January 9, 2011

I got up at 05:15 to once again attempt to restore my reputation. I biked over to town and down to the port.

I had kept the small fish that had been refused access to the kitchen yesterday and now used them as bait. I had a hard time avoiding catching a shark, they were constantly patrolling the sides of the pier.

There were not many other signs of life and after over 2 hours I was ready to give up when I finally saw the floater move. I waited a while until it disappeared and then pulled hard to hook the fish. No resistance. As i pulled up I saw a nicely sized fish follow the bait upwards. i quickly let go and waited in anticipation. After only a few seconds it was back again. New hooking. YES! Fish on the line! Man, it was a good fighter. It ran off with the line two times and desperately tried to hide under the pier. I had a hard time denying it access. I wanted to wear it out completely since the water was a meter and half (5 feet) below me and it was not possible to get to a place where I could net it. When it finally resigned I could quickly and carefully drag it up. Fish on land! I felt the adrenaline rush and the age-old instinctual satisfaction deep inside the hunter-gatherer part of my brain. Me strong. Me get food.

I was a happy fisherman when I returned with my baliste geant:

In the kitchen they had to admit it was edible and big enough for human consumption. They accepted my gift. My reputation had at least improved a bit.

I haven´t said too much about our hosts yet. Pension Hotu is a well-run family business and a place with a very home-like atmosphere. Naturally, since there are only 5 bungalows and we are staying for a week, we are getting to know our hosts pretty well. There are 3 generations of them. Here they are:

The owners are Hervé (in the middle) and his wife, Vanina (to the right). Hervé is a good guy. He is a bit rough around the edges and unlike many French I know he tries to minimize the wear on his vocal cords.

Vanina is the hostess. She met us at the airport, asks if things are OK, calls us for the meals and helps the staff serve them.

To the left is Alexandre, Hervés father. He is the negotiator and organizer. The bed & breakfast´s official mail address is alexandre@mail.pf and Alexandre answers everyone and negotiates rates for long stays, like ours. He is very talkative. On the average the sum of Hervé and Alexandre probably makes up a normal talkative French. However, Alexandre is also a great guy and genuinely interested in people. He has been a marine/sailor for most of his life and has seen many places in the world. You are never bored with him around. Alexandre does the round after supper every evening and asks everyone what they want to do the next day. He then plans the logistics for the next day, makes calls to the two diving centers here etc.

To the right of Alexandre is his wife, Christiane. She is the cook, and an excellent one as such. She stays mostly in the background but always has a smile or a nice comment for you.

Then there are the kids. Charles is 4 years old and quite a rough and sturdy kid. He is very curious and interested in everything. He followed me to the beach one evening when I was fishing for bait for the next morning. It was amazing how he never had an end to the questions he asked about what I was doing and why.

The little girl is his sister, 2-year old Oceane. She follows Iseline all the time,  and Iseline mostly doesn´t mind. She is a complete heartbreaker and does not take no for an answer, like most kids her age.

We are really having a great time here and the family is doing everything they can to make our stay as good as possible. They know when to stay in the background and always try to help when we ask. I chose this place because of the raving reviews on TripAdvisor, and they seem well deserved. Of course, it is a big advantage that we all speak French.

After yesterday´s excursion we felt the need to just chill out at the beach. Which we did.

Helene and Iseline observed the cat of the owners encounter a crab. They were equally afraid of each other.

Iseline made a very nice drawing for me in the afternoon. It´s slinky from Toy Story:

A lazy day can be good sometimes.

Eirik

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