Day 2: All at sea

At the time of writing I am in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, 150 miles from the French coast. The Saga Sapphire cruise ship is cutting its way through the gentle sea on a sunny day with only the mildest of rolls to remind us that we are actually at sea. To be honest, I actually feel a little disappointed that things are so calm here. After all, the Bay of Biscay is supposed to be a place of horror; at least according to the cruise aficionados I have met on board, who all have their personal rite of passage stories about ‘the Bay’ as they call it.  These yarns are told with relish as conversation topics at mealtimes, recounting the times when chairs and tables have flown across busy restaurants or when drawers have sailed out of lockers and crashed into opposing cabin walls. I am amazed that any of the tellers of such stories are here to tell their tales at all.

Heating up the dance floor

So, as the day was not going to be spent with all the hatches battened down, the entertainment programme suddenly became a topic of interest. The first thing we tried out on the cruise itinerary was a salsa dance class. Ok, admittedly I was a little self conscious on the dance floor with all the grannies and three granddads around me. It was actually a salsa line dance we were doing, by the way. But then I decided that since I actually had nothing to lose by joining in, it could be a lot of fun. And it was!

Then it was time to relax while listening to a fascinating lecture on Spanish history. This was really well presented and I was most impressed that the lecture was recorded so you could watch it again later on one of the TV channels in your cabin. Clever idea!

Wine tasting

After a barbecue lunch on deck, a pleasant afternoon was spent listening to another fine lecture on the differences between a Chablis and a Chardonnay, aided by a few nice glasses of expensive plonk (£30 bottle) to reinforce the instructor’s key points. Unfortunately, I now realize that I seem to have mislaid our notes somewhere. Well if we don’t have time to watch the repeat on the TV tonight, we will just have to join the lecture again tomorrow.