Ponant Discover 3

ISSUE #3

DISCO VER TOP TRAVEL WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS

SHARE THEIR PONANT MOMENTS

CALL OF THE WILD JOHN BORTHWICK

A VOYAGE THROUGH INDONESIA

AMAZING AMAZON RODERICK EIME

TRIBAL LIFE

JOHNNY MORRIS

STEPHEN SCOURFIELD

SISTER ACTS

SMALLER IS BETTER

COLD COMFORT

JE SUIS UN CRUISER

BON VOYAGE

FOCUS ON

EMMA VENTURA NICK REDMAN

SUSAN GOUGH HENLY

STEPHEN SCOURFIELD BRAD CROUCH

PHOTOGRAPHER NICK RAINS

Where to next?

Small Ship Cruises and Luxury Expeditions to: THE ARCTIC • ALASKA • THE CARIBBEAN • LATIN AMERICA • ANTARCTICA • NORTHERN EUROPE • THE BALTIC SOUTHERN EUROPE & THE MEDITERRANEAN • AFRICA • INDIAN OCEAN • THE ADRIATIC • GREEK ISLANDS ASIA • RUSSIAN FAR EAST • PACIFIC ISLANDS • MELANESIA • AUSTRALIA • NEW ZEALAND

WELCOME DISCOVER magazine is published by PONANT, Yacht Cruises & Expeditions, Australasia Chairman PONANT Asia Pacific: Sarina Bratton AM Vice President PONANT Asia Pacific: Monique Ponfoort Marketing Manager PONANT Australasia: Eva Robert Editorial Co-ordination: Michael Corbett Contributors: John Borthwick, Brad Crouch, Roderick Eime, Sue Gough Henly, Johnny Morris, Nick Rains, Nick Redman, Stephen Scourfield, Emma Ventura Contact: PONANT, Yacht Cruises & Expeditions, Ground Floor, One Cassins Avenue, North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia au.ponant.com reservations.aus@ponant.com Australia: 1300 737 178 New Zealand: 0800 767 018

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his edition of DISCOVER is our third, and it marks a remarkable five years of PONANT presence in Australia (February 2019). During that time, we have grown significantly, not just here in Australia and New Zealand but globally. Our shareholders have committed to an investment of over $1 billion in expanding our fleet - already the youngest of its kind in the world - with more environmentally responsible new ships being built.

Le Lapérouse was the first of our six, 180 guest Explorer Class of ships, followed by Le Champlain, delivered during 2018. Anticipation is already building for Le Lapérouse’s arrival in our waters in early 2019. Please read Emma Ventura’s article following a short introduction to Le Champlain late 2018 in Norway, to grasp how advanced this fleet of small ships is - yet they give nothing away in terms of comfort and facilities. This is the future of modern-day cruise expeditions - adventure by day, balanced by luxury at night - and the future is here now.

In 2019 we welcome two more Explorer Class small luxury expedition ships to the fleet, and then in 2020 a further two, making six in all. In 2021 we will introduce the world-first LNG hybrid luxury polar explorer ship into the fleet, capable of taking our guests on expeditions as far as the North Pole in the Arctic, and push the boundaries of luxury expedition cruising in the southern hemisphere with voyages penetrating deeper into Antarctic waters than before.

We are all passionate and committed to sustainability, and are so proud to bring the strictest environmental and operating practices from Antarctica to all communities and pristine environments of the world.

As ever, we look forward to welcoming you onboard somewhere in the world on one of our 400 voyages scheduled for 2019-2020.

Sarina Bratton AM - Chairman, PONANT Asia Pacific

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nce more we present to you a selection of engaging stories covering PONANT voyages, as experienced by a range of top-class travel writers. This time, in addition to our Australian-based contingent, we include exceptional writers from the UK who share their thoughts on their Antarctic and Indonesian voyages. My thanks to all for the time committed to join us onboard, and to the numerous editors who so kindly provided such generous space in their newspapers and magazines.

This past year has also seen PONANT Asia Pacific in Australia and New Zealand receive recognition from experts in the travel industry as well as you, our valuable guests, with a range of recent awards that include the 2018 Cruise Critic AU Editors’ Picks Award Best for Luxury; Luxury Travel Magazine’s Best Expedition Cruise; Cruise Passenger Readers’ Choice Award for Best Luxury Cruise Line and, at the inaugural 2018 Australian Travel Awards, Expedition Cruise Line of the Year. Confirmation, if you will, that as is our objective, PONANT seamlessly merges the line between luxury and expedition.

Of course we are humbled by this recognition in a market with plenty of choice and it energises us to continue to offer experiences that exceed your expectations. Our special thanks to all who travel with us and who voted for us.

I hope that some of the stories contained herein resonate and inspire you, perhaps to travel with us and sail further over the horizon.

Monique Ponfoort - Vice President, PONANT Asia Pacific

CONTRIBUTORS PROFILES JOHN BORTHWICK P.5

Writer/photographer John Borthwick, who sailed on L’Austral in the Sub Antarctic Islands, has received multiple recognitions for his work, including ASTW Travel Writer of the Year 2016, the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s Gold Award and the prestigious Friend of Thailand award. His stories appear regularly in The Weekend Australian, The West Australian, Fairfax Traveller and numerous colour magazines. John’s books include Summer In Siam, Chasing Gauguin's Ghost and The Circumference of the Knowable World. He holds a PhD in travel literature and has swum at the North Pole.

NICK REDMAN P.23

Nick Redman is Deputy Editor of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, the best-selling monthly glossy travel title on the UK newsstand. He has edited, and written for, titles including Conde Nast Traveller, House & Garden and Business Traveller for the past two decades.

STEPHEN SCOURFIELD P.41 & P.47 Stephen Scourfield is Travel Editor of The West Australian and West Travel Club, Seven West Media. He is also a novelist and word performer and has a new book out in 2018, called Elsewhere. He says he’s often asked where his favourite place is … “it’s the thing so many people want to know”. And he has a simple answer: “It’s always where I am or where I’ve just been. As a writer you become fully immersed in culture, and fully involved with the people you meet and their stories.

I listen to the music, eat the food, and I am fully ‘there’. And then I move to another place and dive in. Wherever I am, I’m fully committed – and loving it.”

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JOHNNY MORRIS P.11

Johnny Morris is a creative director and travel writer based in historic Blackheath, England. He was the founding art director for Ultratravel, the Daily Telegraph’s award winning luxury travel magazine. His travel writing projects have taken him all over the world while his London-based design company, Baizdon.com has produced guides for clients such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the National Portrait Gallery, Tower Bridge and the Gherkin. He loved the cross cultural pairing of France and Indonesia on his PONANT cruise and is still careful not to mistake fallen logs for sleeping Komodo dragons.

SUSAN GOUGH HENLY P.29

Susan Gough Henly writes about luxury experiential travel and her byline has appeared in the New York Times, Travel & Leisure, The Guardian and all the usual suspects in Australia. These days she divides her time between a beach house in Sydney's Northern Suburbs and a stone farmhouse in Bordeaux, which she dragged herself away from to cover PONANT's 30th anniversary gourmet cruise.

BRAD CROUCH P.53

Brad Crouch is an award winning Australian travel writer with a love of cruising. Expedition cruises particularly are favourite ways to gain meaningful insights into different cultures and cuisines as well as magnificent landscapes and fascinating wildlife from a comfortable base. Writing about such experiences as a syndicated journalist is a bonus as well as a great way to share experiences and inspire others to travel.

EMMA VENTURA P.17

Writer and editor Emma Ventura is passionate about the ocean, but she admits to being just as easily diverted by great food, wine and design – so covering the maiden voyage of PONANT’s Le Champlain through the Norwegian fjords for The Weekend Australian was a particular luxury. A former deputy editor and travel editor at Australian Gourmet Traveller, Emma relocated from Sydney to London in 2013. She was editor of Jamie Oliver’s award-winning food and lifestyle magazine, Jamie, and special projects editor at Hearst UK before going freelance to work as a travel, food and corporate content specialist in mid-2018.

RODERICK EIME P.35

Award-winning travel writer and photographer, Rod Eime, specialises in small ship and expedition cruising with experience spanning three decades. He has made numerous journeys with PONANT, including both polar regions, and lists the French-flagged line among his firm favourites. "PONANT delivers a very satisfying blend of luxurious cruising coupled with spectacular destinations visited in both comfort and safety," says Rod, "It's an easy choice for those wanting to expand their travel atlas without compromising either quality or experience.”

NICK RAINS P.58

Nick Rains is a professional photographer specialising in travel and documentary work. He has been featured in publications such as Australian Geographic, Australian Photography Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Reader’s Digest and more. He has photographed a range of subjects, including sport, news, celebrities, industry, travel, fashion and portraits. He is a Master Photographer of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography, the Leica Akademie Principal Instructor and helps ‘committed enthusiasts’ take the photos they have been dreaming of in workshops held in far-flung locations around the world.

A VOYAGE THROUGH

CALL OF THE WILD

INDONESIA

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11

COLD

SISTER

ACTS

COMFORT

17

23

BON

AMAZING

29

35

VOYAGE

AMAZON

TRIBAL

LIFE 41

JE SUIS UN CRUISER 53

SMALL IS BETTER 47

FOCUS ON NICK RAINS 58

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CALL OF THE WILD The pristine islands of the Southern Ocean are home to rich populations of wildlife, unlike anything seen on the Antarctic Peninsula. John Borthwick voyages from New Zealand with Ponant into an untamed wildnerness.

by John Borthwick Signature Magazine, ’The Cruise Issue’ / 2018 5 ­ – PONANT DISCOVER #3

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près nous, les penguins. It’s a throwaway line from Australian author Thomas Keneally, joking about our antipodean neighbourhood. And he’s right — the folks on the next blocks south of us are mostly penguins.

