On Board Le Bellot, Wild and Authentic Corsica, 12-19 September

[TrulyBlonde]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Thanks for the tip about the Centurion Lounge speakeasy bar, but we were able to get a 2top on the window right at the food and bar on the main floor.  Dangerous with a tray of cookies calling out to me!

Jazz, are you not embarking soon on another adventure too? Looking forward to your reviews of the NC

[jpalbny]

6 hours ago, Ritabob said:

JP,

What is the usual number of passengers on board,  and how many are there on this cruise?

RB 

 

It's around 180 and honestly the ship is probably near full. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 hours ago, TrulyBlonde said:

Jazz, are you not embarking soon on another adventure too? Looking forward to your reviews of the NC

That’s the one. We’re at Heathrow now, in a long line for Immigration. 

[jpalbny]

Wednesday September 15th, Sant'Amarza.

 

This is a bay off the beaten path near Bonifacio. We arrived overnight after leaving Bonifacio after 22:00 or so. We are supposed to land in two separate parts of the beach today.

 

I was awake at 5:30 for a while but fell asleep until after 8:00. That's a sure sign that I'm fairly adjusted to the time difference. Lazy morning today, with coffee and pastries as usual.

 

We got a zodiac ashore a 9:15 for our hike. A long and fairly empty beach awaits us. There are two hikes offered today and you couldn't do both as the times overlapped.

 

 

Just one group and we were the only Anglophones so one of the guides tried to translate for us when possible.

We walked along the entire length of the beach then crossed through a channel of running water to the shore of a brackish lake. Here is the end of the beach, from the lake.

 

 

We walked through scrub vegetation and were grateful for our long pants even though they had made the water crossing a challenge. A number of people didn't, and got some gouges on their legs. The lake was pretty but not much wildlife. The vegetation included sea daffodils and Mediterranean juniper.

 

Back at the landing site with 40 minutes to spare before last zodiac. We asked the expedition leader if we could do the second hike on our own and got directions. Basically, find the path and climb a hill for 5 minutes. Easy enough?

 

One wrong turn but we made the summit quickly and enjoyed a great view. Le Bellot is still there so that's reassuring! 

 

 

This overview shows our route. We landed at the bottom right. We walked to the end of the beach and turned left, walking along the far side of the lake.

 

 

Two happy climbers! Rocking the wind-blown hair look.

 

 

So we did both hikes and left at 11:45. It was a wet ride back as the wind had picked up. Chris got soaked from the spray. I was fortunately on the other side of the boat.

So an early shower then lunch. Chilled cauliflower soup and fusilli pasta salad for starters. Haddock in a verbena butter sauce or Corsican beef stew for mains. Here's the fish dish which was nicely presented.

 

 

White wine from Pays d'Hérault and red Côtes du Rhône which went well with the stew. Dessert was Tropézienne tarte or Lemon Pastia (pictured).

 

During lunch the captain announced that he was canceling the afternoon landings because the wind was stronger, so we'd pick up early and head to our next stop. We had been debating not going anyway so no big loss.

So a lazy afternoon was again in order. Some napping and balcony sitting, then out on deck to watch the Roccapina Headlands approach. Looks pretty in the mist and rain.

 

 

Love the reflection in the windows of the observation lounge on deck 6.

 

Briefing at 18:00. A morning zodiac ride then an afternoon hike. Finally a quick presentation from Benoit about the Corsican flag and the origin of the severed head. Gruesome legend...

We had dinner outside with a storm in the distance. We saw lightning and the rain passed over, but were well protected under the ship.

 

Vichysoisse to start, then foie gras which was delicious.

 

 

Then a perfectly rare duck breast.

 

 

Strawberries in sabayon, and an apricot blanc manger. Wines similar to lunch, both white and red from Pays d'Hérault.

We went to the bar but there was only some mellow guitar music. When the Blue Eye opened at 22:00 we went there again for a glass of wine. A cool space and we wish it was open more often.

 

 

The white boards lining the room make me think of a whale skeleton. 

 

When we came back the music in the bar was more amenable to dancing so we danced a bit before bed.

[TrulyBlonde]

The food looks wonderful. You are making me hungry. 

