Dumbass In The Realm Of Dumas

Sam Jefferson treads in the footsteps of the Count of c as he makes a great escape to the Calanques of Provence

One of the enduring fascinations of owning a yacht is, for me, transformation. The same living space can be transported to an entirely different part of the world and, in the process, remain both familiar and also entirely alien. Never was this more true than during lockdown, which I rashly opted to spend on my boat, Black Joke, a 28’ Morecambe Bay Prawner, in Sete in the south of France. My boat was transformed into a very small floating prison. When lockdown lifted, I promptly rented a flat and anchored my boat within sight of the apartment. There she lay, very pretty and gently plucking at her anchor cable – inviting me to go off on another adventure.

With restrictions lifted my friend Tom, in a bout of post lockdown insanity opted to cycle down from London to visit. All things considered, I thought that we couldn’t do better than head down to Marseille and explore the calanques just to the east. These are a selection of narrow, steep walled inlets cut into the limestone making for a string of very striking and tempting anchorages in the midst of the wilderness. I also fancied a trip to Marseille as I’d spent lockdown reading the Count of Monte Cristo – the early section of which is set around Marseille – it therefore seemed fitting to pay homage to the Count as part of our great escape.

Iles du Frioul