This seems a fitting reflection as our good French ship L’Austral leaves Dunedin harbour, heading seriously south towards the Subantarctic Islands. A few days later we’re bouncing around in L’Austral Zodiac tenders, cruising the wild coast of the Snares Islands.

The day is wreathed in mist and blessed by an air temperature of nine degrees Celsius.

This, according to our guide, amounts to a brilliant “best-day-ever” in the Snares.

Scanning the islands’ basalt crags and Macbethean fog, I muse aloud, “It must be really beautiful here in mid-summer.” The bird-watching memsahib beside me turns and briskly edits my comment: “This is midsummer.”

Back on board L’Austral, and with champagne flutes held high, regardless, we plunge deeper into “the Subs”. These remote Southern Ocean groups include the Snares, Auckland, Campbell and Bounty islands — all New Zealand territories — along with the large Australian territory, Macquarie Island.

Collectively, they are remarkable havens for millions of birds and sea mammals.

With World Heritage listing many of the island groups are so pristine that landing on them is prohibited, but from our roving Zodiacs we can witness close-up their gothic coasts and teeming rookeries. Piloting each inflatable boat is an expert naturalist who knows every sub-specie of penguin (rockhopper, king, royal, gentoo or yellow-eyed), pinniped (fur seal, sea lion and elephant seal) and petrel (storm, grey-backed and diving), and much more.

The luxurious L’Austral goes in style, with two excellent restaurants (with cuisine and wines to match), plus bar, gym, theatre, library and spa. Throw in too a Russian soprano and Ukrainian pianist, and a quiver of long-legged cabaret dancers. However, should you need a jangling casino and bling shopping mall, this probably isn’t the cruise for you. Our cabins, staterooms — call them what you will — most with large windows balconies,

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are seductively perfect for lazing in between excursions, dining, entertainment and expert briefings.

With some 160 English-speaking passengers and 30 French speakers on this cruise, as well as a multinational crew, all announcements are bilingual. Whenever whales appear, Captain David Marionneau alerts us and slows the ship, allowing us to hurry to the rails for photos. During lunch one day a pod of orcas appears, keeping pace with the ship while we watch them through the fine dining restaurant’s large, water level windows.

We’re now well into the Albatross Latitudes, the Furious Fifties, where the islands constitute an astonishing maritime aviary and amphibian aquarium, so to speak. The season is (as I have been reminded) midsummer so there’s no snow or ice, but the

islands’ joys must still be earned. Our Zodiac forays happen under skies that can range from sunny to sullen, and just as quickly back again. The vistas are forbidding and thrilling, often simultaneously. Beach landings see us splash ashore where sea lions loll amid their harems, and then hike inland through forests of red-flowered rata tree and curious megaherbs.

Reaching Macquarie, the largest island on our 16-day itinerary, we strike it lucky.

Zodiacs often have difficulty beaching through “Macca’s” hefty swell but for two days we make it comfortably ashore for excursions among the scores of elephant seals that, ignoring us, lounge along the shore and dunes like indolent teens.

“This little island is one of the wonder spots of the world,” said explorer Sir Douglas

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“…we might reasonably claim to have reached the ends of the earth.”

Mawson of the 34-km long Macquarie Island, which is officially part of Tasmania.

We drop into the Australian scientific base where the researchers welcome our change of company with Tim Tams, news updates and hot tea. Later, at Lusitania Bay we see from our Zodiacs some 240,000 pairs of king penguins packed along a broad beach, looking like a penguin glacier. They stand almost motionless, shoulder-to-shoulder, gazing out to sea for hours. One wonders how the conversations might run: “You doing anything special this weekend?”

At the Antipodes Islands we might reasonably claim to have reached the ends of the earth.

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These extreme outliers were named because they sit at the planet’s opposite “pole” to London. Looming from the Southern Ocean some 900 km south of New Zealand, their rocky flanks were once floridly described as “cliffs of vertical horror.”

However, the pinnipeds, shags, ducks, terns, prions and albatrosses (“this prince of cloud and sky,” according to the poet Baudelaire) that thrive here and in the Subs’ other tiny archipelagos might see their world as quite the opposite to “horror”. There are almost no humans, and with the removal (at great expense) of the predatory cats, rats and pigs introduced by early mariners, these island Edens have now been returned, almost intact, to these creatures that evolved here.

It’s time for L’Austral to head north again.

As our last Zodiac pushes off, there won’t be another human footprint on this beach for many months. Après nous, les penguins, indeed.

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A VOYAGE THROUGH

INDONESIA on the world’s most sophisticated cruise ship

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by Johnny Morris © Johnny Morris - The Telegraph 8th February 2018 11 ­ – PONANT DISCOVER #3

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he message from the ship’s PA system was as crystal clear as our view of the smoking island.

“For passengers wishing to climb the active volcano the captain has secured clearance for landing.”

It was a surprise addition to the schedule.

Minutes later we were skimming towards the hot spot in zodiacs. Trousers rolled up for landing, I began to see the benefits of an “expeditionary” cruise on a smaller ship.

I had joined Ponant’s Le Soléal in Singapore for a 12-day voyage through the Indonesian islands to Bali. On day three we dropped anchor in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. Our schedule had promised a gentle sail around Krakatau’s archipelago – not a visit to the world’s most famous volcano because, as pub-quiz aficionados know, Krakatau is an ex-volcano.

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After its eruption in 1883 – the most violent volcanic explosion in recorded history – Krakatau collapsed into the sea, creating a massive caldera. All that remains are a few shattered islands and the legend of a bang heard as far away as Sri Lanka. Luckily for visiting vulcanologists, and the local tourist industry, Anak Krakatau, or Son of Krakatau, began emerging from the waters in 1927.

Although not as dramatic as the original, it has grown (at an average rate of five inches a week) into a fully functioning volcano.

Photos show a full arsenal of eruptive party tricks: fire fountains, streaming lava, spatter bombs and even the odd seismic wobble.

The hike up Anak Krakatau was a lesson in geomorphology. After the brief shade of virgin forest, we climbed black slopes punctuated with scorched casuarina and fig trees, plus a few flowering plants that find a

home in the fertile lava. On the surface were granite rocks the size of bowling balls hurled from the volcano’s core. Local guides led us to a spot where the fine black lava stopped and a barrier of steaming hot rocks began.

Far below, Le Soléal looked like a toy boat afloat in Krakatau’s caldera. It was a fair way down but she was moored close enough to assure us of a quick getaway if Anak awoke.

The unscheduled excursion was “typical of the core spirit of Compagnie du Ponant”, explained Jerome Pierre, Le Soléal’s cruise director, over beers in the ship’s Grand Salon. Starting out with Le Ponant, a threemasted luxury yacht for just 64 passengers, the line’s fleet will grow to seven in 2018 (in December Ponant announced the launch of the first LNG-powered electric hybrid cruise icebreaker).

The original barque is kept on as the company’s talisman, while mega yachts provide a niche offering for the luxury market.

Le Soléal was the first French passenger vessel to navigate the Northwest Passage.

It is difficult to associate the harsh discipline of an Arctic crossing with the ship’s interior design. First impressions are of a fashionable Champs-Élysées boutique. Soft leather furniture lends communal areas a chic air, while reception desks in white Corian scream boutique hotel; likewise the well-groomed staff.

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My cabin offered a refreshing white palette, with a pencil-line motif from shower to balcony giving the look of luxury yacht accommodation. Only the look, I’m afraid, as most materials were faux – leather, veneer wood and plastic orchids.

Despite this, interior designer Jean-Philippe Nuel has created a sense of uncluttered elegance. Clearly, what he saved on surfaces he has spent on fittings, with slick designer lighting including the best bedside lamp I have ever seen.

As we sailed east we visited the world’s largest Buddhist temple at Borobudur and the railway system of central Java constructed by Dutch colonists. Excursions highlighted the gap between the earthy thrust of Indonesia and the sophisticated languor of life on board.

In the busy port of Surabaya, after battling

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with high humidity, waves of scooter traffic and the frenzy of a morning market, I staggered up the ship’s gangplank to indulge in an air-conditioned pedicure, petits fours and a classical piano recital. Often Le Soléal felt like an exclusive arrondissement of Paris adrift in the South China Sea. This dizzying contrast of cultures reached its height as we approached Komodo Island, home to the world’s largest lizards. “You only need to worry if the dragon swishes its tail,” warned Tajudin, our National Park ranger.

Cue tail swish. “Forget the photograph now, madame!” Cue screams and a scattering of passengers as the nine-foot long carnivore began its starting sprint. Thankfully, Tajudin had his trusty cleft stick handy and pinned the lizard’s neck before it ran amok.

On Komodo it was essential to follow the guide’s flag to stay safe. As we stomped through mangrove forest up to folds of

virgin green savannah, there was a genuine nervousness among the group.

Basking lizards are the colour, size and shape of fallen trees (and there were many big logs around). Their forked tongues can sense blood up to six miles away; they can swallow a goat whole and eat up to 80 per cent of their body weight in one sitting, yet can exist on just 12 meals a year. Oh, and unusually for lizards, the males are monogamous and have two penises – poor fellows.