[spinnaker2]

[Lois R]

Hi JP, pictures are awesome (as usual) so nice to see the 2 of you on the seas again and sounds like you having a wonderful cruise🙂

[MrToblerone]

This Itinary and cruise looks gorgeous,especially from lockdown in New Zealand !

Maybe we will get to travel next year but im enjoying your pictures and Ponant looks very nice.

[Lois R]

@MrToblerone, I have a cruise booked for 2023 that is sailing out of Auckland😃. It will be my first time visiting and I hope the cruise will be able to sail! It is for January 2023😃 (not on Ponant)

[wandb]

Wow!!  I feel like I’ve discovered hidden treasure!  I just found this blog and I’m thrilled to be following your adventures again. It’s been too long since we’ve been able to experience (in spirit!) all the wonderful ports you visit, but also the great excursions and hikes you two undertake!  

 

I see that your cruise ends tomorrow. 🙁.   Hope you have another one planned for us to follow along with. 

 

Love all all the pictures!

 

Barb

[jpalbny]

Thursday September 16th, Roccapina Headlands, Corsica 

 

A section of rocky headlands in southern Corsica, a bit west of Bonifacio. 

I was again up at 5:00 as usual, but dozed a bit before getting up for good at 7:15. We had a zodiac ride at 8:30 so we got breakfast first then headed out. A few clouds this morning. 

 

There were 7 in our English speaking group this morning. Two from New Jersey and one from Boston, and three from Belgium who spoke Flemish and many other languages, including English. Languages were flying this morning! 

 

A view of our home as we pulled away in our zodiac.

 

We cruised along the coast looking at the strange rock formations. One of these was supposed to look like a lion. It took a lot of imagination!

 

So Barbara handed out glasses and poured Champagne! Very nice. We went to the other side of the promontory to see if the lion looked better from another angle. 

 

 

That helped but we decided that the lion (the formation on the right) looked more like a turtle. That wouldn't fit the legend though!

 

 

The legend of the Lion of Roccapina is something like this. A mighty young man with wild hair like a lion's mane was so handsome that every girl wanted him. While out hunting he saw a beautiful girl but she rejected his advances. Heartbroken, he asked death to take him now rather than live with his sorrow. So death immortalized him as a lion in the rock.

 

I still think it looks like a turtle...

Back to the boat for a rest before lunch. Tasty appetizers, a potato salad and a cassolet of seafood (not cassoulet mind you). Mains were Mediterranean brandade (an interesting fish dish) and roasted guinea fowl. White Moscato and a red Côtes du Rhône were served but we went easy because we have a long hike later.

Dessert was a lemon tart and a Ponant Brest which was a rich filled pastry, and very tasty. Now I needed an espresso to counteract the sugar coma.

During lunch we repositioned a little to the north to a different beach where we got a zodiac for our 14:00 hike. We got there just in time and the group set a fast pace.

 

 

Neat rock formations! The granite has been shaped by wind and water.

 

We took too many pictures, and eventually got stuck behind some slower folks. Such a cool landscape though. No need to rush.

 

 

We all got so far behind that we lost the main group entirely. Never good to lose sight of the peloton! The slow group was afraid to go on and waited.. But we kept on, exploring on our own, and eventually found the main group at the "beach" where the hike ended.

 

A beach full of boulders but a nice serene spot. It reminded me of The Baths in Virgin Gorda.

 

Back home at a fast pace again, so the 3-hour hike had only taken 2 hours. Wonder why? We barely had time for any pictures on the way back. When wind or water carve rocks this way it's called "tafoni" and it's really pretty.

 

 

Once we got on the zodiac, Anaëlle said that she would try to beat the rain. So maybe the hike was rushed to avoid bad weather? Not sure.

We relaxed before briefing at 18:00 but as we were ready to start, they announced that the English speaking group should join everyone else in the theater. Hm.

We have taken enough cruises to know that it's never good when the captain is standing in front of a weather chart and addressing the group. So there is a strong storm approaching the northwest of Corsica Friday night into Saturday, and we will not be able to use the zodiacs in Calvi because of the anticipated swells. So we will be in Ajaccio instead, near tomorrow's stop.

