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The 26-year-old Frenchwoman -- also the first female to row across the
North Atlantic alone -- completed her marathon challenge when she
arrived from Peru at the French Polynesian island of Hiva.
Ms Fontenoy was welcomed by a 300-strong crowd and carried ashore by a
group of tattooed men in traditional clothing who honoured her with the
title "tahia" (queen).
Ms Fontenoy said her journey -- achieved a month quicker than expected
-- had been "an exercise of will to prove that even a woman has the
determination and physical qualities to make a solitary crossing of this
scale".
She said she had mixed feelings about returning to land.
"It is a moment that I dreaded, the return to the world of people after
more than 70 days of solitude. But it is a moment that I have waited for
so long that I can only be delighted," she said.
Ms Fontenoy, who received a telegram from French President Jacques
Chirac, lived on freeze-dried paella and slept for 20 minutes at a time. |
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