I was full of cautious respect when we came across two dragons slumbering by a waterhole. In all, we saw five and I enjoyed visiting them in their own habitat rather than staring at caged beasts.

On board we prepared for an evening of fine dining and contemporary ballet.

Ponant aims to offer a taste of French art de vivre, which included crêpes suzette cookery lessons, illuminating lectures on Indochina from a French perspective, and a few dull PowerPoint talks on wildlife. We were treated to piano recitals, arthouse films starring Catherine Deneuve, and an interpretation of Picasso’s life through contemporary dance that I could have done without.

to Parisian staff made an occasional appearance – thin smile and arched eyebrows that don’t give a merde. But only enough to make a welcome change from fawning hotel-style banalities.

It was an environment some Brits may find challenging, but any francophile or even someone with just a smattering of French would delight in. As a gamelan orchestra played on the jetty at Tanah Ampo in Bali, I felt I’d experienced not one, but two foreign cultures.

Over the exotic sound of the wooden xylophone and crashing gongs, I could make out in my head the cheerful refrain of Charles Trenet’s classic La Mer.

“Ponant aims to offer a taste of French art de vivre”

All very highbrow – until Jerome Pierre announced a pirate-themed fancy-dress evening, quizzes and crab-racing.

There were French officers and bar staff with Maurice Chevalier accents; gentle spa treatments, and beauty products from a Paris-based salon. Among excellent French wines were surprise vintages from the south of the country.

Reasonably good French cuisine at the main restaurant, L’Eclipse, included foie gras, escargots and fabulous crème brûlée. Strangely for a Gallic kitchen, there was a sparse cheese board featuring stiff Camembert served with Ritz crackers.

Did this Gallic flavour cause any problems for the sole Englishman aboard? At times the bilingual announcements seemed to go on forever, and my poor French may have deprived me of some livelier dinner-table gossip. But I had no trouble making myself understood as many mid-ranking Asian staff (mostly Indonesian) spoke superb English. The offhandedness often attributed

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SISTER

ACTS All eyes are on a new class of expedition ship

by Emma Ventura This feature first appeared in Travel + Indulgence in The Weekend Australian on 17-18 November 2018 and is reproduced with permission.

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“ PONANT’s ships are characterised not by excess but by a simple, elegant aesthetic”

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n the indigo light of our ship’s underwater lounge, voices have sunk to a murmur. Behind us, luminescent jellyfish float across digital screens, past an over-size ice bucket, a hovering bartender and champagne flutes waiting to be filled. We seem to be within the body, or perhaps the great pleated throat, of a cetacean. The elongated portholes at either side are the kindly eyes of a whale; the undulating lines of the ceiling and walls its ribcage.

This is Blue Eye, the statement-making, hitech centrepiece of French luxury cruise line Ponant and its newest vessel, Le Champlain, which we’ve boarded for its maiden voyage through the Norwegian fjords. The lounge is not the James Bond movie set I was expecting, echoing with boozy laughter and the clack of high heels.

Instead, the assembled company have arranged themselves on sofas that are vibrating to gentle sonic waves as they listen to subaquatic sound effects and to Blue Eye’s designer Jacques Rougerie.

“I wanted to create an emotional experience,” he is saying. “The idea was to create a different feeling or surrounding wherever you are in the lounge.” Rougerie, a veteran designer of

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underwater habitats with more than a little of the 007s about him, is passionate to his core about the ocean. His flagship project is a futuristic international marine research station known as SeaOrbiter and he was once part of a group that spent a recordbreaking 71 days underwater. Still, the Blue Eye project, three years in the making, was inspired less by Ian Fleming than Jules Verne. When asked by Ponant to, as he describes it, “put eyes under the sea”, his first thought was of Nautilus, the submarine with windows in which Verne’s Captain Nemo had his adventures 20,000 leagues below the surface.

Today the view is something less fantastical, with little to be seen through the whaleeye windows but a soupy algal green and the odd birch twig tumbling past. Yet still, it’s mesmerising, the yellow-green water lit by underwater spotlights pulling at our attention like a fireplace in winter.

Encouraged by Rougerie to imagine that view replaced with crocodiles off the Kimberley coast, or playful dolphins in the clear waters of the Caribbean, we get a sense of what this experience promises future passengers.

Le Champlain is the second of six new Explorer- class ships Ponant is adding to its roster over the next three years, taking its fleet to 12 and its itineraries to 460 by 2021 (Le Champlain’s sister ship, Le Lapérouse, debuted in June). The only French cruise ship operator, Ponant was founded in 1988 by a group of enterprising merchant navy officers who wanted to access the remote places other companies weren’t reaching at the time. They ran with the tagline “There are only 50 places in paradise”, and carved a niche as one of the most exclusive polar expedition operators in the business.

nautical style. Where below the waterline Blue Eye wows with state-of-the-art design, upstairs on Le Champlain the vibe is of a stylish island resort, all blond-wood decks and crisp white trimmings offset with natural textures and indigenous-inspired artworks.

Each of the six new ships will have near identical lines. Blue Eye debuted on Le Lapérouse and will be included on two of the other ships to come, Le Bougainville and Le Dumont-d’Urville. But each will also maintain its own distinct identity, colour scheme and visual references from different tropical cultures around the world. “The idea was to bring in the design of a yacht more than any other cruise ship afloat while reflecting the exterior of the ship’s world on the inside,” says interior designer Jean-Philippe Nuel.

The outside is, indeed, in evidence everywhere you turn on this ship. It’s easily visible in the restaurant, if you can tear your attention from the Alain Ducasse-designed menus, and bottles of some incredible French wines. Note that Ponant is the only cruise line offering Chateau Latour, selling it at a worthwhile 30 per cent less than elsewhere.

Ponant’s Le Champlain and sister ship Le Lapérouse each have 92 staterooms and suites, all with private balconies, plus panoramic dining room and a casual grill.

Le Champlain is offering itineraries to the Amazon, Orinoco and Caribbean.

Le Lapérouse has a range of itineraries in Asia Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand.

Thirty years on, and with its new nimble fleet, Ponant is now expanding its geographical repertoire into warmer latitudes, with fresh itineraries reaching deep into the Amazon and Orinoco river systems, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Caribbean. “We have done the white expeditions,” declares marketing officer Herve Bellaiche. “Now we’re doing the green expeditions.”

Despite the luxury tag, Ponant’s ships are characterised not by excess but by a simple, elegant aesthetic that owes much to classic

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From the observatory lounge, where I curl up in a soft grey armchair with a pile of beautiful coffee-table books one afternoon, wraparound glass yields the unfolding geological drama of Norway’s western fjords.

Having left the pretty town of Bergen, our embarkation point, in our wake, we’re now plying the deep waters that cut through this precipitous glacial landscape of 58,000sq km.

There’s a lot to like about my accommodation, such as the day bed for reclining and appreciating the view, the slatted timber interior with well-placed mirrors, stacks of lighting options and the huge walk-in wardrobe that has swallowed the small, slightly battered case I have been too embarrassed to let Gautier unpack. As with the rest of the ship, the colours are fresh yet muted and relaxing, in creams, whites and duck-egg blue.

Through the expansive window in my deluxe suite, I again observe steep birch-blanketed mountainsides and witches’ hat peaks streaked with snow. Gautier, my personal butler, has left a note to inform me that the bottle of champagne that welcomed me to this indulgent environment is chilling in the fridge. This being a “taster” cruise to sample the product, we’re only out for two days, and I decide I’m not spending nearly enough time in here.

Gautier has a talent for melting into view at your door when you need him and dissolving, Cheshire-cat like, into the background when you don’t. I’m dying to try out some of “les services” that come with him — spa bookings, shoe polishing, newspaper delivery and breakfast in my suite — but there’s just not enough time in our two-stop itinerary.

On the aft deck, a small infinity pool employs countercurrent technology for a decent workout, and there’s a basic gym upstairs

(cardio equipment only), which I have serious intentions of using but don’t. This isn’t due to laziness but down to the lure of the best sauna experience imaginable. I can’t fathom why on both days I have this incredible bright space mostly to myself but count my blessings, recline on a sweep of curved slatted bench and gaze out of the large asymmetric round window, struck by the framed shimmer of turquoise waters and autumnal gold.

By this stage I feel supremely clean and pinescented, ready for our first port of call. All

morning we’ve been cruising up the 15km long Geraingerfjord, World Heritage-listed in 2005 for its spectacular moody beauty and shaped by tumbling cliffs and tumultuous waterfalls. The first recorded boatload of tourists disembarked at the township of Geiranger, at its head, in 1869. Like so many before us we are duly ferried ashore.

Prior to the 1950s, when an access route of hairpin bends called the Eagle Road was built, the only way in was over the water, and up the hill at the town’s museum, Norsk Fjordsenter, a sequence of dioramas record

the historic harshness of life. At the turn of the 20th century, 70 years before oil kicked off Norway’s economic fairytale, there was still a bartering system here, with cheese, meat and bilberries swapped for linens, ceramics and other hardware. But despite this, and devastating tsunamis caused by landslides in 1905 and 1936, the tourists never really stopped coming.

Our next stop is at Olden, further south by way of the North Sea. Here a population of about 1000 occupy neat white, mustard and rust-coloured weatherboard houses, some with the turf roofs traditionally favoured for their warmth and affordability. At the top of the valley is Briksdal Glacier, the main attraction here and an arm of the Jostedal, the largest glacier on mainland Europe. You can hike or take one of the “troll cars” up to its snout, still breathtaking despite being in retreat for the past 20 years.

