wild flower 
Devil’s Island 
some prison buildings 
Capuchin monkey
The 3 Iles du Salut, which include Ile Royale and Ile du Diable, were used for many years as a French penal colony. Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned here for treason for 5 years and then exonerated. Henry Charriere was among the few to escape and his story is told in his memoir adapted into a film with Steve McQueen & Dustin Hoffman, both titled Papillon. A remake of Papillon was made in 2017 starring Rami Malek and a good looking young actor named Charlie Hunnam. We saw the film on the ship this morning and it’s pretty good. This afternoon we were tendered ashore to Ile Royale where most of the penal colony was. It was lovely to walk on a path in the woods—different type of woods from Middlebury’s Chipman Hill, but still. The map of the trails and buildings seemed to bear little resemblance to the physical reality and the buildings had no signs so it wasn’t otherwise a really memorable stop. There were capuchin monkies and some nice flowers. One of the buildings is now a small hotel; I can’t imagine who stays there, and staff are primarily ferried to and from the mainland. From the top I could see Devil’s Island and I saw no evidence of the high cliffs featured in the movie. Chris chose to stay on the ship—a good choice given the slightly rough sea making it difficult to board the tender and the heat, humidity, and rough trails on land. We managed also to do our first laundry today; it’s hard to decipher the icons used on the machines but they seem to work fine.
C&C travel the seas 
On the Rolling Main: following 5 days of smooth, sunny sailing across the Caribbean, Ile Royale and French Guiana brought us another sunny day… and past the shoulder of South America and into the Atlantic Ocean. Another cauldron of water entirely!
While in the Caribbean it was often difficult to tell when the ship was moving, as it literally glided into and out of its pier moorings with ease… and only occasionally was one aware of slight porpoise motions as it moved forward with an average speed of 17 knots. No rolling motion whatsoever!
Now well into the swells of the central Atlantic, we roll as well as porpoise along at 17 knots. (The ships side-thrusters don’t prevent rolling at speeds less than 6 knots, according to the engineering officer. and thus are more useful for docking than stability.) And, of course, rolling is much more noticeable on upper decks than on lower ones. So, on deck 5 we’re rocked to sleep, but in the World Café on deck 7, I teeter along with my cane, narrowly missing other patrons and hurrying waiters. Wine of course helps! OC (The Other C)
LikeLike