tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42234869411287906652024-03-05T15:07:37.158-08:00Out Of The Blue and into EuropeYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-34047575196415144472019-08-17T07:08:00.001-07:002019-08-17T07:08:11.848-07:00Auxerre to Chatillon-en-BazoisHello again,<br />
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It's been a while since my last blog. I have two excuses, one it's been too hot and two the internet signal has been too weak to upload photos.<br />
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It was another heatwave while we were in Auxerre with temperatures reaching 43'C. The day before we left there was a huge fire just across the river. The smoke was very thick and black and by going on the local town news feed I found out very quickly that it was at the local scrap yard. 400 cars waiting to be "de-polluted" had set on fire. The fire brigade had it under control within around 2 hours but the smoke was full of oily soot that settled on the boats. It took Roger a whole day to wash it off<br />
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After Auxerre our next notable mooring was at Saussois beside the cliffs.<br />
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where we watched the climbers and absailors.<br />
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The next reasonable sized town was Clamecy where we stayed for 3 nights. It's very popular with hire boats who arrive en-mass from 4pm onwards. During the day it's very peaceful and has a really good restaurant the Hostellerie de la Poste. It's also a good town to re-stock the cupboards and freezer as the big Leclerc supermarket is a short bike ride away.<br />
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To reach the summit of the canal du Nivernais we needed to travel up the Sardy flight of 16 locks. It's one of the most beautiful sections of canal I've seen for a while<br />
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and there's still plenty of water here with the bywashes running freely<br />
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There's plenty to see while you're going up the flight with a bohemian style cafe playing heavy metal music<br />
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and a local sculptor exhibiting his works along the towpath<br />
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The locks are painted different colours too: red, blue, yellow, purple, green, pink</div>
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and the bollards are very decorative π</div>
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The 16 locks are then followed by a trip through 3 tunnels<br />
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and very narrow overgrown cuttings that are one-way and travelled in convoy with small electric trip boats</div>
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And the mooring at the end of the day made it all worthwhile. This is the Etang de Baye, a beautiful reservoir that is still almost full and where we stayed for a couple of days. We watched the sailing dinghies and did a lot of exploring on the bikes and generally chilled out.<br />
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The sunsets were spectacular π<br />
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The only draw-back to the canal du Nivernais is that there aren't many shops and we were running out of food (and beer) again so had to carry on to the next town of Chatillon-en-Bazois which is where we are at the moment.<br />
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We're moored right below the chateau and are staying for a few days.<br />
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The water in front of the chateau is the remains of it's moat and this morning I saw a shoal of baby catfish in it. They were about an inch long and there must have been 200 of them!<br />
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Last night a festival was held beside the lock. There was a bar, set meal of sausage and fries and entertainment from 2 bands<br />
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A marching band playing foot tapping rousing tunes<br />
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and a trio playing mostly English songs. Both were really good and we had very pleasant evening out.<br />
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We're really enjoying this canal and, as cruising options are very limited this year due to the drought and canal closures, we've decided to turn round and go back to a few of our favourite moorings. Obviously internet reception will be poor again but I'll write another blog again soon.<br />
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Take care, bye for now X<br />
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<br />Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-83451800541519142992019-07-26T03:36:00.000-07:002019-07-26T03:36:06.020-07:00Plans changed again!Bonjour et bienvenue,<br />
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Welcome to a VERY hot France. We are currently having the second heatwave of the year, with temperatures reaching 43'C here in Auxerre yesterday afternoon and not dropping below 26'C last night....phew......<br />
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Chico's keeping cool by wearing a wet bandana and tea towel and sleeping on wet towels, not the most fashionable of attire but he seems very comfortable in it and doesn't try to shake it off π<br />
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We had originally planned to go up the river Yonne as far as the Seine, turn round and come back to the canal du Nivernais in a couple of weeks but the morning we arrived at Villeneuve-sur-Yonne the botton lock gates failed, shutting the river until next year. The gates were already scheduled for repairs/replacement during the winter maintenance but they just couldn't last that long. The lock-keeper was distraught and almost in tears. Unfortunately the river Yonne is one of the most important routes into Belgium and the closure has forced many boaters to have to try and find alternative winter moorings simply because they can't get where they wanted. If we'd been there the day before we'd have been in that situation too, luckily all it's meant is that we move onto the canal du Niverais a couple of weeks earlier than we'd intended.<br />
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We spent a few days in Joigny moored opposite this 2* Michelin hotel/restaurant but were never tempted to visit, 168 euros for a set lunch is just a little bit out of our pocket. Instead we went to the restaurant owned by the 2* chef's sister and had a fantastic meal for 31 euros each<br />
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After the peace and quiet and lack of boats on the canal de Bourgogne the river Yonne has been quite busy, although the lock-keepers reckon it's nowhere near as busy as previous years and the man running the Le Boat hire base at Migennes told us their bookings are well down.<br />
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After Joigny we stayed a couple of nights at Gurgy. The moorings are excellent and free, although you do pay if you need water or electric. It's also a very popular camping car stop and the enterprising locals have set up "degustation" cabins - free tasting of local wine, cheeses, cakes and sausage. They were doing a roaring trade ad we bought a few bottles of wine.<br />
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The grapes are coming on well, despite the late frosts and now the heatwave and lack of rain so fingers -crossed for good harvest this year.<br />
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This was the first view we had as we arrived in Auxerre. It really is a beautiful town, with many very old multi-coloured timbered buildings.<br />
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We haven't stopped in the main port as there is absolutely no shade. Instead we've gone up the first lock onto the Nivernais and are moored opposite the weir where we are entertained every afternoon by the young locals swimming. There is an excellent swimming pool complex about 500m away but I suppose they prefer the river as it's free. I'll stick to soaking my feet in a bowl and feeding the fishes and ducks.<br />
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That's all for now. Stay cool and drink lots of water wherever you are and see you again soon XYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-86938411404481982262019-07-14T09:34:00.001-07:002019-07-14T09:52:22.270-07:00Montbard to Brienon -sur-ArnaconHello again<br />
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After the heatwave when we were in Montbard the temperatures have been much more bearable, with highs not exceeding 32'C and most days having reasonably strong breezes to make it quite pleasant.<br />
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The scenery along this stretch of canal is very different to what we've seen up to now. The wooded hill sides have been replaced by huge open fields of maize, wheat and sunflowers<br />
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The harvest is in full swing and tiny bits of chaff cover the solar panels and the surface of the canal every day. We haven't travelled very far, preferring to stay in some places for a couple of days and going off exploring on the bikes.<br />
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We stopped at Ancy-le-Franc and visited the chateau<br />
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A couple of days later we arrived in Tanlay to find out that there was a firework display due at 10.30pm that night. It was a lovely evening so we sat out and waited, and waited and waited. And it true French fashion it started late at 11.30pm. It was worth waiting for, although Chico wasn't too impressed. His hearing seems to have come back a bit since he had his back teeth out which is a bit weird. He can't hear much but the loud bangs did get his attention.<br />
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The next morning we moved on to the next town which was Tonnerre as we'd seen a poster advertising an "apero concert and fireworks" to be held at the capitainerie. The port itself was very weedy and for the first time ever the weed made manoeuvring the boat difficult and we struggled to get alongside the quay. We got talking to people from other boats who had raw water cooled engines who were having big problems with the weed clogging up their pipes. After we'd moored up the water cleared and there were hundreds of fish swimming in the weed. We both spent a happy hour feeding the catfish bits of bread. It was like having our own personal aquarium π<br />
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The concert was advertised as starting at 5.30 and at 3pm half a dozen vans suddenly arrived and set up tables and chairs, refreshment tents and a small performance area. It was all up and running within 2 hours, everyone being well organised and having obviously done it before....very "un-French" π We enjoyed a very pleasant evening and the fireworks started on time and were spectacular as always. One thing I have to say about the French.....they put on some excellent displays.<br />
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The weed continued to be a problem and a couple of locks were full of the stuff.<br />
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One night we stopped on a new stone quay just outside the village of Flagny la Chapelle. The village itself was nothing to write home about but we did manage to find a small grocery store and a decent bakery. When we got back from our bike ride we realised that there was a dog kennels just across the canal from the mooring. As it got darker the dogs barks got louder and louder and then turned to howls. It continued all night and I didn't get much sleep. It sounded like werewolves howling at the moon!<br />