On our transfer back to Le Champlain, there’s an opportunity to admire the ship’s clean lines from water level. As well as looking sleek as a dolphin, its green credentials are top-notch, including official Clean Ship certification due to its use of low-emission marine diesel fuel, and improved waste and sewage management techniques. (Ponant also has Le Commandant Charcot on order, which will be the world’s first hybrid electric polar exploration vessel powered by liquefied natural gas.)

On the last night, before a gala dinner hosted by our captain, I feel relaxed enough to pad around the carpeted hallways in my dressing gown, hair scraped into a ratty bun. Gautier appears in a doorway, then subtly vanishes into the shadows, perhaps to spare my blushes. I have in mind a pedicure or maybe a blow-dry in the spa upstairs, where I’ve been told the staff, trained by Sothys Paris, also offer a mean massage.

Then I remember one of the Ponant crew describing the Blue Eye experience at the start of the voyage. “You don’t speak, you whisper,” he had said.

“It’s a place you feel.”

With that in mind, I decide instead to head back to the sauna, ditch my white towelling robe and close the door quietly behind me.

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COLD

COMFORT Hermès goodies, free-flowing Champagne. Shackleton would turn in his grave. But does a luxury cruise spoil Antarctica, or will the White Continent still give Nick Redman the chills?

by Nick Redman The Sunday Times Travel Magazine / 01 May 2018 Nick Redman is Deputy Editor of "The Sunday Times Travel Magazine", published monthly, price £4.30.

To subscribe and save, visit www.sttmsub.co.uk 23 ­ – PONANT DISCOVER #3

W

e were mid-sail across the choppy Drake Passage from Cape Horn, heading south to Antarctica to find penguins and petrels, when my hungry gaze spotted a bird of a different feather altogether: plumage-free, in fact. It emanated a golden aura as sunlight fell on the waves around our boat. One for the Instagram feed?

For sure, but what was I going to caption it?

The only classification was printed in French: dinde rôtie entière.

Served with exquisitely silky dauphinoise potatoes, it turned out to be turkey: delicately sliced into supermodel slim slices, drizzled with jus by the head chef himself and worthy, I'd say, of Escoffier. A head-turning specimen, it may have come from as far as France: impressive mileage, even for a bird on its back in a cruise-ship fridge. In truth, it would never know how low it ranked in the pecking order of Awesome Antarctic Peregrinations. An albatross, I learned at an on-board lecture, was once tagged with a geolocator and found to have flown 13,000km in 25 days. I closed my eyes and imagined the Avios points.

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Although I returned from Antarctica with a new love of kelp geese and snowy sheathbills, it was never my intention to turn twitcher aboard Ponant Cruises' 12-day expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula. A passion for the slow pace of holidays on the ocean wave was what nudged me south to this extreme new horizon. No longer the sole domain of scientists on Soviet icebreakers, eccentric millionaires on skis, or men with frozen beards and huskies for friends, Antarctica has come in from the cold. Click on any cruise-line website French, German, American and you're sure to find the Great White South somewhere between the Adriatic and Polynesia.

Our ship, Le Boréal, typified this new wave in Antarctic sailings, with an ice-strengthened hull (Marseille-based Ponant is no dilettante in the field of expedition-cruising), as well as a fine line in free-flowing Champagne, luxury shower gels by Hermès, and delectable millefeuilles among the swathes of sweet things spread out each lunch and dinner. In 1915, penguins, plus the blubber of seals bludgeoned with axes, fuelled explorer Ernest Shackleton and the men of the ill-fated Endurance as it drifted for 10 mon-

ths in the terminal grip of pack ice. For us, hardships amounted to running perilously low on Evian, while a vexing dearth of bananas one morning at breakfast meant switching to pears.

I'm sure Shackleton would have scratched his head at the cabaret laid on by Ponant Streisand-and Piaf-tinged routines performed against porthole flashes of utter wilderness. Mind you, we were pretty stumped, too, not least by a Ukrainian 'chanteuse', shimmying on in a Britney fedora to mime Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman. By comparison, Antarctica crept up subtly.

Our embarkation point, after a flight from Santiago de Chile, was Punta Arenas in southernmost Chilean Patagonia, with its French-fancy mansions around plazas. A turn-of-the-century gold-rush port made cosmopolitan by Europeans, it felt beautiful, but bleak, its pines, bent by nature, as if they'd been pressed in a memory book.

Somewhere between us and the frozen continent was the 900km Drake Passage, better known as the Drake Lake or Drake Shake, depending on its mood at this latitude there is no land to stop the winds from

whipping the converging Pacific, Atlantic and Southern Oceans into a frenzy. Luxury ships are not exempt.

'Tomorrow it will be shaky,' said Maxim, one of several solemn types under the command of the loquacious Captain Etienne Garcia. As the two of us sat on the bridge (which was invariably open to guests, the welcome made clear by a green sign hung on the door), the islands of Tierra del Fuego slipped by at snail's pace, beautiful to behold. Even on his pencil-flecked charts they were magnificent: amoeboid outcrops, intricately lobed, like wafer slices of walnut trapped in lab slides.

In the end, we got the Lake with a dash of Shake. While the ship rounded Cape Horn, as friendly and welcoming as a shark's tooth, the wind shrieked, multi-tracked and mad something Björk might work into a song.

But for the next 48 hours the Drake was little more than a pedalling swell, Le Boréal harrumphing and shuddering into a nosedive now and then. As I wandered, I met the walking wounded, inching along, holding handrails, gazing absently, grasping apples in spare hands, faces coloured the beige of the chic interiors. Others were unaffected,

and the deliciously slow, uneventful crossing was a chance to make chit-chat with guests among the 200 sailing: French and British empty-nesters with comfy pensions, a German couple who'd just sold their paper mill, and an earthy East Coast widow ('spending my late husband's inheritance') who would be played, of course, by Kathy Bates in the movie of the voyage.

In the morning, we were woken at 6.48am.

The click of a mic, an intake of breath, and Captain Garcia's dulcet French tones hit the speakers: 'Welcome in Antarctica. Land ahoy!

Two degrees outside, but no wind; une bonne condition.' Narnia-like, through the wardrobe we stepped to explore the Aitcho Islands, pinpricks lying among the larger outcrops of the South Shetlands.

From the off I loved Antarctica: the biro-navy waters below Le Boréal's marina deck whipped white by the propellers of the departing Zodiac boats as they took guests to the Aitchos (a routine manoeuvre in harbours and bays each day); the clarity around the hull, falling to a deeper void, reflecting nothing; the tadpole-tiny shapes of penguins gentoo and chinstrap in the transparent expanses.

Ashore, I only adored those birds more.

Communities of comics, stinking of a Copydex. So much about penguins is amusingly human. Some seemed to be waddling back from Aldi (or Iceland), invisible carrier bags in outstretched wings. A bored-looking colony hung around, barely communicating, presumably waiting for the all-clear to return to their desks after the fire drill. Close by, a splinter group shuffled shiftily at my approach, obviously smokers who'd stamped out their cigarettes on seeing me. Surely they knew litter is illegal on Antarctica? No rubbish, no seeds on boot soles, no dust on jackets yes, Antarctica is a special place.

We'd spent the previous afternoon in the Grand Salon, vacuuming wellies and thermals by order of expedition leader Delphine (fluent in English, like all the crew and lecturers). On board, too, to fill us in more on the continent's unique status, was Laurent Mayet, a Special Representative for Polar Affairs and a suave, engaging Parisian, to boot.

In legal terms, he told a rapt audience, its closest neighbour is outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies. The terms of the Antarctic Treaty, forged in 1959,

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exempted the continent from claims of national sovereignty or military misappropriation, while devoting it to peace and science.

In a curious paradox, the treaty, overseen by Eisenhower, took some chill off the Cold War, committing parties to it East and West to collaborative scientific research in politically frightening times.

Antarctica is a continent of seasons upside-down to our own. Its surface doubles, then shrinks by half, with each winter's seaice creep around its shores, followed by each summer's thaw. Natural powers of survival are miraculous: penguin and auk embryos, if too cold, can alert parents by singing to them, the vocalisations vibrating through their shells. Antarctic silverfish are among a handful of species that produce antifreeze to cheat death. The southern elephant seal, which can dive to a depth of 2,000m, holding its breath for up to two hours, ensures its lineage by establishing coastal harems.

Slowly, surrealism set in that ringing, tingling silence, those incorporeal panoramas.

Mountains could be mirages. They appeared, barely there, faint details embossed on a sky only marginally less pale. Plateaus of cloud, peaks of meringue, high meadows of pillowy mist in places, it looked like a heart-chart of the sweetest dream ever. Or a watercolour of the perfect afterlife, some pure planet you'd float away to inhabit on dying.

“Slowly, surrealism set in that ringing, tingling silence, those incorporeal panoramas.”

One pale evening, I heard humpbacks rasping beyond the sliding door to my balcony, left ajar it was a mother and child in union. I went to look and pure fluke saw a tail curl and disappear below the surface, two exotic monochrome leaves on a stem.

Captain Garcia, on the mic from the bridge, was a kid at Christmas, filling the corridors with his gasps: 'Ah, sublime!

Soo-bleem!' From the Aitchos, Le Boréal crossed Bransfield Strait, south along the Antarctic Peninsula next morning, and on into a stunningly turquoise, frosty afternoon. Between sky and sea the horizon was spirit-level straight.