Dinner was very good again. Sweet potato soup, then starters were Seabream tartar with Parma ham and a Corsican bruschetta.

 

 

Mains were Aziminu (Corsican bouillabaisse)

 

 

and an Iberian pork pluma. Very good. Dessert was passionfruit cream and sesame seed ice cream, or sablé Breton. Wines were a white Bordeaux or a red from Pays d'Oc.

The evening show was moved earlier to 21:15 so we decided to go. The two dancers and one singer took turns performing for about 30 minutes, then the music duo played lots of energetic dance music. We were going until 23:00. No problem since we have a late zodiac tomorrow at 10:00.

 

So we can sleep in! As if that ever happens. Tomorrow we have to start thinking about how to get a covid test before coming home. That should keep us awake...

 

The French health ministry still has not acted on our application to convert the vaccine card to a French health pass. It's been sitting there, untouched, for two weeks. So we will need to time that test to hopefully serve both purposes. 

[AussieBoyTX]

3 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

So we can sleep in! As if that ever happens. Tomorrow we have to start thinking about how to get a covid test before coming home. That should keep us awake...

 

I'm sure by this point, you've sorted out the ship's infirmary can do the covid test for you? They charged us EUR 50.

[jpalbny]

46 minutes ago, AussieBoyTX said:

 

I'm sure by this point, you've sorted out the ship's infirmary can do the covid test for you? They charged us EUR 50.

 

That is an option that we explored. For reasons I'll go into later, it wasn't the best option so it was our backup plan.

[AussieBoyTX]

2 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

That is an option that we explored. For reasons I'll go into later, it wasn't the best option so it was our backup plan.

 

Not that we're paranoid [Narrator: They are paranoid], but we have been traveling with multiple covid tests just in case one wasn't in the form preferred by some inspector or another... 🤣🤦‍♂️

[TLCOhio]

On 9/17/2021 at 10:42 AM, Lois R said:

Hi JP, pictures are awesome (as usual) so nice to see the 2 of you on the seas again and sounds like you having a wonderful cruise🙂

 

Yes!  YES!!  YES!!!!  Super appreciate these great comments above by Lois and the follow-ups by others about the wonderful reporting by J.P, the excellent visuals, tasty food pictures, etc.  Agree both Chris and J.P. are, as always, looking so superb!!   Keep it coming Very good sharing.

 

Just a few quick questions, when handy, for J.P.:

 

1. As Americans, how have things worked on this French-focused ship for languague/communications, dealing with other passengers, getting desired food variety/quality, know what's going on/offered, etc.??

 

2. How much contact, communications and connection did you get with the people/locals on Corsica?  Friendly, interesting and helpful? 

 

3. What was the biggest surprise/highlight from Corsica itself?

 

4. How does Ponant quality and staffing compare to Silversea and other comparable smaller, luxury cruise lines? 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 242,696 views.
www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[Silver Spectre]

Hope you are tested, safe and on your way home.

[jpalbny]

1 hour ago, Silver Spectre said:

Hope you are tested, safe and on your way home.

 

All is well,  thanks Silver. We got tests and the health passes easily (details later). Our plane arrives in Nice in 2h and we depart in 4h. Enjoying the view from our hotel balcony at the moment but will start for the airport in about 15 minutes. 

 

 

@TLCOhio, I will answer your questions later. Maybe I'll post from the plane if upload speed isn't too slow.

 

Short version, we enjoyed it very much and we think that Ponant offers a quality experience. 

[jpalbny]

Killing time in the Nice airport lounge. Fast Wi-Fi and not crowded at all.

 

Here are a few pix of the zodiac dock used for loading and unloading. You check in and out under the little pavilion by touching your cruise card to a reader.

 

 

The whole assembly folds into the stern of the ship when not in use. 

 

 

Walk down the stairs to a dock.

 

 

The zodiacs are at a nice height to step in.

 

 

And you're off. Effortless.

 

Very nice setup. Silver Explorer is a fair amount more difficult as you'remostly on a ladder. Silver Cloud isn't bad but neither is as easy or as nice as this setup.

[jpalbny]

Friday September 17th, morning. Parata Peninsula et les Îles Sanguinaires.

We were slugs this morning, and slept late, so we had breakfast around 9:00. No need to move earlier because our zodiac is in the late group. So we took our time. 