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The next mooring was in St Florentin, opposite the port de plaisance. We didn't expect to have to pay as we needed neither water nor electric, but the capitain came round to collect 11 euros from us. Most places only charge for the services if you use them but as we had to pay whether we used them or not I made the most of it and did several loads of washing. When we arrived here in Brienon we checked out the cost of the moorings but as they wanted 25 euros a night from us we decided to wild moor instead. We're on the opposite side of the canal but that only means another couple of hundred yards to walk to the village and has saved us 75 euros as we've stayed 3 nights. On Friday we went out for lunch but it was the worst meal we have ever had anywhere (and we both had different dishes)! If my french had been a bit better I'd have complained bitterly. So if you're ever coming to Brienon-sur-Arnacon <i>don't</i> eat at the Auberge de la Poterne. We've since found out that it's recently changed proprietor so maybe that explains it.<br />
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So now it's 14th July "la Fete Nationale" formerly known as Bastille Day and they're setting up another fireworks display just along the canal from our mooring and opposite the hire boat base. All the hire boats that haven't been rented out have been moved out of harms way just in case a firework goes astray in the wind. Hopefully this will be yet another spectacular display and tonight I'll be playing loud music indoors for Chico while we sit out on the back deck watching.<br />
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That's all for now, see you back here again soon XYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-69751529361053471022019-07-02T13:22:00.001-07:002019-07-02T13:22:10.937-07:00The Beautiful BourgogneHi, welcome back.<br />
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We've been very busy recently, hence the three week break since my last blog. We're still on the canal de Bourgogne and have come to the conclusion that it's our favourite canal so far. The scenery is simply stunning and the lock keepers are the most friendly and helpful we've ever met!<br />
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Even the lock-side bollards greet you with a smile ππ<br />
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One Sunday morning we had a team of 4 lockies helping us as we had 18 locks to do before lunch. One of them was really friendly and was quite happy to let me practice my french chit chat on him. After a few locks he presented me with a bunch of the sweetest smelling roses I've ever had. Oh and for the record, he was fat, forty and not in the least bit attractive but I'll accept flowers from anyone. </div>
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The next morning he brought us pastries</div>
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and later on picked us some cherries from a tree beside one of the locks. These were delivered in a kangaroos pouch he made from his very sweaty t-shirt but I'd have rinsed them even if I'd bought them, so no worries. I reciprocated by feeding the team homemade muffins, which they looked at as if I'd poisoned them because all Frenchmen know that the English can't cook, but they <i>really</i> enjoyed them, ice lollies and cold beer were handed over at the last lock of the day.</div>
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We were on a mission to meet our daughter and grandkids at Pouilly-en-Auxois but stopped off at Pont d'Ouche for lunch one day as the bistro was highly recommended by DBA. I wish we hadn't bothered! The food was over-priced and not very nice and the wine was <i>SO</i> expensive that we just drank water. There is no way on this earth that I'm paying 9 euros for glass of wine when that's what we normally pay for a 50cl carafe! They obviously focus on the American market which is reflected in the quality and prices. There was a table of 6 Americans from a hotel peniche besides us who the owners absolutely fawned over, taking advantage of their inability to speak or understand french and selling them really over-priced bottles of wine. Shameless! The next day we stopped in Vandenesse and went to another little restaurant for a fixed priced "menu du jour" and had a wonderful meal including wine and coffee for less than half the price at Pont 'Ouche. </div>
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As we were approaching Vandenesse we had the most spectacular views of a castle that looked straight out of Disney. Chateauneuf-en-Auxois. We returned a week later by car with the grandkids and had a fabulous day out. My 7 year old granddaughter really believed me when I said that the turreted tower was where Rapunzel had lived ππ</div>
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To get to Pouilly-en-Auxois to meet the grandkids we had to pass through Pouilly tunnel which is narrow and has to be booked in advance. The lock keepers check your life jackets and tunnel lights and issue you with a permit and a walkie-talkie radio (although in french its a talkie-walkie) Neither of us were looking forward to this tunnel as we're both a bit claustrophobic, but careful preparation, i.e. lowering the bimini, satellite and the mast and putting extra lights on the roof helped a lot and we got through in an hour without ever touching the sides.</div>
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We spent a wonderful week at Pouilly with the kids. My 5 year old grandson found it really funny when he found out that Pouilly is pronounce "poo ye" but hey that's what muses little boys! </div>
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It was quite warm when they were here so we bought a paddling pool which kept everyone happy until Granny overheated and kicked them all out so I could cool off and soak my feet. Bad Granny ! π</div>
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Once the kids left us we carried on, now going down the locks instead of up. The countryside is still stunning although there aren't as many good places to moor.</div>
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We stayed at Montbard for a week as the "canicule" (heatwave) hit us BIG style. 40'C during the day and 26'C at night was horrible. We had to become inventive to get any respite and I hooked a duvet cover onto the new bimini to give us some well needed shade. Chico slept on wet towels and only really had a problem one night when Roger had to take him out at 02.30 to cool down as it was 33' in the boat<br />
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The only other down-side to the heatwave has been the sudden increase in flying beasties. I'm like a mozzie buffet and everything bites me with painful results πΉπ This is one of many!<br />
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Anyway, today has been a much more pleasant temperature of 28' with a breeze and we are sat out on the top deck enjoying a glass of wine. The cover is for the bugs which are in abundance but the mozzie spiral and citronella candles are lit so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for no more bites tonight.</div>
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Just outside the kitchen window are wild strawberries which I'll pick in the morning. They are incredibly sweet but you need at least 6 to make one normal size strawberry.<br />
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That's all for now. Take care and I'll see you here again very soon XXX</div>
<br />Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-60159156094756823132019-06-11T10:35:00.001-07:002019-06-11T10:41:13.217-07:00Hotel boats are like buses, none for days and then 4 at onceHi, nice to see you again,<br />
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We're still heading up the canal de Bourgogne. The first few kilometers out of Dijon were extremely weedy and it made us appreciate the fact that our boat is NOT water cooled. A couple of boaters we spoke to in Dijon had had big problems with the weed clogging up their raw water cooling intakes.<br />
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Once you get past Plombieres-les-Dijon the weed disappears and the countryside becomes almost alpine. The canal is tree-lined and there are poppies everywhere.<br />
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The weather forecast said we were due for torrential rain and thunderstorms, so we decided to wait it out in the new Halte Nautique at La Bussiere sur Ouche. We didn't see another moving boat for two days and then 4 hotel boats arrived! We moved up to let 2 moor up but the third had to moor in the rough below the lock and the fourth had to keep moving to the next mooring. And in typical fashion, the storm totally bypassed us and the rain was minimal.<br />
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Not a very good photo I'm afraid, but you can just make out the 2 huge hotel boats tucked in behind us. The skipper of one of them was very appreciative that we'd moved up for them and gave us a <i>very</i> nice bottle of wine as a thank you.<br />
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My flower tubs are starting to revive after the decimation of the frosts and I have my first flower<br />
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Don't you just love organic veggies? I bought these on the market in Dijon port just before we left........love is carrot shaped ππ and would have been rejected by the supermarket.<br />
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We're continuing again tomorrow having just negotiated with one of the hotel boats to let us leave first in the morning. We don't want to get stuck behind them as they travel really slowly.<br />
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That's all for now, see you back here again soon I hopeYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-29715317631318839722019-06-04T07:15:00.000-07:002019-06-04T07:20:47.506-07:00DijonHi welcome back,<br />
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We've been here in Dijon for a week now. It's a beautiful city with good moorings BUT there's no water or electric here. There are bornes all along the quay but they don't work and the lock-keepers don't know if they will ever work again. They used to be operated by jetons (tokens) but no-one wants to sell them and it's too expensive to install a vending machine. It's a good job we're fully solar powered so we haven't had to run the generator at all, but we're down to the last dregs of the water tank and will need to find a working tap soon.</div>
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The town itself is very picturesque, full of old half timbered buildings and narrow shopping streets<br />
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and of course Dijon is famous for it's mustard, although when I had beef for lunch in a restaurant I had to ask for mustard and the waiter had to go and find some!</div>
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There are lots of open areas as well as the shops, with a couple of really nice peaceful parks which were popular lunchtime picnic places for the locals.</div>
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The 13th century catholic church of Notre Dame wasn't particularly impressive compared to others we've visited, but it does have some unusual "dummy" gargoyles on the western facade. Dummies because they are just statues rather than water spouts and unusual because they depict animals as well as humans and monsters. I've never seen a sheep gargoyle before (centre below)</div>
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I think this was my favourite, grotesque but also quite cute π<br />
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The weather's finally warmed up and we've managed to get out and about on the bikes spending a very pleasant afternoon cycling round the nearby lake "lac du kir". The French take their leisure time very seriously and the cycle paths are really well maintained. A sandy beach had just been installed for the summer season and was already being well used by sunbathers. The beach volley ball courts were also full but Roger was a bit disappointed that the teams were fit young men ππ There were also several well used fitness equipment areas plus the essential bar/cafe. The perfect place to spend a sunny afternoon</div>
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We cycled back along the towpath and met this character beside one of the locks. </div>