On my balcony, glancing up from a book, I gasped it was like the Swiss Alps had come down to the coast, crumpled white on ocean-blue. Among the unblemished innocence of this magical ice-coated continent, the real luxury of the cruise was becoming clear. Geography was growing meaningless, place names Deception Island, Paradise Bay surely plundered from adventure fiction.

I can't remember when exactly we reached Wilhelmina Bay, but I do remember Champagne on ice. Le Boréal can push through frozen surfaces to a thickness of 30cm, so of course Captain Garcia did. The prow wedged in hard, leaving traces of its bio paint red in the slush. We could get off and wander over the frozen bay, holding glasses of fizz dispensed from a pop-up bar. It was unforgettable, a day of radiance, of plump Weddell seals eyeing us mournfully, unconventional beauties with the gaze of Audrey Hepburn and the girth of Alfred Hitchcock.

Against a startling, almost tropical, orange sunset, we first caught sight of tabular icebergs the size and shape of cross-channel ferries, calved from shelves in the Weddell Sea. They looked so perfect, so machine-honed, that I wondered if they'd been secretly commissioned by Ponant in polystyrene. Whatever, they were worth the price of the voyage alone. No-one tired of photographing their mercurial beauty, from monster to minnow.

I'll always remember in the waters off tiny Spert Island, in the vicinity of fathomless Mikkelsen Harbour Petra, the guide, slowing

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our Zodiac in a canyon choked with fantastical specimens. Silence fell over the party as we drifted among them. Some were angled and caught the sun in panes, like modern architecture. Others were round and smooth, their big underwater bottoms now exposed, upturned by erosion and ensuing instability.

'What colour would you call them?' How about Maldivian, where the underwater shelves reflect back sunlight, creating limpid paradise lagoons? And those smaller bulbous beauties bobbing by? I believe the official term is 'Mrs Slocombe hairdo blue'. I tried to understand the alchemy behind this azureice phenomenon, explained during one of the expert lectures in the main theatre (brilliant additions to each day).

But with the talk of spectrum absorption and optical properties, my thoughts were wont to drift usually in the direction of a posh Ponant Burger and millefeuille in the comfy, cream-coloured La Licorne restaurant.

Glaciers I did get, becoming quite expert by the time we reached Paradise Bay, disembarking from the Zodiacs for a merciless hill climb above the metallic sea. The shores appeared to be edged with endless ice quarries, where the giant slabs, shunted over time, terminate and fall into the water with a supersonic-style boom. Some were caught in frozen mid-tumble, fissures emitting the blue glow of a nightclub, artificially intense, as if set to ooze sweet goo.

After solar days of polar bays, the outlook was grey for our last port of call before sailing north to end in Ushuaia, Argentina. Snow blew horizontally, stinging our cheeks as we drew close to Deception Island: a desolate ring of low stone peaks around a volcanic caldera bay. Access was between two forbid-

ding pincer headlands, along a strait marked 'Neptune's Bellows' on Maxim's map. Was it a let-down in such monochrome weather?

Not when we saw streaks of black-and-white come to life in the water It was like sighting the Virgin at Lourdes, as first one cry, then another, went up, the crowd lurching port and starboard on the bridge. Orcas had arrived. Loping by in flashes of piebald, they put on a display far subtler than SeaWorld, vanishing then returning abruptly with a fin-menace, making directly for the boat.

Everyone on board was here for this grand finale: the Hennessyhungover, the elderly, the late risers; all up for a few last precious photos to show the folks back home, they beetled like ladybirds in those smart red Ponant parkas (who said Antarctica was just for anoraks?). I watched like a visitor from another planet which in a way, I guess we all were.

Get Me There First facts The Southern Hemisphere summer (late October-late March) is the only time cruises can operate. Nearly 45,000 travellers visited during the last recorded season (2016-17, almost 10% of them British) a growing number, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). See iaato.org for a useful list of responsible members.

Top of the range Ponant (au.ponant.com) has a 15-nighter among its offerings: from Montevideo, sail the Antarctic Peninsula past the likes of Deception Island and Port Lockroy (for the world's most southerly post office) to Ushuaia. You'll also call at South Georgia and Grytviken, Shackleton's burial place.

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BON

VOYAGE French luxury cruise line Ponant masters the art of gourmet food, fine wine and La Belle Vie on a memorable sailing from Portugal to France

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by Susan Gough Henly First published in Australia’s Luxury Travel Magazine / Spring 2018

visit luxurytravelmag.com.au and cruise.luxurytravelmag.com.au 29 ­ – PONANT DISCOVER #3

R

ows of crystal wine glasses glint in the soft light of a pale Spring sunset as a battalion of smiling waiters dressed in gold epaulettetrimmed ship whites welcomes us from behind magnums of 1999 Chateau Latour. Outside the window, I can see the 17th century tower that is the symbol of this legendary Bordeaux First Growth winery.

“There can be no better place to taste one of the finest wines on earth than on this Ponant ship in the Gironde Estuary right in front of our chateau,” says its marketing director Jean Garandeau. “The Gironde plays such an important role in helping us create our wines.

And the weather is always glorious when Ponant moors out front.”

Not only that, chef Pascal Feraud and his team from Alain Ducasse’s Jules Verne Restaurant in the Eiffel Tower have handcrafted a sublime menu to complement the wines.

Admittedly, this is a special occasion… the 30th anniversary of the founding of French luxury cruise line Ponant. And JeanEmmanual Sauvée, one of the company’s founders and its current CEO, is on board with his family to celebrate.

Great wine, great food, great company, and great views. What more could you want?

This evening is, however, just one of many extraordinary events that Ponant has curated for us. Four gala dinners, each one more remarkable than the last, knowledgeable and engaging lecturers at the pinnacle of their professions in wine, cheese and the French art de vivre, a world-class French jazz band, and specially tailored wine and cultural excursions all combine to make this a unique cruise.

And yet, Ponant has developed an enviable reputation for creating one-off, first-class, expedition-style experiences wherever they sail across the seven seas.

While this wine and food celebration may not be a trailblazing voyage to one of the far corners of the earth, it is a distillation…a drilling down if you will… into the very essence of French savoir faire. As such, it is as fascinating to this Australian Francophile as a

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cruise in the Antarctic or Amazon.

It also reveals something else quite precious, which is Ponant’s desire to share its heritage with its loyal clientele. Taken together, these elements speak volumes about the special quality of the world’s only luxury French cruise line.

The company has come a long way in 30 years. The name ‘Ponant’ has two meanings: one refers to the smattering of whimsical and windswept islands off the coast of Brittany and the other comes from the Latin term referring to the West, and by extension, parts unknown. It was a passion project of a few young officers of the French merchant navy who had the idea to create an expedition cruise line that embodied the very best of French class. Today, it is owned by Francois Pinault’s Groupe Artemis, which also counts Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Christie’s auction house and Chateau Latour among its stable of luxury companies. And, as it happens, not only does Ponant have roots in Brittany but so do its CEO Mr Sauvée, its new owner Francois Pinault and the captain of Le Soléal, Patrick Marchesseau. Renowned as the captain of another Ponant ship that survived a Somali pirate hostage ordeal, Marchesseau is an engaging presence throughout the

voyage. Wearing a wide range of alwayselegant captain’s uniforms (note to self, find out if Ponant has an insider deal with the Saint Laurent label), he hosts guests at the captain’s table each evening, gives the lowdown on the loudspeaker about sailing conditions and, as we cruise down the Gironde in the early morning, he points out the famous chateaux we pass. Most charming of all, he hosts a personal introduction to Ile d’Aix, the Ponant island closest to his heart and where he first learned to sail.

Even the ship’s doctor embodies an enviable French savoir faire. A pain-management specialist who did his thesis on sea sickness, Michel Guez has twice sailed around the world unassisted and is a fascinating dinner companion whose conversation ranges from Roman history and French politics to the most exotic places to go diving.

“There can be no better place to taste one of the finest wines on earth…”

So, what specifically distinguishes Ponant amidst the multitude of cruise ships that plies the world today.

intimate experience on board, it also means that Ponant ships can sail into smaller, more remote harbours that are inaccessible to larger ships. Sleek and elegant, Le Soléal attracts many admiring glances from the shore, such as when she is moored in the heart of Bordeaux, near the neo-classical Place de la Bourse.

First of all, Ponant ships are, what the company likes to call, ‘human size’. This 30th anniversary cruise is on Le Soléal which at 142 metres has just 132 staterooms and suites. While this clearly makes for an

Secondly, while this cruise may be more of a sashay through the heart of French food and wine, Ponant is a trailblazer in expedition cruising. Indeed, the company has been leading polar expeditions for 20

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years. It may be surprising, but this very ship where I am savouring the finest wines with Michelin-star quality meals, was the first French cruise ship to navigate the Northwest Passage from Greenland to Siberia in 2013.

Six brand new luxury Explorer ships, each with world-first underwater ship lounges, will be launched over the next several years and the first luxury ice-breaker on the planet (an environmentally sensitive electric hybrid ship) will come into service in 2021.

Last but not least, there is that intangible element of savoir faire called “the French touch.” Starting with the cuisine and the wine (9000 bottles are on board Le Soléal) including Veuve Cliquot champagne, Laduree pastries and a remarkable array of specially selected artisanal cheeses, gourmet fare is standard on all Ponant ships. From the contemporary elegance of the décor to the smart blue and white crew uniforms, an understated French style permeates all elements of shipboard life. Hermès products

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are used exclusively in the cabins and the spa, with its serene treatment rooms, hair salon, hammam and exercise room, features skin care from Sothys Paris.

