenance and repair. All the stairs have been repainted, the woodwork has been polished and the whole boat has been waxed.  We have however spent quite a bit of each day on our bikes, either going to the yacht chandler or to the supermarket, with a very necessary stop on the way for either tapas and sangria or coffee and pastries. .  We have got to know Barcelona very well (at least our corner of it) and enjoy exploring new restaurants and bars each day.

 On Sunday, while on our bikes,  we came across a Medieval-like street parade with giant puppets dancing down the road.  Later we noticed that the Opera House on La Ramblas had an open day on so we decided to go and look at the décor inside.  It is truly a beautiful building but the highlight was the concert that was being put on.  They had about six young sopranos performing, accompanied only by a piano.  We managed to get ring-side seats and enjoyed an hour of beautiful arias.

We plan on “going back into the water” tomorrow as long as the current front, which is passing through,  is over.  Once our sails are up, we will head off for Corsica, a 48 hour trip.  We will be sad to say “goodbye” to Spain but are looking forward to exploring Corsica.  It sounds like a beautiful and rugged place. It will also be lovely meeting up with all our friends and family who are planning on meeting us either there or in Sardinia.