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We also met one of the big hotel boats that cruise in this area. How about having a swimming pool on your front deck?</div>
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On Saturday and Sunday it was the local festival hosted by the friends of the port. Live music, children's fairground rides and all kinds of displays put on by local dance groups made for a good couple of days, with the highlight being a spectacular fireworks display on Saturday night. </div>
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We've really enjoyed our time here, it's almost felt like being on holiday. To top it all off, it was our 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday.<br />
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Cheers!<br />
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That's all for now, see you again soon X</div>
Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-9224282831785002032019-05-26T06:13:00.000-07:002019-05-26T06:13:41.059-07:00Canal de BourgogneHello, nice to see you here again<br />
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With Narwal safely installed in the dry dock we stayed for a few days on the steps at St Jean de Losne. It's a busy spot with a high turnover of holiday boats who turn up and immediately plug into the electric.<br />
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While we were there we had 2 visits from the gendarmes. They wanted to see our papers and licences and also checked our extinguishers and life jackets. Some boaters I talked to think it's an intrusion of privacy but I think it's a good thing. I wish the same regulations also applied to the hire boaters who can rent a boat with no tuition or licence and who often struggle to handle these large cruisers and have no idea how to moor up safely. I've lost count of the number we've helped recently, and before someone comments that everyone has to start somewhere, it's not rocket science! You don't throw unattached ropes or jump off the boat 4 feet from the bank wearing high heeled sandals! Some of them are just accidents waiting to happen and it makes me cringe. The second time the gendarme knocked on our door I explained that we'd already done the "controle" and he stopped to chat for a while. It's nice that the local crime rate is so low that these guys have the time to be friendly and not too officious.<br />
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We've now left the big river and are slowly working our way up the canal de Bourgogne. It's new territory for us and so far we like it very much. It's quiet and the countryside is beautiful. The first section from St Jean de Losne is typically French, very straight and tree lined both sides. The lock keeper who helped us the first day told us about a really pretty, secluded "wild" mooring which was so quiet that we both overslept and were almost late for the first lock next morning π<br />
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Unlike the canal de Centre where the lock side houses are mostly derelict, here they are well maintained and lived in.<br />
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well almost all are lived in, </div>
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and the flowers beside the locks are stunning too</div>
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It's now Sunday and we've spent the weekend on another peaceful wild mooring, surrounded this morning by a fishing match. They take it very seriously here, arriving at 8.00 and having a meeting which lasted till 10.15. They then drove down the towpath in a procession to their allocated fishing pegs and set up their gear. At 10.50 there was a loud blast of an air horn with the "start fishing" blast going at 11.00. Not much talking between themselves and no real sign that anyone was catching anything either. It's 3pm and with the blast of another air horn all rods have been taken in. I wonder how long a meeting they'll have now to decide the winner?</div>
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That's all for now. I'll try and keep to a regular weekly blog but the Internet signal is getting weaker by the day. As the city of Dijon is our next port of call it may improve in time for next week's instalment. Watch this space π </div>
Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-81735593121801999242019-05-18T01:53:00.001-07:002019-05-18T01:53:26.741-07:00Narwal delivered!Hi, nice to see you here again.<br />
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Well we made it to Saint Jean de Losnes with no further maintenance/repairs to Narwal required π It was a huge relief all round and we celebrated with a really nice lunch in the local restaurant La Cotiniere.<br />
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When I left you last time we'd just arrived at Fragnes. The wind died down slightly but was still fierce enough that we thought we'd stay put for a couple of days. Chico is now almost 14 years old and it's showing. Before we left Roanne he had a couple of seizures and the vet put him on heart medication and told us to try and not get him excited. The meds seemed to be working and he didn't have any more seizures until we got to Fragnes when he had 3 in 36 hours. It was very distressing for him and for us as we thought his time had run out. I've doubled his medication and this seems to be working, he's back to normal and as soon as the wind died down he resumed his sunbathing position on the gunwale. Fingers crossed the new dosage continues to work.<br />
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While we were in Fragnes it was my birthday, <i>no</i> I'm not saying which one and Roger took me out for lunch. We chose not to eat at the restaurant in the port as it didn't get very good reviews on t'internet. Instead, we walked for 10 minutes down the towpath to a small place beside the long term moorings at le Bassin de Fragnes.<br />
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We arrived at 12.45 and got the last free table. It was packed with workmen which is always a sign of good food. The meal was excellent. 4 courses, with plenty of choice, inclusive of wine and coffee for 14.50 euros each. As they were leaving the workmen were all saying "see you tomorrow" which says it all really. It's definitely a place we'll be visiting again.<br />
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The final lock on the Canal du Centre is the deepest we've done so far this year. At 35ft deep it looks quite intimidating, but actually it's one of the calmest we've done and has the benefit of good floating bollards.<br />
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Narwal looked quite small down at the bottom of the lock. We followed shortly after.<br />
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It was a beautiful sunny day, although still quite windy, and it was great to be back on a river.<br />
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I love the wider waters and the added interest of passing commercial peniches.<br />
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We passed this one a couple of hours later, loading up with gravel for the return trip.<br />
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As there was only the one lock to do I had plenty of time to do a spot of baking en-route mmmmm.......cake π<br />
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The only problem with rivers is that there aren't very many mooring places. We stayed at Gergy for one night and then moved on to Seurre. The Halte Nautique there has been totally renovated since we stayed in 2017 and the town itself is undergoing a big make-over with roadworks everywhere. It'll be lovely when it's finished. The pontoons are only for boats up to 15m and although they were empty when we arrived, by 6pm they were full of Le Boat hire cruisers. The wind had <i>finally</i> died down and it was a perfect evening to sit up on the top deck and open the bar.<br />
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Cheers! See you again soon XYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-26374925543263539202019-05-13T07:25:00.001-07:002019-05-13T09:43:13.168-07:00Wild wet and windyBonjour et bienvenue<br />
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As I've mentioned before, we don't make plans because they <i>always</i> change. This week has been no exception, again. The first plan was that I was going to blog more regularly.........that's great providing you have internet signal but it's been weak and patchy for the past 10 days, so here's a bit of a catch-up.<br />
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We caught up with Dave and Jane on Narwal at Paray-le Monial last Saturday after a very long long days cruise. Two of the "automatic" locks failed to operate and I had to contact the VNF on the lock-side intercom for them to remotely re-set the mechanisms. Little did I realise at the time that this was going to become almost a daily occurrence! I'm almost on first name terms with the lady in the control centre π<br />
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The weather has been unseasonably cold and we had frost a couple of nights which has decimated my new roof-top plants. That hasn't been helped by the extremely strong winds, torrential rain and even HAIL that we've been having.<br />
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One of our moorings was just before Montceau-les-Mines. We'd planned to go into the newly refurbished marina but the weather was just so dreadful that we pulled in early. The view wasn't very nice but we were only 200m from two of my favourite shops which was a definite bonus.<br />
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Milly this is for you, Grand Frais and Thiriet within easy walking distance from the mooring.<br />
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On the other side of Montceau-les-Mines, between locks 9 & 8, you can moor right outside Leclerc hypermarket which is the perfect place to stop and restock the heavy essentials like beer, wine and dog food. The attached restaurant does a reasonable "menu du jour" too π We were halfway through our lunch when Roger got an email from VNF saying that the canal was being closed in 3 days time for urgent lock repairs and would be closed for almost a week! So plans changed <i>again.</i><br />
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We had a long way to go to clear the proposed stoppage which meant long days and LOTS of locks. We normally like to travel for around 3 hours a day but we've needed to put in a couple of 8-9 hour days and with the weather being so dreadful we're all knackered. We got through the damaged lock late yesterday afternoon with the help of a very nice lock keeper. He was there to make sure all boats stayed away from the damaged wall which was leaking badly where the pointing and render had failed. It was like a fountain pouring out of the wall but by the time I'd got the camera it didn't look too bad, although you could definitely see why it needs urgent repairs before the wall totally collapses.<br />
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Many of the original lock side cottages are now derelict and when you see the lengths they have to go to to get building materials across the lock when there is no access road it's no wonder. This crane was huge!<br />
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It'll be interesting to see what it looks like next time we come this way.</div>
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On Saturday evening we managed to get moored outside the famous wine producing village of Santenay. The moorings are normally full of hotel boats and we couldn't get in last time we passed this way. For once, the rain stopped, the wind died down and it turned into a very pleasant evening so we walked into the village. There are some very grand houses, I particularly liked the pea hen and peacock guarding the entrance to this one. <br />
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There were a couple of caves in the village and we tried one of them, but with bottles starting at 25 euros and going steeply upwards we beat a hasty retreat. It may be Premier or Grand Cru but there's no way I'm paying that much for a bottle of wine! We found a small wine shop with bottles a little more reasonably priced and we bought a Pinot Noir for dinner. To be honest, it was nothing special and I've had much nicer wines at a third of the price. The shop and caves do seem to cater for Americans from the hotel boats though, so maybe that's where they make their money?<br />
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Today, Monday, we arrived in Fragnes. The sun is shining and it's a bit warmer but the wind is fierce. We really struggled at the first lock as the wind pinned the boat to the bank. I'd had to get off to go and talk to the VNF lady in the control centre again as the lock was out of action. We're always following Narwal who never seem to have any problems but it's happened 6 times now and is always the same problem. The traffic lights aren't working and the electrics have tripped which means the bottom lock gates don't close after Narwal has gone out. I give her the same message each time, she flicks a switch and the electrics reboot, the gates close and the lock fills ready for us. Given the choice, I'd rather have English DIY locks any day π<br />
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At least it gave me chance to get a shot of the boat that I don't normally see.<br />
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That's all for now, see you soon X<br />
<br />Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-59098554381143180532019-05-03T06:17:00.001-07:002019-05-03T06:17:11.250-07:00Going nowhere slowlyHello again,<br />
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This week has flow by. Roger managed to fix Dave and Jane's boat Narwal and we finally got underway again on Sunday morning. We'd booked the flight of 3 locks for 10.00am and moored below Chambilly lock at around 11.30. It rained but that didn't stop me catching up with our lovely lady lock-keeper who remembered us from last year. Roger stayed indoors and drove the boat in the warm and dry while us "girlies" got wet. Over the winter a new Halte Nautique has been built above Chambilly lock and it would have made a good mooring place for us for a couple of nights <i>except</i> that it's overlooked by very tall trees so we wouldn't have been able to get a TV satellite signal and it was Grand Prix weekend. C'est la vie.........<br />
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The reason we'd stopped at Chambilly was so that we could visit the market at Marcigny on Monday morning. It's one of the best markets in the region and we'd arranged to meet friends from Roanne there for lunch. It's a 3K walk from the canal, but with sights like this beautiful wisteria en-route it soon passes.<br />
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Marcigny market has a large livestock section where you can buy all kinds of pet birds like canaries and budgies, laying poultry such as quail, hens and guinea fowl and rabbits. I really hope these two cuddlies were meant for pets rather than the pot!<br />
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Over in the main food section of the market there was a stall with this amazing roast pig. I'm not sure if it was real though or just a display model as the stall-holder wasn't selling any. He did have a poster promoting a hog roast business but his main produce for sale were pork pasties. The sample I tried was pretty bland tasting so I didn't bother buying anything.</div>
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We met Milly and Robin, Jan and Pete from Roanne and went to the bar du marche for lunch. We've been a few times before and as usual the set meal was really good. 4 courses including wine and coffee for 13.50 euros. We'll definitely be stopping here again on the way back in October.<br />
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We set off again on Tuesday morning, once again having booked the lock for 10.00am. To be honest, having to pre-book passage through the locks is a bit of a pain but when they're this deep you really appreciate the fact that someone comes and operates them for you and the good thing is that the lock-keepers are always on time π<br />
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We only had the one lock to pass through and are now moored at one of our favourite Halte Nautiques in this region. Croix Rouge is a lovely quiet mooring and hardly any other boats ever stop here. Occasionally one or two camper vans park here overnight but apart from them the main "traffic" seems to be cyclists who stop to use the picnic facilities and the toilet block. Another benefit of mooring here is the lack of light pollution and on a clear night the stars are amazing.<br />
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For the past two years the water and electric have been free as the Jeton machine was out of order, but it's recently been fixed. It looks like a Las Vegas slot machine and you buy jetons (tokens) for the electricity and water borne using any credit/debit card.<br />
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Electric is 2 euros for 8 hours and water is 2 euros for 20 minutes. Thankfully it's been quite bright and sunny while we've been here so we only needed to plug in once to do the laundry. The rest of the time the solar panels have been keeping the batteries topped up.<br />
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Have you ever wondered what happens to all the recycling that we do here in France? It's a big thing over here and there are bins for separating your glass, plastics, paper etc. as well as large containers for gerenal unrecycleable waste. Yesterday this huge wagon turned up to empty the recycling containers that are in the car park. There were 2 for plastics, packaging and paper, all with separate compartments and another for glass. All 3 were overflowing so the locals obviously recycle well. Each container was lifted in the air and emptied into the back of the wagon.....everything that had been carefully separated was dumped in together, even the glass! Makes me wonder why we bother........<br />
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Today is Friday and was to have been our last day here at Croix Rouge. We've been trying to get to a local restaurant here for the past two years but something has always cropped up to curtail that and this year is no exception. First thing this morning we got a phone call to say that Narwal had broken own again and could Roger go to fix it? We're at least two days away from them by boat so a lift was arranged and Roger has gone off to see if he can get them going again. The restaurant will have to wait until we come back in October. Oh well, that's what friends are for and two lunches out in one week was probably a bit much for my waistline anyway.<br />
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Bye for now, see you soon X Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-34499228176864107412019-04-26T04:36:00.000-07:002019-04-26T04:36:01.807-07:002019 On y vaHello, nice to see you again.<br />
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The winter has flown by this year but it's time to get moving again. I hope you'll be able to follow us and I promise I'll try and post blog updates more regularly.<br />
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Social life in the port of Roanne is quite hectic during the winter. We play darts in one of the bars in town on Monday evenings and played against the bar regulars (we lost) just before we left. Every other Tuesday afternoon is 10 pin bowling and every Thursday evening is Happy Hour in the local bar/restaurant. It's not a typical British Happy Hour with cheap drinks but everyone does get happy and Katia and Jeremy who run the bar provide copious quantities of free chips (bring your own ketchup) There are also many evenings spent on other boats eating and drinking, well mainly drinking, and every so often there's an impromptu musical soirΓ©e.<br />
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Before we left port Roger needed to repaint the inside of the water tank, not a job he was looking forward to as he's quite claustrophobic. Thankfully the access hatch is quite large.<br />
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Hopefully that'll last for a couple of years.<br />
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We finally managed to get away early on Wednesday morning. For the past few weeks the weather has been hot and sunny, so typically Wednesday morning turned for the worse. It was cold and windy but that didn't deter us and we were soon back into the swing of things.</div>
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We never make firm plans for cruising as something always happens to change them and our first cruising day was no exception. As planned, we stopped at Briennon and went for lunch in the local restaurant, mooring up just as the heavens opened. The meal was great value at 14.50 euros for 3 courses including wine and coffee and by the time we'd finished the rain had stopped and the sun popped out for a while. We then had a phone call from from friends Dave and Jane who had left port the day before us but had broken down further up the canal, so initial plans to stay the night in Briennon were changed and we carried on for another couple of hours to find them at Artaix. Roger ordered the necessary parts to repair the boat from UK and we settled in to await delivery. And waiting for parts is a good enough reason for an evening drinking and jamming with friends so that's what we did π</div>
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The spare part arrived as promised this morning courtesy of DHL so, fingers crossed, we'll be back on the move again on Sunday.<br />
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See you soon XYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-87148590646321242942018-09-15T03:45:00.001-07:002018-09-15T03:45:29.039-07:00Marne and Seine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hi, nice to see you again.</div>
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We continued to enjoy the river Marne which was practically devoid of pleasure boats. In one week we only saw 3 moving boats. With free moorings like this one at Saint Jean les Jumeaux I just don't understand why it isn't busier. This village had the best boulangerie we've ever found, with perfect bread and cakes to die for. Apart from a few cooler cloudy days the weather continued to be glorious.</div>
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The grape harvest was in full swing and we kept getting glimpses of the pickers through the trees.<br />
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The Marne gets quite narrow in places and you don't expect to come across a sight like this when you come round a bend. It was OK though as the skipper motored the barge close alongside the tug that was unloading it and merrily waved us past.<br />
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We were going down one of the locks when a lady came out of the lock cottage and sold me a big bowl of mirabelles (cherry sized plums) A few hours later and we had jam π <br />
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At the end of the Marne Roger tried to persuade me to turn right and head back through Paris but we're now on a schedule heading for a rendezvous with friends coming over from UK, so we turned left back onto the Upper Seine. 12 months ago I would never have envisaged me saying this, but I really like the big rivers. There's always plenty to see and the big boats no longer scare me. The only problem with the Seine is the lack of places to moor. Unless you're a residential houseboat that is and they come in all shapes and sizes too, although this tiny homemade one was the exception to the norm.<br />
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The moorings on the Seine tend to leave you vulnerable to rocking and rolling in the wake of passing vessels, although to be honest we had more problem from the passing ski boats than the huge commercials. You can see the difference in the wakes here<br />