The staff are bilingual and all presentations are made in both French and English (except for a few English-speaking-only cruises in Australia and the South Pacific).

This bilingual context attracts a broader multinational clientele…on our cruise 17 different nationalities are on board…which means that cross cultural experiences start the moment you leave your cabin.

For the past two years, the consulting team from multiple-Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse has overseen the restaurants on all Ponant ships. From homemade salmon gravlax with honey-dill mustard sauce and seaweed steamed seabass with shellfish and potatoes to lamb shank simmered in sweet spices, apricot and olives and chocolate tart with coffee Chantilly cream, every meal

is sublime, whether it is enjoyed a la carte in the gastronomic restaurant or in the casual grill restaurant. And there are always surprises such as a sparkling fresh seafood buffet or barbecue lunch served poolside, not to mention the luxury of breakfast in bed whenever you want.

Charming and eloquent cruise director Axelle Lion introduces and supervises each of the gourmet and cultural excursions as well as the fascinating lectures on board. Between our embarkation in Lisbon and debarkation in Lorient on the southern coast of Brittany, we have stops in Porto and Bilbao before an extended stay in the wine Mecca of Bordeaux and a relaxing day on Ile d’Aix. And when we are sailing the high seas, Professor Jean Robert Pitte intrigues with his fascinating discourses on the role wine plays in mythology and culture, sommelier Pierre Charles Gandilhon offers a tasting of sublime Burgundian Chardonnays, and master cheese ager Bernard Antony tantalises us with the finest French cheeses.

In Bordeaux, we can choose expeditions such as a private dinner at art-filled chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, an exclusive visit to Second Growth Cos d’Estournel in the Medoc, a wine and chocolate tasting at chateau de Ferrand and the opportunity to explore the UNESCO World Heritage-listed wine village of Saint Emilion. The Porto stop includes a city tour plus visit and tasting at Taylor’s Port, while there is a choice of visiting Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao or touring the Rioja winemaking region with a visit and tasting at Bodega Marques de Riscal and lunch in the medieval village of La Guardia.

And always, Le Soléal’s serene luxury yacht-like ambiance welcomes us home.

Our beige on beige space-efficient cabin is immaculately maintained by our delightful Balinese cabin attendant, tea and pastries await in the Main Lounge, and when it’s warm and sunny we relax by the pool, indulge

in our “open” mini-bar champagne on our cabin’s private deck, or sip a gin and tonic in the Observation Lounge with its 180-degree views. Then, there’s time to freshen up and slip into something elegant for cocktails to the swinging sounds of the Christian Morin jazz band before dinner.

One gala dinner stands out above the rest.

Chef Stéphane Duchiron and the staff from Ducasse’s Ore restaurant at Chateau de Versailles offer an exquisite re-imagining of what the Sun King Louis XIV might have served his guests. Purple-jacketed waiters offer chilled langoustines with gold-leaf caviar and tiny vegetables in sorrel sauce, guinea fowl and duck foie gras with black truffles in pastry, and a gold-leaf chocolate bar alongside wild strawberries and lemon sorbet. A sublime 2012 Bordeaux Second Growth chateau Gruaud Larose, “the wine of kings and the king of wines” is just one of the fine wines served.

Several days later, we slurp just-shucked oysters with local white wine outside a simple oyster shack on Ile d’Aix. Captain Marchesseau and his wife are laughing at the next table with Ponant’s CEO and his family. All’s right with the world in the Spring sunshine beside the sea.

There is always a place for gold-leaf service in the luxury travel industry. And Ponant has certainly earned its stripes offering experiential luxury in the most remote regions of the planet. But, drawing aside the curtain and inviting guests to share a muchloved, tucked-away island takes the concept of what is worth valuing to another level entirely. In its very name after all, Ponant is about savouring the soul of seafaring, both close to home and on far horizons.

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AMAZING AMAZON

Venturing into the Amazon basin with Ponant is like exploring the heart and lungs of the planet.

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by Roderick Eime MiNDFOOD Magazine - April 2018 35 ­ – PONANT DISCOVER #3

“Listen and you can hear the world breath.”

V

enturing into the Amazon basin is like exploring the heart and lungs of the planet. With one in ten known species on Earth and 1.4 billion acres of dense forests, the Amazon contains half of the planet's remaining tropical forests. Listen and you can hear the world breath.

I know that look. It’s that kind of cheeky half smile, half snarl like when you’re handed a peanut tin with a spring loaded fake snake coiled inside. And like the 8yo sucker all over again, I fell for it.

“Go ahead, give it a shot,” Cicero, my ebullient guide coaxes me while handing me the tiny shot thimble. Inside is a few mils of a clear pungent liquid. Down the hatch!

My tongue immediately electrifies. Imagine a sherbet bomb that transforms into a kaleidoscope of flavours, each detonating at

36 ­ – PONANT DISCOVER #3

predetermined intervals and lasting several minutes. I turn to ask Cicero what the heck I'd just sipped and he's laughing uproariously.

My reaction is a pleasure he clearly enjoys.

I discover this lethal cocktail is called Cachaça de Jambú and comprises a base spirit distilled from cane sugar (the cachaça) infused with a local herb, the jambú (Acmella oleracea). This perennial flowering plant is widely used as a flavour enhancer. No kidding!

We’re at a tiny farm a short ferry ride from the Amazonian city of Belem where Cicero is showing us many of the curious plants and tiny animals surviving amid the secondary regrowth.

Cicero (fabulous name, I say) at 64, is a true man of the jungle and makes our visit to Belem a truly enriching experience. He spent ten years living on a patch of primary forest

way downstream and only came back to civilisation to put his kids through school.

“The government gave many people land when the highway was built about 40 years ago,” he tells us, “but that's all you got. 'Here's your land' they said, pointing to the forest. 'bye bye'. So for many years it was very hard work.”

Our day started with Cicero walking us through the local market on the riverside, a stone's throw from where Ponant’s luxury boutique cruise ship, Le Soléal, is moored at the old rubber industry wharf, now long disused and slowly being converted to chic restaurants and retail.

All manner of peculiar fruit and vegetables unfamiliar to Western eyes are arrayed for our inspection. Names like cupuacu, bacuri, tapereba and acerola are piled in vivid stacks on the wobbly trestles. Like dense little apples, the acai fruit is the only one I

recognise.“This fruit has made the fortune of the river people,” Cicero says, “and we export this all over the world for its miraculous medicinal properties. Once we had rubber, now it's acai!”

Cicero's eyes light up when I ask to try some of these colourful extracts and I hand him a few rials (about $5) and ask him to buy some of the juices for us. The plastic cups are handed around and produce an amusing range of expressions as the unfamiliar liquids

assails our taste buds. Our regenerating livers, revitalised synapses and vanishing kidney stones rejoice in unison.

Deeper inside the historic shed we meet Batu, a feisty woman of 70-something who presents us with a baffling range of jungle remedies and potions. A small photo gallery shows her many celebrity clientèle from politicians to minor local and international TV and movie stars. Clearly her wares are sought after for all manner of ailments.

“She's a shaman, you know,” Cicero whispers with a glint in his eye.

I notice many intriguing little vials dangling in clusters from her stall when one catches my eye. “What does this do?” I ask innocently. “It makes you irresistible!” Cicero confirms, “and this, well you put it on your ...” His forefinger dabbing vigorously on his upturned thumb.

Batu reinforces its unique property with a most unambiguous gesture. Okay.

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The seafood market next door reveals an even more astonishing variety of produce with several species of freshwater fish looking like prototypes for the next Ridley Scott movie. I swear these aquatic monsters are from another world. If it weren't for the brown turbid waters and the little outboardpowered canoes, you'd think the city of Belem was a mini Miami or Surfers Paradise with all the slender high-rises piercing the the low clouds.

This busy port was the site of the first European settlement in the Amazon dating way back to 1616 and is actually situated on the Guama River, one of the many arteries that comprise the massive Amazon Delta. Some 300 kilometres wide, this network dumps water into the Atlantic at the astonishing rate of one litre for every person on Earth every second – or so Cicero assures me.

On the return journey, past the many little stilt houses and moored ferries, we discuss the radical changes in the jungle he has witnessed over a lifetime and not all tell a cheery tale.

“Our president (Lula) introduced palm oil a few years ago,” he says through a furrowed brow, “and now we have these [expletive] green deserts that have destroyed hundreds of jobs for our people.”

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Our shore excursion today is just one snapshot of life in tropical northern Brazil.

Cicero is an exceptional guide and one of the standout of the entire journey, proving that expedition cruising is much more than just sightseeing in exotic locations. It's a chance to meet and interact with local communities and hear their stories. Listen and you soon start to understand their triumphs and challenges and how the ripples of change

spread all around the world, affecting others at the farthest reaches of the planet.

Something to ponder as you push your trolley down the aisle at the supermarket.

Our 18-day Amazon & Orinoco expedition began a few days prior at the city of Recife in the north-east corner of Brazil. This major port and commerce centre shares a similar history with so many coastal cities of Brazil. From an official foundation in the early 16th century it soon developed into an important Portuguese trading port that attracted unwelcome attention from the Dutch. Here we toured the outlying cultural centre of Olinda, listed by UNESCO in 1982. The little cobblestoned streets and squares are interrupted by churches and civic buildings painted in a variety of pastel hues without the influence of incongruous modern structures.