 

The Anglophone zodiac was for only 5 of us, piloted by Christophe who we really enjoy. He is pictured in the previous post, waiting for us to board.

 

The Parata Peninsula is obviously attached to the mainland though some parts are low-lying. You can hike here from Ajaccio if you have many hours to kill.

 

 

At the tip of the peninsula there is another Genoese Tower. This is in better condition than the one we saw at Saint-Florent. 

 

 

We saw people climbing the hill to the tower. Looks like a decent climb! 

 

We cruised out towards the islands. Some were empty and rocky.

 

 

Cool rock formations, a mixture of rock types. Granite predominates as you get further from the coast. This looked more like a lion than yesterday's rocks!

 

 

Must have been a challenge to get the building materials out here for this lighthouse! 

 

 

Here and there, vegetation. The rocks are more pink than red. This building is part of a quarantine complex used in the time of the plague. Incoming sailors had to stay there until cleared. In French it's called a lazaret.

 

 

And this odd square tower. It's from the 1700s but not much is known (to Christophe) about who built it or why.

 

 

Beautiful rock formations and a pleasant sea breeze despite the sun. The water is so clear! But wow, those rocks look like they would do serious damage to a ship.

 

We were also hunting for birds (Christophe is an ornithologist) but not much variety. Plenty of gulls but no osprey, so he was disappointed. 

 

We did like the views though. Here is the square tower, and the lazaret.

 

Back for lunch. Our ship awaits us.

 

 

Another view of the zodiac dock. 

 

 

And an overview of the Islands. Nobody knew for sure why they are called "bloody" but several theories were proposed. Red granite, or red vegetation were two of the tame possibilities. 

 

 

Before lunch, we checked with the ship about covid testing which was readily available. But they did not offer the results with a scannable QR code, so we could not use them to enter restaurants or museums ashore. That's not terribly useful... Since we are in Ajaccio this afternoon and tomorrow, maybe we can get a test ashore?

[jpalbny]

Friday September 17th, afternoon. Ajaccio part one.

 

Back for lunch. Plenty of time, as estimated docking time is 14:45.

 

Had eggplant cake and pork terrine for starters, sauteed veal and squid carbonara for mains. Plenty of rosé. The squid dish was incredibly rich.

 

 

We cruised slowly and approached the harbor in Ajaccio around 14:00. Looks pretty at a distance. We saw the pilot boat in the distance, chasing away some other small boats.

 

 

Not sure what to expect. We were here 15 years ago on Oceania and I really don't remember much. Hope our almost two days here are more memorable this time.

 

I wasn't disappointed to skip Ajaccio on our original itinerary but we'll roll with the changes. Ponant has done a nice job at all of the stops so far.

 

It took two tries to back into our berth but we made it, finally. View from the pool deck as we approach. 

 

 

The lobby was crowded by 15:00 as we all prepared to disembark en masse for our Ajaccio tour. The second try had made us later than expected. 

 

Our local guide Andrea seemed to be very good. We started at the harbor, with Le Bellot in the distance.

 

 

Andrea switched effortlessly between French and English. Even more remarkable, neither is her first language (that's Romanian). So jealous of these multilingual people!

 

The fishing harbor. The waterfront is lined with open-air restaurants serving seafood. 

 

 

We moved on to some history about Pascal Paoli, an important figure during Corsican independence in the mid 1700s. The sun was hot so we looked for shade when we could. 

 

 

Next we passed by the Citadel, which isn't too photogenic. Parts were modified by Napoleon. And it was until recently a military facility. But Andrea said that you may be able to tour during the patrimony days as it's now open to the public. 

 

 

On the edge of the Citadel there is a popular beach, full of sunbathers.

 

 

This guy wanted us to join him at the beach.

 

 

Instead, we took in a view of the Cathedral. Chris says that she remembers it from last time. I must have forgotten about it. I'm sure she's right.

 

 

I remember the statues of Napoleon. They must be here somewhere. Onward!

[jpalbny]

Friday September 17th, afternoon. Ajaccio part two.

 

We walked along a high promenade overlooking the beach, then crossed into town and doubled back towards the Cathedral. 