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One night it was just going dark and a huge one crept slowly past. It was 4 dumb barges at 40m each, being pushed by a 15m tug - 175m long WOW The locks here are 180m long and I always feel guilty for using so much water when they let us go through on our own but, as you can see here, there's plenty of water rushing down the weirs beside the locks and we'd be quite willing to wait to share if they asked.<br />
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We stayed for one night in Melun which is a large town and we'd be told by several people that the moorings were free and we needed groceries. After walking 25 minutes to the nearest Lidl I was shocked to find BIG beefy security guards on the doors. It was a very run-down store with hardly any alcohol so I rushed round as fast as I could. We later tried the Carrefour supermarket which was a bit closer to the moorings and again they had security guards checking bags at the entrance and we weren't allowed to take our collapsible trolley into the store with us. We had to chain it up in the foyer with all the other shoppers bags and trolleys. Once instore we managed to buy beer and wine but the choice and stock levels were very limited and there were 3 additional security guards patrolling the store. I know security is a sign of the times but surely this was over-kill? I wasn't sure whether it was for anti-terror measures of if there is a mega problem with shoplifters in this town. Whatever the reason I found it very intimidating and doubt that we'll stop there again, especially as the "free" mooring actually cost us 12 euros. We hadn't intended plugging into the electricity or taking on water but having paid I made sure we got the full benefit and started doing the laundry.<br />
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The next stop after Melun was in the beautiful village of Samois-sur-Seine. There is only enough room for 2 boats on the wharf but it's sheltered behind an island so there was absolutely no wash from the commercials at all and consequently we weren't woken at 6 am when they started work.<br />
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This used to be the village laundry "le lavoir" and dates back to the 18th century. It was at the top of the hill and the water was fed by underground aqueducts from a stream outside the village.<br />
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Samois is a very picturesque village and the houses were covered with ivy, wisteria or these ancient, strange but beautiful trees.<br />
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We're moving again today to find somewhere good for the weekend so Roger can watch the Grand Prix.<br />
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See you soon XYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-89115947687316499432018-08-23T04:47:00.001-07:002018-08-23T04:47:31.357-07:00ChampagneBonjour et Bienvenue,<br />
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Nice to see you here again. It's still extremely hot and sunny here in France, currently 33'C at 7pm π₯π₯,<br />
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although we did have a few cooler days last week after a couple of spectacular overnight storms. We woke up one morning to find that a tree had fallen down directly opposite us during the night and we hadn't heard a thing! Luckily it fell along the towpath and not across the canal.<br />
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After having the Canal de la Somme almost all to ourselves - where <i>are</i> all the boats? - it was nice to get back onto the hustle and bustle of the Canal du Nord. Even there it was fairly quiet and we didn't have to share any of the locks with other boats, which was probably a good thing as we got stuck in two of the automatic locks when the gates failed to operate and we had to wait for the VNF to come to re-set them.<br />
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That happened to us again at one of the locks on the Canal l'Ainse a la Marne . The green light was on for us to enter but only one gate had opened. I'm getting good at phoning the VNF and to give them their due they always arrive within half an hour. This one took 2 men 2 hours to fix as the hydraulic ram had become detatched from the gate.<br />
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I'm starting to think it must be the heat affecting the locks as we've also had 2 break-downs on the Canal de la Marne as well. It certainly can't be over use as there are still very few boats about and all of the moorings are empty.<br />
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There was a strange looking animal with a huge head beside one of the locks yesterday and we couldn't quite make out what it was until I zoomed in with the camera. It was a red squirrel carrying it's baby in its mouth.<br />
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We're now on the river Marne and spent a night at the moorings of the SocietΓ© Nautique in Epernay. It's the first time we've had to pay to moor for a long time and at 30 euros for one night it seemed really expensive, but we were made very welcome by the capitain Bernard and his wife and given a glass of champagne each as well as a free pass to visit the local champagne house which was right behind the mooring.<br />
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Our next stop was the village of Cumieres and once again the mooring was empty.<br />
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Cumieres has several champagne houses in the village but the most famous champagnes are grown around the village of Hautvilliers which was 3km away by bike, 120m uphill.......not a ride I'd like to repeat as the roads were very narrow and busy with vans and tractors.<br />
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It was worth it for the spectacular views across the vineyards<br />
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If the quantity of grapes is anything to go on,it may be a bumper year as every vine was as heavily laden as this<br />
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At Cumieres there are some amazing riverside metal statues epicting every stage in the manufacture of Champagne.<br />
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I never realised that there were SO many different Champagne houses. There are over 30 in Cumieres alone. Just a shame I <i>really </i>don't like Champagne, although I bet our bank manager woud think it's a good thing as some of these wines start at 10 euros for a bog standard wine and rise sky high for a vintage one.<br />
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Bye for now, come back soon XYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-10556710586996163772018-08-05T03:54:00.001-07:002018-08-05T03:54:14.837-07:00Granny TimeHi, welcome back<br />
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We had a fantastic time when our daughter and the grandchildren came to stay last week. We'd managed to squeeze onto the pontoon at Sainte Valerie sur Somme despite the "lurkers" who had already been there for more than a week - the limit is supposed to be 3 days.<br />
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We took the steam train to the town of Le Crotoy across the bay<br />
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It's a pretty seaside town with rows of old fashioned beach huts<br />
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Although the sand looked white it was only on the surface. Below the top inch it was very black and unsuitable for making sand castles, so we made do with a paddle <br />
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We stayed 4 days at Sainte Valerie as on the evening of the fourth day the local waterways manager came round and issued us with an overstay warning letter and told us we HAD to leave. He also evicted a French cruiser who had been there for 10 days but didn't do anything about the Dutch barge that had been there for a fortnight. The Frenchman was very upset and was going to complain to his local MP!<br />
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So next day we cruised back to Abbeville giving the children chance to drive the boat and when we arrived the moorings were empty. Roger and our daughter cycled back 15km to collect her car. She hadn't been on a bike for 20 odd years and was dreading it, but she hadn't realised that our new bikes were electric and managed it easily.<br />
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Abbeville actually turned out to be a better base for the rest of their week. One day we drove out to the Chateau de Rambures which was built in the middle ages and is one of the first castles in Europe to be constructed almost entirely in bricks.<br />
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While Roger and I really enjoyed the guided tour inside the chateau the children would have been bored so they stayed outside playing with the medieval games that were on display. They tried their hand at archery, thankfully with rubber ends on the arrows π and then lateer tried to play giant chess with Grandad<br />
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The rose gardens at the chateau were fabulous and the kids collected a bagful of fallen petals to make rose perfume back at the boat. It doesn't take much to keep little ones occupied π<br />
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While they were with us it was a "blood moon"<br />
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All too soon the week was over and they had to go home π The boat is very quiet without them, thank heavens for video chat.<br />
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Chico celebrated his 13th birthday in his usual way - being pampered and sleeping in the shade. He's been suffering a bit with the heat and has been off his food but for an old dog he's still in pretty good shape.<br />
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We're now starting our journey back towards Roanne and are keeping a close watch on water levels as there hasn't been any significant rain here for weeks. There are also a couple of locks out of order on our route which we're hoping will be fixed by the time we get to them.<br />
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That's all for now, see you again soon X<br />
<br />Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-36992008359409676992018-07-22T12:18:00.002-07:002018-07-22T12:18:31.703-07:00AmiensHi, nice to see you again. The internet signal has been very poor again for the past couple of weeks so this catch-up blog about Amiens is a bit out of date I'm afraid.<br />
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Our friend David came over from UK for a visit and arrived by train to join us in Amiens. He stayed for a week and we had a really good time sightseeing, eating and drinking. David also brought my new camera as "old faithful" died from overwork, so please indulge me while I get used to it.<br />
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One of the main sights to see in Amiens is the Cathedral. We took a wrong turn and arrived at the rear of the building. The architecture isn't quite as ornate as the front facade but we'd have missed the poppies otherwise<br />
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The new camera has an amazing zoom........<br />
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There were poppies all over the lawn and also bleeding from a window, a bit like the ones that had been at the Tower of London a couple of years ago.</div>
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but where the Engish ones were made from metal, these were made from recycled plastic bottles, painted blood red.</div>
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The front facade is very ornate with carved saints and angels, although on a much less grand scale than Reims cathedral that we visited last year.<br />
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Inside it was very differennt to Reims<br />
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There were far fewer statues, instead there were many of these painted, carved wooden friezes<br />
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some of which were quite gory<br />