Another UNESCO listed city, Sao Luis, featured next. Here we wandered more ancient cobblestoned alleys and squares and were entertained with a region variation of the famous carnival, known locally as Bumba Boi after a quaint folk tale.

From Belem, our splendid vessel under the command of Captain Debien and his team, have expertly navigated the comparatively massive Le Soléal through the junglelined waterways as far inland as Santarem,

stopping at least twice a day to launch our Zodiacs on excursions into the dense undergrowth lining this powerful river, the largest by volume on Earth.

Birders, in particular, are rejoicing in the diversity of species sighted on every outing.

Waders, raptors and waterbirds of every sort are ticked off. Too many toucans to count, we even sight the bizarre hoatzin, a bird so ancient it has more in common with dinosaurs than any of the rest of its feathered genera. Sublime pink dolphins and caiman pop up regularly to check on our progress while howler monkeys, sloths, iguanas and bats survey us from above.

This entire region is populated by people with ethnicities that include predominantly Portuguese and indigenous indian heritage.

And there are plenty of French, Dutch and Spanish genes in this deep pool as well.

The port towns of Santarem, Mojuizim and Guarja support thriving populations with their multitude of satellite stilt villages that are connected, not by road, but by busy little ferry 'buses' zig-zagging across the torrent to transport workers, students and entire families back and forth.

has eased, it wasn't long ago that it was vanishing at the rate of a soccer field every eight seconds, leaving an area the size of Turkey (750,000 sqkm) stripped of important biodiversity.

While it is encouraging to see such luxuriant growth and a great many native plants and animals living untroubled in the new foliage, many critical species will never return, exiled to those declining areas of primary rainforest hidden deep in the bosom of Brazil's Amazon basin. Even though this may sound a depressing tale, it nevertheless underlines the urgency for those with the inquisitive passion to see for themselves the state of our Earth, for better or worse, and gather those observations and memories for future generations.

Yes, I know I sound like a broken record, but if it weren't for adventure cruise and travel companies like Ponant prepared to invest and seek out these special locations, the enrichment and experiences contained in such exceptional ecosystems, environments and civilisations may well never be seen by the likes of me.

It's widely known that the Amazon basin, from here to Peru, Ecuador and beyond, has been brutally exploited for mankind's short term needs such as timber, minerals, soybeans and cattle ranching. While wholesale ravaging of Brazil’s jungles

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TRIBAL

LIFE Tribal life stays strong for first Panamanians STEPHEN SCOURFIELD visits Embera Indians

By Stephen Scourfield The Weekend West / 21 July 2018 41 ­ – PONANT DISCOVER #3

P

anamanians usually shake hands like they’re trying to get all the juice out of a lemon for your margarita. It’s very Latin American.

But I have been warned not to expect that from its Embera Indians. Expert Panamanian guide Alexis Flores, who has brought me to a remote rainforest village where these people try to maintain their tribal ways, says it will be just a light touch of my hand. They will hold it and make steady contact, eye to eye. “They read who you are,” says Alexis.

And that is precisely what I’m experiencing at this moment in Parara Peru village.

To get here, we have driven nearly two hours from Panama City, crossing the Continental Divide that separates the watersheds of the Atlantic and the Pacific, and runs along the spine of the Americas from Alaska (where, indeed, that highway goes, if we’d just continued north). Through the town of

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Chilibre, we veer off the big concrete highway and into rainforest.

The country of Panama is a flat S shape — the cruck of the narrow isthmus between North America and South America, about 80km holding apart the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

While that happened three million years ago, until 7000 years ago, it was no more than a land bridge, says Alexis — a highway between the Inca empire in Peru and Mayans in Mexico. There were passers-by and the Embera were trading from Ecuador in the south to Costa Rica to the north-west.

When, in 1538, the Spanish formally began 300 years of brutal rule, Panama became the marketplace for Spain’s New World empire.

The Embera lived in paradise. The land was fertile from the sedimentation which began when the isthmus started forming 24 million years ago. Alexis says: “They had the rainforest for fruit, two oceans for food, and

“They read who you are”

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plenty of fresh water.” Indeed, the seafood and fish either side of the isthmus remain plentiful.

They had a developed society — women had a voice. “They didn’t know work — just gathering what they needed.” The Spanish enslaved them: “They used them as beasts of burden.”

Many of these Indians in paradise chose suicide.

During the American era, after Panama declared its independence from Gran Colombia, which was the blend of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, north-west Brazil and northern Peru, the US started defending this geographic treasure.

They enlisted the help of Embera Indians, using their local knowledge, as NASA still does, recognising them as the ultimate jungle survival experts.

All they wanted in exchange, says Alexis,

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was a piece of land and to be educated, and legislation granting that was passed 85 years ago. The villages that cluster around Parara Peru share a school for grades one to six.

The Embera today comprise less than one per cent of Panama’s population of just over four million, respected Latin American historian Francisco Matus tells me. They continue to balance that education with their desire for a traditional lifestyle and the survival of their language.

The women continue to use patterns handed down through generations to make the beaded clothes the men wear. Skin glistens in the damp air — some with impermanent tattoos, the ink made from fruit.

It is the same ink used by some women to dye their hair, and the same liquid is valued as a mosquito repellent in this hot, humid place.

In the cooking hut, three logs are poised, ends-in to hold permanent embers, the smoke permeating the roof, keeping insects away and making it last a decade. When I am invited in, the women, whose culture is to be topless, cover with cloths, and continue to stir.

One woman says something and the others giggle.

Alexis laughs too. “She says you’re a tora.

A big white man.” He pauses. “Fit.” There’s clearly something else but I don’t ask.

Alexis quietly tells how, as a boy, he upset a woman by offering to help carry her load.

He had undermined her in front of her son, his friend, and the others in her family. He’d implied she wasn’t strong.

“It took two years for her to accept my apology and speak to me again,” says Alexis.

And then I am greeted by an older woman, who steps forward. “Mera chowa,” she says quietly. I repeat these ancient words back — good morning — as she holds my hand and reads me.

A visit to an Embera village is offered as part of Ponant expedition cruises’ shore excursions in Panama. See au.ponant.com and contact travel agents.

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SMALL IS BETTER STEPHEN SCOURFIELD sees first-hand how boutique ships explore distant shores

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by Stephen Scourfield The Weekend West, / 20-21 January 2018 47 - PONANT DISCOVER #3

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F

rench luxury cruise company Ponant has five ships, all of no more than 132 cabins and suites, and the two which will join its fleet next year are “explorer style”, with only 92 cabins and an underwater lounge.

Two more the following year will follow this theme, bucking the trend of bigger and bigger cruise ships. In increasing its fleet to nine ships, Ponant is going smaller, more intimate, more interesting, more boutique.

I recently joined its ship Le Soléal, sailing along the Latin American coast in “cruise mode”. The blend of French-based cuisine, gentle excursions and days at sea make this a five-star holiday. But Ponant’s ships have another life in another mode when they are on expedition itineraries, particularly in the Antarctic. Cruise director Axelle Lion has spent four seasons with Ponant in the Antarctic, and knows the switch from the Mediterranean, Caribbean or these warm waters of Latin America well. “For the crew, it’s all about organisation and safety, for the passengers, flexibility,” she says. Although passengers know which areas their ship will be targeting, no full itinerary is published, as it is made on the run, on board, reacting to conditions.

Axelle explains that in addition to her role looking after guests on board as cruise director, there will be an expedition leader, working closely with the captain to decide the day’s activities, and about a dozen specialist naturalists. Voyages are paced between the shorter trips from Ushuaia on the southern tip of South America to the Antarctic Peninsula and back — usually two days there, six days in the Antarctic, and two days back — and longer expeditions which also include South Georgia and the Falklands.

Ponant jackets are given to passengers as part of their fare, and boots lent. The ship is reconfigured to allow for the easier handling and drying of cold-weather clothing.

Boots are placed outside the cabin on a special mat. Passengers are asked to carry them, and their outdoor clothing, to the lounge, then prepare to board Zodiacs, and decontaminate their boots when they return.

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“The Antarctic cruises get a different type of clientele…”

There are announcements over the PA, and lots of lectures. A ship’s passenger numbers are kept to 200 (though Le Soléal, for example, can take up to 264) as only 100 people can land on Antarctica at one time.

The team aims for the passengers, in four groups of 50, to experience at least two outings a day — some landings and some Zodiac cruises.

And that’s where Axelle’s comments about organisation and flexibility really come in.

“The Antarctic cruises get a different type of clientele — people who are not really cruising passengers,” she adds. They are not there for a cruise holiday, but for an Antarctic adventure. Le Boreal is not only a very capable ship, and very stable, but luxurious.

It’s an interesting mix for such a dramatic destination.

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For hotel manager Florent Kuhry and his colleagues, there are other challenges on the expedition-mode voyages. “Supplies and provisions are quite tricky,” Florent says.

“In Ushuaia, for example, things are more complicated.” While Ponant ships source supplies from all over the world, other provisions have to be driven four or five days by truck from Buenos Aires. Vegetables, salads and herbs then have to last a voyage of sometimes 16 days. And there’s no access to resupply, of course.

“But we have been sailing in the Antarctic for 10 years, so we know what we’re doing.

And we also need a creative chef.” Someone who can make delicious food from what is available at the end of a voyage. On my voyage on Le Soléal, it’s chef Yannick Sarrotte and his team, including a French baker.