 

Beauiful view of the water and the mountains on the other side of the Bay of Ajaccio! 

 

 

And here are the statues of Napoleon, along with his brothers. 

 

 

At this point Christophe spoke to us and said that Napoleon was famous and all, but in his opinion, one of his brothers was more important because he was an ornithologist. We all got a chuckle out of that.

 

On to the Cathedral,

 

 

And more contemporary artwork. 

 

 

We passed through narrow streets in the old town, leading to Napoleon's birthplace.

 

 

The signs say that it's free during the patrimony days but (1) you need a reservation which must be made online, and (2) a passe sanitaire. One might be possible but both? I took a picture of the bulletin so that I could try.

 

On to another monument at one end of the Grand Val. Tough lighting at this time of day. Andrea says there's another one at the other end, 15 minutes away.

 

 

Finally at 17:30, our tour ended at the Fesch Museum. This whole weekend it's the days of national patrimony so all of the museums are free. We were in France three years ago for this and it's a really great deal. But you need the passe sanitaire to enter now.

 

The museum is pretty on the outside. A peaceful courtyard away from the crowds. 

 

 

Since our tour ran so long, we had to move it back to get ready for briefing at 18:00. No time to look for a covid test now. The group of Anglophones at our briefing has dwindled to only three of us so we'd better be there.

 

Briefing was short - we'd leave the pier for a few hours overnight and be back at the dock by 7:00. We sail at 17:00. There is a hike out of town for views but it doesn't sound as appealing so we'll probably stay in town if we can.

 

Just in case, I visited the website to make an appointment for the casa Bonaparte, if spots were available. I found a slot at 10:50 and booked it. Unfortunately France still hasn't converted our US vaccine cards to a passe sanitaire (2 weeks and counting)... And now it's the weekend.

 

Dinner outside. Tomato-basil soup or consumée. Cool appetizers tonight but not very photogenic. A soft-boiled egg swimming in chestnut and mushroom pruee. Or miniature shrimp over avocado. The evening was beautiful too.

 

 

Mains were pan-seared sea bream which had amazing crispy skin.

 

 

And one of the best, most tender, and perfectly cooked racks of lamb that I've ever had.

 

 

There was time for a little more dancing in the bar with tired legs. We asked the music duo if they could play a tango but no luck. They did play some other nice danceable music though. Not too late to bed.

 

Now to get serious and try to figure out covid testing tomorrow, and see if it's possible to do it onshore.

 

I went to the French covid information website and found three pharmacies in town that supposedly offer antigen tests, and supposedly they all open at 8:30. All are reasonably close to the ship. With fingers crossed, and locations safely stored on my Google maps app, let's try to get some sleep!

[jpalbny]

20 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Yes!  YES!!  YES!!!!  Super appreciate these great comments above by Lois and the follow-ups by others about the wonderful reporting by J.P, the excellent visuals, tasty food pictures, etc.  Agree both Chris and J.P. are, as always, looking so superb!!   Keep it coming Very good sharing.

 

Just a few quick questions, when handy, for J.P.:

 

1. As Americans, how have things worked on this French-focused ship for languague/communications, dealing with other passengers, getting desired food variety/quality, know what's going on/offered, etc.??

 

2. How much contact, communications and connection did you get with the people/locals on Corsica?  Friendly, interesting and helpful? 

 

3. What was the biggest surprise/highlight from Corsica itself?

 

4. How does Ponant quality and staffing compare to Silversea and other comparable smaller, luxury cruise lines? 

 

OK Terry, hi from halfway between Nice and NYC. Some thoughts about your good questions. 

 

1. Can't fully answer because I can speak enough French to get by. We met two other couples from the US and a few Flemish Belgians who spoke English as another language, and two German speakers who also spoke English. The Francophones were reserved but not unfriendly. And there were some we chatted with on a casual basis with Franglais.

 

But if you only speak English on this particular itinerary you will be in a very small minority. I hear that there are more Anglophones on other itineraries. I expected few here and was not surprised. 

 

That said the staff all spoke varying degrees of English. Wait and bar staff very fluent. Naturalists ranged from very fluent to heavily accented but many of then speak 3 or more languages so I'm still in awe of them as I struggle with two. We did not lack for attention and certainly felt well looked after. 

