4 years later, after a great sail down from Lorient, we arrived. Not at the main port of Belle Ile - Le Palais, but at the small drying harbour of Sauzon. We endured a somewhat rolly night on a buoy outside as I wanted to check the harbour at low tide - the HM may be sure about his bottom, but I wanted to verify it myself! Needn't have - it was a lovely sandy bottom just right for drying out :)
The next morning, we drifted into the harbour where the excellent lad in the dinghy zipped around putting ropes through buoys, so we were tethered at each corner. We spent the next few low tides scrubbing the hulls and replacing a missing anode.
We did quite a bit of exploring ashore. The fishmonger on the quay every evening supplied us with some lovely monkfish that was rapidly turned into dinner. The church was very pretty inside..
We took the bus around the island and had a look at Le Palais - we definitely got the better part of the deal!
There is an inner harbour at Le Palais, but you share with the the twice daily ship that brings everything to the island.
We stayed on at Sauzon for longer than we had planned too - it was wonderful. Do not miss Belle Ile and especially Sauzon if you can dry out.