Crusade as king as well as a penitent. From St. Denis, Louis walked to Notre Dame dressed as a penitent to hear mass before continuing barefoot to the Abbey of St. Antoine. On his journey south, Louis was garbed as a pilgrim at public appearances. After meeting Innocent IV at Lyons, he travelled towards the Mediterranean, dispensing justice as he went, the first French king to visit the region since his father in 1226. On 25 August, Louis sailed to his first destination, Limassol in Cyprus. Interlude in Cyprus Louis IX arrived in Cyprus on 17 September 1248 and debarked the next day accompanied by the queen, her sister, and his chamberlain Jean Pierre Sarrasin (John the Saracen). Sarrasin wrote an extensive letter, quoted in the Rothelin, writing of their experience of being at sea for 22 days. After a discourse by Rothelin's anonymous author on the perils of sea travel and authentic or legendary Roman history, the work returns to Sarrasin's letter for the events occurring through 1250. After arriving in Cyprus, the royal party had a long wait for their forces to assemble. The delay was costly, as many men were lost to disease, including John of Montfort, son of a crusader, Peter of Vendôme, John I of Dreux, and Archambaud IX of Bourbon, grandson of a veteran of the Third Crusade. Robert VII of Béthune was among those who died en route to Cyprus. Others ran out of their own funds, requiring support from the king. As the troops for the Crusade gathered in Cyprus, they were well received by Henry I of Cyprus. The nobles from France were supplemented by those from Acre including Jean de Ronay and Guillaume de Sonnac. The two eldest sons of John of Brienne, Alsonso of Brienne and Louis of Brienne, would also join the Crusade (and both survive). John of Ibelin, nephew to the Old Lord of Beirut, joined later in 1249. When the plan of campaign was discussed, it was agreed that Egypt was the objective. It was the richest and most vulnerable province of the Ayyubids and many remembered how the sultan's father al-Kamil had been willing to exchange Jerusalem itself for Damietta in the Fifth Crusade. Louis wanted to start operations at once but was dissuaded by the grand masters and the Syrian barons. The winter storms would soon begin and the coast of the Nile delta