Ponant has three ships in Antarctica this sailing season which began towards the end of last year. Ponant’s five ships have itineraries all over the world [Ed: with addition of two Explorer ships in 2018 the fleet is now 7 ships and growing to 12 by 2021].

See travel agents and au.ponant.com.

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JE SUIS UN CRUISER Parlez-vous français? Non? You will by the end of this cruise

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by Brad Crouch News Ltd ESCAPE / 25 February 2018 53 ­ – PONANT DISCOVER #3

O

n cruise ships I have learnt to cook, to dance, to fold towels into cute animal figures. On a Ponant cruise I learnt French – and did not take a single lesson. French-flagged Ponant sails a fleet of five luxury expedition ships, so successfully that four more are on order and will be delivered from next year. The ships are smallish – about 200 guests – and sail from the Arctic to the Antarctic and points in between in convivial elegance.

“…Part of the joy of a trip like this is being immersed in another language”

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French – my Gallic vocabulary runs from “bonjour” to “merci” with a “tres bon” in between, and not a great deal more.

Not a problem.

Our 132-cabin ship, L’Austral, with its sleek lines and chic decor of greys, ivory and tans, has a fine dining restaurant and a more relaxed buffet option which spills out to the pool deck. There is a large theatre for lectures, films and evening shows, two plush lounges each with live music, a bar by the aft pool, spa, gym, boutique and sundecks.

Drinks including breakfast bubbles are free and there is a sommelier to advise if you prefer to buy a premium wine, while the four-course gourmet dinners in the main dining room have French flair with a focus on quality more than quantity.

In short, a very comfy home away from home in cabins with balconies, Hermès toiletries and, of course, serviced twice a day so you don’t need to worry about chores like making the bed.

All ship announcements are in French followed by English, the French officers and staff all speak several languages, the crew is bilingual, lectures are in both languages, daily programs are available in multiple languages and shore excursions are divided into French and English speaking guests.

The vast majority of guests were French speakers, including a large contingent of cheerful Canadians. The few English speakers included some interesting Americans and a sprinkling of Aussies, Kiwis and Britons. The stereotype of French people being snooty towards English speakers was conspicuously absent – many new friends were quite happy to talk to us in accented English when they learned we were Aussies and even when the language gap was too wide, the shared smiles while enjoying the trip spoke volumes.

But a funny thing happened as the voyage unfolded.

Part of the joy of a trip like this is being immersed in another language, even subconsciously. Each day Captain Patrick Marchesseau and cruise director Maria Pas Garcia Pintado would make announcements first in French, then in English. Menus were in both languages. The daily program on screens around the ship scrolled from one language to the other. French conversations were everywhere, such as nearby tables

while dining or while relaxing by the pool.

Some excellent French movies on the cabin TV had English subtitles.

As L’Austral sailed north, language began to blur a little, then a lot. My “bonjour” to restaurant maître d’ Maxim each evening became “bonsoir” (the more correct “good evening”), then a few more words of French each night. He of course had excellent English but graciously tolerated my efforts.

Barmen such as Alexander “the Great” encouraged my French to flow, nicely fuelled by cocktails before dinner.

Chats with the sommelier and waiting staff in slow French began to take on a new depth.

Sitting near other guests in the lounge, I realised I could understand a little, then a lot, of their conversations.

From Bali to Semarang in Java and Bangka Island off Sumatra to Singapore, I had simply turned off when the French announcements came. By Kuching in Malaysia I was tuned in – I could understand more and more, even if I could not speak much. From Brunei to Malaysia’s Kota Kinabalu to Puerto Princesa in the Philippines with its eerie underground river, it became a personal challenge to see just how much I could understand as the French flowed. Daily navigation and weather announcements from Captain Marchesseau became decipherable even before he switched to English.

Bad weather meant we skipped our last

This was the Gems of South East Asia cruise, dreamily winding from Bali through Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Hong Kong.

In preparation, I brushed up on a few Indonesian and Malaysian phrases while preparing to explore wonders such as the massive temple complex of Borobudur, the “Hello Kitty” cat city of Kuching, the sprawling water village in Brunei and the rainforests of Mt Kinabalu.

What I had not factored in was learning

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port call, El Nido in the Philippines, giving us a three-day sail across the South China Sea to Hong Kong. On these sea days I went to lectures in French; had rudimentary conversations with staff who were more than happy to cope with my limping language; even had a laugh or two with non-English speaking fellow travellers where a few words, a few hand gestures and lots of smiles conveyed plenty.

As magnificent Hong Kong harbour came into view for an afternoon arrival, guests crowded all vantage points to enjoy the epic view, take photos and soak up the spectacle.

Glass of champagne in hand, I joined the shared experience on the forward deck. My concentration was solely on the sweeping

view of Hong Kong harbour unfolding, its skyscrapers, apartment blocks, water traffic, mountain backdrop and busy port.

Which is why I found it odd that the captain repeated an announcement about our arrival.

It was then I realised I had subconsciously listened to – and understood – his initial announcement in French, and was now listening to the English version.

Don’t ask me to speak, read or write French.

But after an immersion cruise on a Frenchflagged ship over 3308 nautical miles, I can now – almost – understand a slow, basic announcement in French. Voila!

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FOCUS ON

Y

THE MAN BEHIND THE LENS: NICK RAINS

ou are probably well aware of PONANT’s range of brochures and e-communications informing you of forthcoming voyages around the world, and we often receive praise regarding the standard of photography used to feature a destination or experience. While the company uses photographers from around the world, we have an Australian based photographer whose work has regularly appeared in our advertising and brochures.

about offering his services at a ‘competitive’ commercial rate.

Driving around trying to take attractive photographs of houses in the gloom of the UK winters soon lost its appeal and on a whim he set off for Australia, landing in sunny Fremantle in 1986 - just when the city was gearing up for the America’s Cup. Energised by the sun on his back he heads to the Canon Media Centre and just happens to be in the right place at the right time. He is offered a job working with Canon cameras, running their loan service for professional photographers. Heaven. A heady array of lenses and cameras provided plenty of opportunity for Nick to develop new skills taking photographs of the yachts and crew.

That man is Nick Rains, UK born but now living in Australia. We talked with him to find out about the man behind the lens.

Nick tells us he picked up the photography bug at the age of 19 while at university in the UK studying oceanography and biology, resulting in a zoology degree.

Fellow students were dabbling in photography, film back then of course.

His burgeoning interest in photography enabled him to inveigle his way into music events by taking and providing images of the shows for publication in the university magazine.

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In 1983 Nick ‘turned professional’ almost as a dare. His father, the owner of a real estate business, was bemoaning what he saw as extortionate prices photographers charged to take photos of the houses he had for sale. When Nick heard just how much they charged he took up the challenge and set

“It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time but, more-so, having the right can-do attitude”, says Nick. His energetic Media Centre networking had him rubbing shoulders with professional photographers from Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated and Nick commenced his photography career into sports photography.

Returning to London, Nick had a contact “catch up with Harold from Zefa” he was told.

(Zefa then being a large German Stock Photo company.) Fortuitously, Harold had need for a range of shots featuring Europe’s top tourist destinations - photos that could be purchased through Zefa for use in magazines, brochures and advertising. And so Nick set off in a campervan to capture the essence of Europe. He visited France, Italy and Spain for up to four weeks each returning with photos of iconic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Rome's Colosseum - “Crowded places today, so familiar to travellers, that I am always relieved when I get an assignment to really remote places such as the Kimberley region, Spice Islands or Sub Antarctic Islands.”

But the Australian lifestyle (and climate) was calling, and so Nick returned to Australia and quickly put his photographic expertise to work for Tourism Australia, Tourism NSW and Australian Geographic magazine among others. His expertise attracted cruise company Orion Expedition Cruises to use him on multiple occasions. More recently, Nick completed an outstanding photographic assignment capturing PONANT in the

Kimberley region, and another hanging out of a helicopter over Le Soleal as she entered Sydney Harbour.

Nick and his wife Janelle live in Queensland from where they operate their photography business for companies that include PONANT. Nick is, as you would expect, widely travelled, with personal highlights that include PNG, India, Myanmar, the Spice Islands, the Kimberley and the Sub Antarctic Islands nominated as ‘return-to’ favourites.

Nick is a Leica Ambassador and he runs the Australian branch of the Leica Akademie, undertaking photography workshops for committed photography enthusiasts and taking them to interesting places around the world.

24-70mm lens will probably do. Regardless of how determined you are to capture the hero shot don’t take the enjoyment out of your holiday by seeing everything through your viewfinder. Step back and enjoy the moment.

Mental photos are equally as important."

His recommendation for cruise travel photography? “Let’s take the Kimberley as an example. You don’t want to be lugging heavy equipment, especially in a humid environment and when embarking or disembarking Zodiacs, so I suggest a mirrorless camera or an SLR with a 24-70mm zoom lens. Maybe a 200mm lens as well for wildlife but as you can often get really close to the crocodiles the

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60 ­ – PONANT DISCOVER #3

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© PONANT, 2018. Photos: © Servane Roy Berton, Olivier Blaud, Sylvain Adenot, Mike Louagie, Natjhalie Michel, Lea Paulin, Margot Sib, Matthieu Germain, Morgane Monneret, Mick Fogg, John Borthwick, Frederic Brassard, Laurence Fischer, François Lefebvre, Laure Patricot, Nick Rains, Istock, Adobe Stock, Shutterstock

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