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This was my favourite statue. It's the Crying Angel and was originally carved in 1635, although this is now a plaster replica. It became famous during the 1st World War as it was featured on postcards sent by the Allied soldiers back to their families<br />
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David was staying with us for a week so after Amiens we cruised down to Abbeville and then Sainte Valerie sur Somme, which is the closest we can get to the seaside. The weather was glorious and even though there was no room on the pontoon at Sainte Valerie we were made welcome by the French owner of a static converted peniche who gladly let us moor alongside. We only had time to stay for one night as David needed to be back in Abbeville to catch his train back to UK but we'll be back again next week as Sainte Valerie is a beautiful town and our grandchildren are coming to stay for a while. When we got back to Abbeville there was no available mooring so we breasted up with the 38m travelling theatre peniche Le Lapin Vert. We'd seen them several times over the previous couple of weeks, unfortunately usually taking up all the premium mooring places but that hadn't bothered us too much as we've got quite used to mooring in the wild. They were a really friendly bunch and told us (them in perfect English and us in pigeon French) that they were really struggling along the Somme as it's very twisty and narrow in places and quite often they were dragging along the bottom and travelling at only between 2 and 3 km per hour. The eclusiers had to alter the water levels in pounds to get them under bridges and raise the level in others to get them off the bottom. Next morning we awoke to very low water levels as the eclusiers had again needed to lower the level to let them go through the next lock and low bridge to turn round before heaing back the way they'd come.<br />
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Moorings in Abbeville and Sainte Valerie are supposed to be limited to 3 days, although we know that boats have been moored in both towns for much longer, so once David left us we headed back up river and spent the weekend in the middle of nowhere before returning to Abbeville this afternoon to stock up ready for the grandkids arriving on Tuesday.<br />
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If I don't blog for a while it's because it's "Granny Time" π See you soon X<br />
<br />Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-59346225105635335422018-07-08T05:25:00.001-07:002018-07-08T05:25:05.325-07:00Bougival to the Somme<br />
Bojour, welcome back<br />
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After the exitement of passing through Paris we spent the weekend in Bougival. Just after we moored up a very loud PA system started playing music and when we went to investigate where it was coming from we found that there was a park 200m away and they were setting up the stage and a proper sprung dance floor for a disco that evening. They were also building a bonfire and setting up for a firework display.<br />
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We sat on the back of the boat and listened to the music all afternoon going back as it started to go dark, just in time to watch them light the fire......by chucking jar of something flammable over it and giving the mayor a lighted stick to set it off with a blaze<br />
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We joined the locals on the dance floor for an hour or so and then watched a fantastic fireworks display that went on and on, lasting well over half an hour!<br />
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It was a great evening and totally free. There were lots of people there of all ages and ethnicities. All the kids were kept under control and although many families were having picnics there was no litter anywhere and no drunks either.<br />
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I've been very impressed with how clean the canals and rivers are over here. On the Seine they have these floating compounds every 10km or so<br />
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They collect any floating rubbish and plastic bottles. Such a simple idea, but very effective.<br />
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One day we were passed by a commercial barge towing this submarine on a barge. It used to be a floating exhibit to show the public the inside of a submarine but is now up for sale for conversion into a house boat</div>
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We don't eat many pastries or desserts but occasionally temptation wins. I LOVE the way the patisserie wraps them up to look like a gift.<br />
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Mini tarte tatin........delicious with a drizzle of cream π<br />
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On a slightly healthier note, I'm growing tomatoes this year. They're tiny but full of flavour<br />
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Funny how there's always one mutant one though<br />
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We left the Seine and had an uneventful trip on the Canal de la l'Oise and the Canal du Nord and we've now turned off the commercial canals onto the beautiful Canal de la Somme. It's very weedy in places but the water is crystal clear and there are so many fish it's like havig your own personal aquarium outside the boat<br />
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There may be a lot of weed but the weed cutter boats have it all under control and the lock keeper told me that there was much less further up the canal.<br />
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That's all for now. We've moored at Corbie for the weekend so Roger can watch the British Grand Prix and we're having a visitor next week so I'll see you again soon.<br />
<br />Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-55949056935323330872018-06-23T12:05:00.001-07:002018-06-23T12:05:36.844-07:00Bonjour Paris!Welcome back,<br />
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Moorings are few and far between here in the River Seine and we thought it was too good to be true the other night when we found a good quay just above one of the locks. A French boat was already moored there and he came out to help take our ropes. It was a beautiful afternoon so I hung the laundry out to dry and we sat on the poop deck and chilled out in the sunshine. An elderly man cycled past and stopped for a chat and between his English and our French we passed a pleasant half our. Turns out he used to be a writer for Fluvial magazine - the French equivalent of Waterways World back in UK. In the meantime a German cruiser had turned up and the elderly couple decided to strip off and hang off the boat ladder with a bar of soap and bathe. She wasn't too bad as at least she stripped to a bikini, he was less inhibited and went au natural........not a pretty sight π<br />
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The locks close at 8pm and we were just finishing dinner when a commercial boat arrived and started shouting that we had to move! No problem, the French boat moved back to the end of the mooring and we doubled up. The Germans refused but soon had a change of heart when the next commercial arrived and was heading directly at them. In the end 14 BIG commercial barges arrived and moored up 3 and 4 abreast to wait for the first lock in the morning.<br />
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By the time I got up at 6.45 next morning they'd all gone.<br />
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Our last day's cruise before Paris was quite eventful too. Commercial traffic was the heaviest we've seen so far but we had no problems sharing locks with them. On one stretch of the river we came across the French river police practising anti-terror tactics. There were a couple of high speed ribs going up to the commercial barges when they were at full spreed simulating boarding from the sides and the stern.<br />
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It was a bit more sedate when they came alongside us and they rode our propwash for a while to give us a good view inn the rear camera<br />
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All the heavy commercial traffic plus high winds churned the river up and there were white horses on the surface. We struggled to find a mooring but once again a lovely Frenchman gave us a hand and one bollard and a tree made for a safe but VERY bumpy night.<br />
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Friday morning saw us both up at 5.30 and after a quick coffee and emptying Chico we joined a medium sized commercial in the first lock of the day. I don't remember that last time we were up so early! It was a beautiful morning with no wind and an almost flat river.<br />
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Because it was so early there was no other traffic on the river and once the barge pulled away from us we were all alone. <br />
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We passed the floating swimming pool<br />
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and the bateau phare du pont de Toliac<br />
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and caught up with them 8 km later when they were waiting for the traffic lights to turn green at the Pont de Sully. There's an alternating traffic system around the Isle de la CitΓ© and we could only go through between 25mins to and 10 minutes to the hour. Typically, a 100m fully laden gravel barge arrived at 26 minutes to and as he was at full speed we both had to wait for him to go first. The lights turned to green and we were off. The two commercials soon left us behind and we didn't see another moving boat until we were well through the main tourist section. It was wonderful! Crystal blue sky, calm water...couldn't have been better if we'd booked it π<br />
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Our first tourist sight was Notre Dame<br />
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and the Palais de Justice</div>
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our first glimpse of "The Tower" and the Palais Burbon </div>
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You get a much better view of the bridges from a boat. The gilding on Pont Alexandre III was glittering in the early sunshine.<br />
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and the statue of Liberty beside the Pont de Grennelle<br />
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But let's face it....this is what we'd come to see<br />
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This has always been on my bucket list. Ever since we got our first boat I've wanted to cruise past the Eiffel Tower. There were still no other moving boats so we had it all to ourselves and enjoyed it to the full.<br />
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Although the tourist boats hadn't started work yet the commercial boats were being loaded/unloaded and the riverside building sites were hard at it.<br />
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Each commercial barge carries enough gravel or sand to keep 2400 wagons off the roads of Paris each year<br />
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The restaurants were also coming to life and this window cleaner was standing on a tiny ledge without a harness or life jacket......crazy!!!<br />
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There were some huge hotel boats moored up, like this 135m long river cruiser. Prices start at 1000 euros a week<br />
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The floating dry dock had 3 boats inside and was just starting to pump the water out<br />
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The Seine is a really busy river and we enjoyed it all, the touristy bits, the docks and the general riverside life. We shared the lock at Suresnes with yet another commercial barge and finally moored at Rueil-sur-Seine 57 kms and 6.5 hours later<br />
