“I gave birth to two of my children there. So I am very attached to it and I was happy to do an episode of my show there”. For almost 20 years, sailor Maud Fontenoy has maintained a special link with French Polynesia. In 2005, she docked there after having undertaken the crossing of the South Pacific by oar. This time, she returns for a special episode of Blue, an ocean of solutionsbroadcast Thursday November 21, 2024 at 11:05 p.m. on Canal+. The opportunity for spectators to discover a place of rare beauty which, as the woman who is also an environmental activist tells us, “full of aquatic species: whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles, manta rays, etc.” And the presenter continued: “That’s what makes Polynesia so diverse. There is so much richness that every time I go back, I feel like it’s the first time, I’m so moved”.
Maud Fontenoy swims with the sharks in this new episode of Blue, an ocean of solutions
In this issue, Maud Fontenoy takes us on a discovery of multiple innovations. “For me, all of humanity's major problems have part of their solutions in the sea. Whether in terms of food, because it is the cooking pot of humanity. But also in terms of oxygen, because it comes half of it, not from the Amazonian forest, but from the photosynthesis of algae We can also make drugs, like with the magician's cone and its venom which would make it possible to make a painkiller 1,000 times more powerful than morphine.she explains to us. So many fascinating things that she transmits by going out to discover others, “those who dedicate their lives to better understanding water to better protect the oceans and to finding solutions that come from the sea and are applicable to humans”. And during these different adventures, the adventurer does not hesitate to put herself in danger. For this issue in Polynesia, she swims with sharks. A situation which, she admits, scared her a little. “The more children I have, the more afraid I am [rires]. I think it's about leaving something behind. When I went on a rowing or sailing adventure and was all alone, I feel like I was less afraid than I am today. But it's true that sharks are never very reassuring. It's a huge predator, it has big teeth and we're in its environment. We have no way to defend ourselves if there is a problem. I know it's his domain and I'm just a guest. We must never forget it.”.
Maud Fontenoy confides in what she wants to leave to her five children
Especially since at home, there are no longer four but five little blond heads waiting for Maud Fontenoy. In 2024, she welcomed little Éléa, who came to complete the siblings already made up of Mahé, Hina, Loup and Côme. “I always try to manage family life and professional life, to tell myself that it is not because we are a mother that we stop working. In this case, talking about the preservation of the oceans which we need so much, that’s what drives me. These oceans, I want to leave them to my children, I would like them to still be able to see whales.she explains to us. I miss them a lot during filming and I impose an extremely busy schedule on myself, to leave as few days as possible. […] During this time, I make little videos for them. They are with me even when I am far away”. To her children, the woman who made the history of navigation by rowing across the North Atlantic in 2003 hopes to communicate a taste for adventure. “I hope they will travel. I think it's important, when you can, to go out, to discover your city, your country, to go on an adventure, abroad, to understand others , different cultures, the world which is not so big after all. It makes us more humble and it's fascinating..
