A FRENCHMAN whose message in a bottle ended up on an Aberdyfi beach has visited the area to meet the woman who discovered it.

Matthieu Dewasnes dropped his bottle in the ocean off the Azores islands on 5 June 2015. It was discovered by Aberdyfi resident Angela Knox five months later, on 25 November.

The 24-year-old visited Aberdyfi over Easter weekend and met with Angela, who provided him with a tour of the Meirionnydd village.

Matthieu, of Barfleur in Normandy, who is a master yachtsman, threw the bottle off a ship with his friend Collette whilst they were on an Atlantic crossing close to the Azores islands.

“I was so shocked to find out that my bottle had managed to end up all the way on a beach in Wales!” Matthieu told the Cambrian News.

“I was also surprised to hear that it had been found so quickly.

“It’s been amazing to come and visit Aberdyfi, it’s such a beautiful place and I’ve loved meeting Angela and making new friends in the village.”

The young yachtsman is hoping to visit other areas of Wales and the UK before he returns to sea to skipper a ship for marine scientists observing whales travelling between the Azores and the Mediterranean in June.

See the full story in this week’s Meirionnydd edition of the Cambrian News