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It's the longest we've cruised in one day on this boat and with all the concentration etc. we were both knackered. There was a posh restaurant close by and we just managed to blag the last table as they were full and had had a no-show. Fabulous food and wine made a great end to a great day.<br />
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Now to plan the next thing I need to tick off my bucket list<br />
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Bye for now XYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-63819275242726844212018-06-21T07:40:00.000-07:002018-06-21T08:01:46.341-07:00Chateau du FontainebleuWelcome back. It's taken me a week to find a powerful enough internet signal to upload my photos from Fontainbleu. I hope you enjoy them.<br />
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In the past we've had a quite few short breaks to Paris but we never had time to take the train out to the Chateau du Fontainebleu. Our mooring at Moret-sur-Loing was only 20 minutes away by bus so it was the perfect opportunity to pay a visit and tick it off my bucket list.<br />
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The buses only run every 2 hours on a Saturday and unfortunately for us it arrived a couple of minutes early and we just missed it. After a quick Google we decided to try the train and set off to walk to the nearest station 2kms away. We had to ask directions to the station and luckily the lady I asked was going to Paris on the same train that we needed and also luckily for us the train was 17 minutes late so we didn't have too long to wait. We got chatting on the train and she suggested that we'd need to get a bus from the station to the chateau but we couldn't find the bus stop. We spotted a walking route signposted towards the chateau 2kms away so started walking. I thought it was too good to be true and the signs quickly disappeared. Time to practice the French again and I collared a delivery driver who gave us directions. By this time it was almost 1 o'clock and 28'C . Fontainebleu town has some lovely shops which we passed on our route. It would be worth coming back just to have a wander round them another time.<br />
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We eventually made it to the chateau main entrance.......WOW<br />
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It was certainly as impressive as I'd imagined, but first things first.....We needed somewhere shady to eat our picnic.<br />
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The gardens of the Grand Partere are just fantastic. It's the largest French-style formal garden in Europe and is imaculate. All the pyramid shaped trees are trimmed to the same height and diameter and there wasn't a weed to be found in any of the flower beds.<br />
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This is the view of the "canal" which stretches 1200m away into the park<br />
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There were many unusual statues dotted about. This was one of a pair, her partner wasn't in quite as good condition.<br />
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On the other side of the chateau was the Diana garden, complete with her bronze statue and fountain. I think my grandchildren would like this statue - checkout the dogs π It was a very tranquil, lush garden and would have made a much better spot for our picnic.<br />
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You can see the scale of the chateau and gardens in this painting I found during our tour inside.<br />
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Restoration of the Chateau is being carried out by the state but the front staircases are still in dire need of renovation and there is a collection box for donations to help.<br />
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It must be my past life in the construction industry still lurking in the background, I thought these roof access steps built into the tiling were brilliant<br />
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After the gardens we decided to go indoors. Most of the tour buses had left and it was fairly quiet. It's 12 euros to go inside and worth every centime!<br />
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This is the Chapelle de la Trinite, loking towards the alter.<br />
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Royalty worshipped from their own private balcony at the back of the chapel, Lords and Ladies had balconies along the sides and the more lowly artistocracy were on the ground floor<br />
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This is Napoleon's bedroom<br />
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He was a little man with a big attitude. You can tell how short he was from his short bed<br />
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and his short bath<br />
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He had big gold taps though...... bling was all the fashion back in the day</div>
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Every room had fantastically ornate ceilings and chandaliers<br />
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The Ballroom was simply stunning<br />
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Just look at the detail and the amount of gold paint used here<br />
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The corridors are just as amazing, filled with murals and statues<br />
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I'm not sure I could sleep in a room as fussy as this. It's the bedchamber of Anne of Austria and must have been a nightmare for the servants to keep clean....imagine all that dust!<br />
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It's a fantastic place and we had a great day out, despite all the walking and the hassle actually getting there. We found the bus stop that we would have been dropped off at if we'd managed to get the bus in the morning and had a beer in a bar while we waaited for the next one back. It was only 2 euros each and apart from one other passenger we were the only ones on it, definitely not a profit making route!<br />
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Bye for now, see you soonYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-10374739784099116642018-06-18T09:09:00.003-07:002018-06-21T07:19:41.974-07:00A long weekend at Moret-sur-Loing and Saint MammèsBonjour, nice to see you here again.<br />
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We arrived at Moret-sur-Loing last Wednesday and moored just above the last lock which drops you down onto the rivers. There were two reasons why we decided to stop there, the first being that it was half the price of the river moorings as it had no facilities and the second and more important being that all the recent storms had brought flood waters down the river Loing and the current below the lock where the canal and river met was quite strong. The lovely Capitaine came to collect her mooring fees and recommended that we wait a couple of days for the levels and current to drop back down to normal and then when we found out that there was to be a free rock concert on in the next town we decided to extend our stay till after the weekend.<br />
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Moret-sur-Loing is a very pretty little town that grew up around the river which was used to power the mills that were used in the leather processing industry. The town was famous for producing very soft chamois type leathers used for making gloves.<br />
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Later on, it also became famous for making barley sugar and for 2 euros you can go in the museum on the island.<br />
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Notre-Dame de la NativitΓ© is a very beautiful Catholic church dating back to the 15th century. It's been extensively cleaned and restored outside but the interior is very different.<br />
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Despite the glorious stained glass windows, the interior is quite basic<br />
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This is the right side wall of the choristry<br />
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and this is the left. In 1697 the 15th century bell tower was about to collapse so instead of rebuilding it to match the opposite side they just bricked it up and left it. The church has another interesting bit of history in that it was used as a gunpowder factory during the French Revolution and an explosion blew part of the roof off.<br />
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Enough history......<br />
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On Saturday and Sunday there was a free rock concert held on the quay-side at Saint Mammès, the riverside town at the confluence of the Loing and the Seine.<br />
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It's been a long time since we've been to a music (or beer) festival and this one was excellent.<br />
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In typical French style the catering wasn't done by a smelly burger van but by the local traiteur who mass produced meatballs and dauphinoise potatoes for 5 euros a portion. If you wanted something a little more down-market you could get a sausage baguette and frites, but even these were "artisanal" sausages. You've just got to love the French.....if it's food then standards must be maintained π<br />
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Apart from the concert there were the usual stalls selling jewellery, CD's etc.....<br />
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AND a traditional cut-throat barber! It could only happen in France π<br />
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Before we went to the concert on Saturday evening we spent the day at the Chateau of Fontainbleu but I'll need to post a separate blog about that as I have so many amazing photos to share with you. See you soon XYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-38448614335722523652018-06-10T08:59:00.000-07:002018-06-10T08:59:51.300-07:00Sancerre to Souppes-sur-LoingBonjour et bienvenue π<br />
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We seemed to keep leap-frogging the hotel boat Horizon 2 for the next few days and every time we passed it was like meeting old friends. The American passengers were particularly friendly and said what a good time they were having, although one of the men did tell Roger that if he had to go and see another "bloody chateau" he'd scream!<br />
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The last time we met them was at Rogny-les-Sept Ecluses. A now disused staircase of 7 locks that reminded me of Foxton Locks back in the UK<br />
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Our next major stop was at Chatillon-Coligny where we spent the weekend while we celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. We don't normally go out for evening meals but as it was a special occasion we booked and went to Le Coligny for their gourmet special.<br />
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5 courses each with matched wines and including a champagne cocktail, champagne with dessert and coffee was only 65 euros each. I really don't know how they manage it as back in UK it would have been at least twice the price. Roger was very happy as every time he emptied his glass they came back with re-fills. Needless to say we waddled home π<br />
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The next day we used the bikes to do 2 trips to the supermarket to re-stock the cupboards and freezer and then in the afternoon we visited the local car museum. Bizarrely the main exhibit was a whole room full of British cars.<br />
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Internet reception has continued to be very poor (Free mobile) but seems to be improving again as we get further North. The weather is HOT and we've had several storms. Last night's was really spectacular with simultaneous thunder and lightning and an absolute deluge that flooded the Camping Car park beside our mooring. It's still 29'C at 6pm and it's so heavy I'm pretty sure we'll have another storm later. The storms don't bother us and luckily now that Chico is going deaf they don't seem to bother him either. The only "downside" is that the torrential rain blocks the satellite TV signal and it's Grand Prix weekend again. </div>