 

There were three naturalists who were on a lot of the tours with us, Anaëlle, Christophe, and Barbara, who went out of their way to make sure we knew what was being explained in French, if the local guides didn't speak English well enough. 

 

I strongly suspect that someone expecting an American food menu is going to be very disappointed. The cooking simply isn't American and there are only 4 choices for starters and 4 mains. You could eat entrecote de boeuf or a burger and fries every night I suppose. Chris only ordered one lunch dish off the always available menu all week and I never did. But we like to try new things. It will be much better if you enjoy this as well.

 

I took pictures of most of the menus and may be able to clean those up and post them later.

 

So, it's a French cruise line that lets Anglophones aboard. You will understand everything but you may find the food outside your comfort zone. 

 

2. Little. The longest conversations with people in town were at two wine shops. So we talked a lot about wine. No politics came up. We didn't encounter unfriendly situations. 

 

The ladies at the pharmacy in Ajaccio were very pleasant but there we were talking about covid tests. 

 

We felt perfectly fine wandering around on our own everywhere we wanted or needed to.

 

3. Biggest surprise? Bonifacio is amazing. The natural beauty of its harbor, and the old town perched up on the cliffs is like nothing I've ever seen before. Maybe Valletta comes close?

 

Also, Corsica is not a big marine or seafaring culture. The cuisine reflects the inland mountain regions more than the sea. The guides say that this is because Corsicans traditionally feared and avoided the sea. Only two things came from the sea and they were both bad: pirates/invaders/etc, or malaria from the marshy lowlands. Very surprising for an island.

 

4. It's nice but it's not quite Silversea. And that's not a slam at all. We really enjoyed the cruise and would happily do another. 

 

But. Our wine glasses would occasionally get completely empty during meals. And at the bar there is no table service. You order at the bar and sometimes they bring it to you or sometimes you wait and carry it to the table. One bartender was clearly overwhelmed at the bar because of multiple orders. SS has more staff available it seems.

 

And the choices are more limited, though certainly we didn't think they were inadequate. 

 

There is also a ship photographer and his assistant. They do strongly promote purchasing the movie and pictures. Silversea started including this a while ago. 

 

Ponant had excellent naturalist staff, who we thought were comparable to those we've met on Silversea. Ponant handles zodiac launching better. The onshore hikes are more strenuous than what SS typically offers and they don't putter around at a slow pace.

 

The ships are new and they look really slick and modern. The drive system is electric and it's incredibly smooth. Most of the time it was hard to tell that we were moving. 

 

Ponant has the Blue Eye underwater bar which is really a cool place but it should be open more often. 

 

But two weird things about the electric motor. The top speed is somewhere around 11 knots. And the electricity is produced by diesel generators. Seems counterproductive to use diesel if you're trying to be clean. That said we never smelled diesel exhaust so they must be controlling it well.

 

Their new Polar ship will generate its electricity from liquefied natural gas so will be even cleaner. 

 

Hope this helps you get a feel for Ponant. We really enjoyed the ship, food, service, and excursions and we'd love to sail Ponant again. 

[TLCOhio]

24 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

OK Terry, hi from halfway between Nice and NYC. Some thoughts about your good questions. Hope this helps you get a feel for Ponant. We really enjoyed the ship, food, service, and excursions and we'd love to sail Ponant again. 

 

Super excellent follow-up, details, insights, etc., from wonderful and smart J.P.  Very helpful background as to ALL your experiences.  Plus, loved the continued sharing, nice pictures, yummy food visuals, etc.  Safe travel back home to New York. 

 

Where are you headed for your next exciting adventure?

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 234,010 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

[Lois R]

Hi JP, thanks so much for all those answers👍.  I was thinking about looking at one of their cruises but not sure anymore. Any thoughts on solo guests?  I speak no French at all.....but I do love trying new foods😃

[AussieBoyTX]

21 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

Just a few quick questions, when handy, for J.P.:

 

@jpalbny has given us superb answers, with which I agree! For additional reading:

 

As one might expect, people often wonder if you need to speak French: 

Last month, I left my own assessment on what's to like / potentially not to like about Ponant: