March 2010

Hello everyone,

A month that begins with a hurricane warning and that ends with the menace of a tsunami is very likely to be a bit rough" (An old proverb in the Pacific)

And February has been pretty rough, or pretty busy at least: first, on board Banana Split, waiting for Hurricane Oli that, fortunately, spared us, but that ran havoc on the Austral Islands, where we were cruising last year at the same period.

Then, as fine weather was returning to the Gambier archipelago, I have left Banana Split with my friend Arnaud, who is going to cruise through the area with his family, while I indulge in another kind of navigation: on the roads of France, for a tour of lectures, dedicated this time to our film about New Caledonia, showed in High Definition. The tour goes on very well, beautiful pictures, lots of enthusiast people, a kind of Paradise...

As soon as I reached Paris, I was invited on Michel Drucker's very popular TV show, with about thirty kids from the Gospel Kids chorale, from Strasbourg. They had come to Paris to sing with me "Touchez pas à la mer" (Do not harm the sea")
Also, as my sponsor ATOL is this year the godfather of the class of 2010 at the Sorbonne, I was invited to sing my biggest hit "Les élucubrations" surrounded with about 280 young students, all dressed in the traditional robe and square cap, as they received their diploma of this very important French school. An unforgettable moment!

Then February ended with a lot of wind, and a storm that fell, here in my farm in the center of France, a tree that has resisted the big storm of '99. Meanwhile, I was monitoring closely, via Internet and on the phone with Arnaud on board my catamaran in the Gambier islands, the progress of the tsunami created by the huge earthquake in Chile. This time too, we have been lucky, the sea level only went up an down about three feet a couple of times, uncovering and covering in turn the harbor of Rikitea, and everything returned to normal. When I tell you that February has been a bit rough ! Let's hope March will be quieter !
Greetings