Perhaps I was being unfair to Pornichet in my last post. After staying a second night (due to inclement weather), I discovered some hidden gems in the town that made me feel a little more favourably towards it – and certainly made the enforced additional day in Port de Pornichet a whole lot more enjoyable than it first promised:

1. In the centre of town there is the most incredible covered food market, selling a vast array of seafood, as well as cheeses, bread, olives, fresh meat, fruit and vegetables. It’s open from 8am-1pm Tuesday to Sunday, and on Mondays during July and August.
2. Opposite the market is a Rotisserie selling whole cooked chickens, pork joints, and potatoes drenched in the flavoursome juices of the meat they’ve been cooked beneath, which my children declared to be “the best potatoes we’ve ever eaten”. I almost always buy a rotisserie chicken when I can because they make such delicious, easy lunches on the boat – pulled apart and piled onto baguettes, or tipped into salads, or added to risotto and pasta dishes. On this occasion, skipper chose a pork joint and potatoes, and we reheated both in our on-board oven for a simple supper. It disappeared post haste.
3. Also in town is a fabulously chic patisserie which I walked past, drooling, twice, before finally succumbing and snapping up a chocolate gateau that looked like Nutella in cake form. It was heavenly, and worth every cent and calorie.
4. Down a shady side-street between the seafront and the town square is a sweet little bar L’Annexe which served me the first properly chilled glass of Chardonnay that I’d had since our fridge broke down last week. It made waiting for the laundry an absolute pleasure.

Would these things alone be enough for me to return to Pornichet? Probably not. But I think they almost made up for the lack of ice, basic marina facilities, and forty minute round trip walking to the nearest laundrette carrying three bags of washing.