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That's all for now, see you soon π</div>
Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-78134539928623624082018-06-07T05:41:00.003-07:002018-06-07T08:51:02.286-07:00MΓ©netrΓ©ol-sous-Sancerre and SancerreHello again,<br />
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After Beffes our next decent mooring was at MΓ©netrΓ©ol-sous-Sancerre. Free mooring but quite expensive for water and electric so it was a good job that we didn't need either π<br />
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It's a medieval village with lots of decrepit buildings, some of which are being renovated like this one but you'd need a bottomless wallet to take on something like this surely?<br />
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There's a signposted walk around the village with information boards at all the places of interest like this old tobacco drying shed. Tobacco was grown from 1945 to supplement the income of the vine growers after the war. The shed was built in a sunny but windy spot so that the tobacco could be hung on racks inside and dried by the warm breeze coming in through the slats. They stopped growing it in 1985 but the shed has been kept in good condition .<br />
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We had another superb lunch at the Hotel Florione which is just beside the mooring. 4 course set menu with no choice but possibly the best steak we've had so far, and including a litre bottle of red wine which was plonked on the table, all for the bargain price of 13.80 euros<br />
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Next day the lock keepers were on strike so the canal was closed. We got the bikes out and rode up the hill to Sancerre.<br />
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Roger had googled the cycle route to Sancerre but it had shown him the mountain bike route through the vineyards! It was too difficult for us and we ended up pushing the bikes<br />
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It was hard work but gave us some spectacular views and let us get close up the the vines<br />
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We eventually found our way up the the town at the top of the hill, recovered our breath and took shelter in the Hotel de Rampart where we enjoyed another great menu du jour. We were eating on the terrace and could hear the rumble of thunder getting closer and closer. Half way through our meal we had to up sticks and carry our food indoors as the heavens opened and the storm broke overhead. By the time we'd had coffee it had passed and we free-wheeled all the way back down to the moorings. Another very pleasant day to add to the memories π<br />
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After the strike there was a back-log of hire boats so we had our first ever queues at the locks. We pulled into the first decent mooring which was at LΓ©rΓ© and I caught up with the laundry.<br />
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Every day the temperature rose another degree and by Friday it was up to 30'C π. We stopped at Bellville-sur-Loire for the weekend and Roger watched the Grand Prix. In between programmes we got the bikes out and went exploring.<br />
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One of the lock-keepers was a stone carver and was selling these little statues<br />
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One of the most famous places on the French canal system is the town of Briare, also known as "Little Britain". People rave about it and it's a very popular place to moor for the winter. We found it to be very expensive and totally underwhelming when we cycled in for a look around. The only remarkable thing was the Pont Canal, aqueduct, which is having major face-lift at the moment.<br />
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We decided to stay on a rough mooring just outside the town and had a flock? herd? of gorgeous Alpacas in the field beside us. The baby was so cute!<br />
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We arrived at the first lock after Briare at 11.00 but there were no lights on and we thought that it was possibly another strike. I phoned the control office and was told that it was a power cut. A car had crashed into a local substation and all power had gone off in the neighbourhood. They anticipated that it wouldn't be repaired until that evening so we roped up to the fence and settled in as best we could. At 12 o'clock the huge hotel boat Horizon 2 arrived. They hadn't been notified of the stoppage so we moved out of the way to let them moor up and we fastened alongside them.<br />
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Because they cruise to a schedule the captain decided he couldn't wait and phoned the boss of the whole canal who sent a team of men out to manually work the lock to let them continue on their way. They managed to get into and up the lock but the top gates wouldn't open and they were stuck there for almost 2 hours while the VNF men worked out how to by-pass the electrically controlled hydraulic gate rams. Us being mere pleasure boaters, we had to wait until the power was restored but that suited us just fine. It was a beautiful day in a beautiful spot and I got talking to couple of old guys who were fishing in the stream just across the towpath from us. They really wanted to chat, but unfortunately for me the chattiest one was over 80, continuously puffing on a fat cigar and dressed only in a pair of black "budgie smugglers" and as his "budgies" were just at my eye level that rather put me off practicing my French π The electrics were finally repaired at about 9pm and we continued on our travels as soon as the lock re-opened the next morning.<br />
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Time for another coffee.......back soon XYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-69671686406042461962018-06-05T01:49:00.003-07:002018-06-05T01:49:34.188-07:00Three weeks is a long time without decent internet!Hi, nice to see you here again.<br />
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As you will have gathered by now we travel slowly, cruising only a couple of hours a day and stopping off at every nice place we find. Well that's great BUT when you cruise into a bad area for phone and internet signals it means that you're out of contact for a while. It's been like that for the past 3 weeks so I've now got plenty to catch up with.<br />
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We found a pretty little mooring in the village of Beffes that wasn't shown in any of our guides. The mooring was free (water and electric extra) and there was a little grocers in the village. Buying the e-bikes was the best thing we've done as they've opened up the French countryside for us. We got them out and rode to the fabulous medieval town of CharitΓ©-sur-Loire which was just over 12km away. It was an easy ride due to the brilliant velo route.<br />
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The velo routes tend to follow either the canal or the river which means you get to see views like this that you wouldn't get if you went by car or bus.<br />
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The river Loire was still running very fast and canoe trips were cancelled until it had subsided a bit.<br />
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The town was full of narrow, steep cobbled streets. The steeple on this building was gleeming in the sun<br />
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but was a bit wonky<br />
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Swallows (or Swifts, I can never remember the difference) were nesting in every available spot<br />
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and were continually darting in and out carrying food for their chicks<br />
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The town was built on a hill and, thanks to the turbo charged e-bikes, we easily managed to get to the top for the magnificent views of the anciant cathedral<br />
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and the panoramic view back down to the river<br />
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It was a hot and sunny day and temptation won out on the way back. The beer at the lock-side bar was wonderful π<br />
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Part 2 of the catch up coming later (I need a coffee) See you soon πYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-24776436987597914082018-05-17T09:43:00.002-07:002018-05-17T09:43:58.256-07:00Le Bec d'Allier and ApremontHello again,<br />
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We haven't gone very far since leaving Nevers as the weather has been dreadful. It's been 12'C and very wet, quite a shock to the system after the glorious sunshine of the past few weeks.<br />
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Yesterday (Wednesday) we arrived at Le GuΓ©tin just before noon and had to wait an hour while the eclusier had his lunch before we could cross the Pont du Canal (aqueduct) which is controlled by traffic lights<br />
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and descend the double staircase locks, which we shared with a hire boat. It's 2 locks each 5m deep one straight after the other......it's a long way down!<br />
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After mooring up and having our lunch we walked back for a better look. The eclusier must have the patience of a saint, as these 2 huge hire boats didn't have a clue what to do and it took him well over 10 minutes to get them roped up and safe. The crews were much more interested in taking selfies and videos than in passing him their ropes.<br />
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We unpacked the new bikes and went exploring. This is the now disused unusual round lock (Ecluse des Lorrains) which used to link the canal to the River Loire and is at the end of a disused branch of the canal<br />
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A couple of kilometers further on we came to the very picturesque village of Apremont.<br />
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It's famous for it's floral gardens and although the wisteria has now finished blooming there were plenty of other trees in full flower, like this chestnut tree<br />
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I thought someone was having a laugh with this sign hanging outside their shop<br />
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until we turned the corner of the building and met the said ninjas "guarding" the public toilets π </div>
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Today we rode to Bec d'Allier which is a small village famous for it's views of the confluence of the rivers Loire and Allier. This is what it's supposed to look like<br />
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but with all the rain we've had recently both rivers are in flood so the view was a bit different!<br />
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We'll carry on cruising again tomorrow and I hope to see you again soon.<br />
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Bye for now πYvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-64727153771824680862018-05-14T11:49:00.001-07:002018-05-14T11:49:43.636-07:00NeversHi, welcome back<br />
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We arrived at the port of Nevers last Tuesday, only intending on staying a couple of nights as it's expensive to moor here : 11 euros a night not includig water or electric. We knew Tuesday was a public holiday but didn't realise Thursday was as well and that really skuppered our plans. We wanted to buy new bikes so went to check out a couple of stores on Wednesday, returned to the boat to do some research on Google etc. but then couldn't actually buy anything till Saturday due to staff holidays??? Only in France could this happen, Bank Holidays in UK every shop is open as they really want to take your money. Here? No chance.<br />
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Anyway, we finally managed to buy ourselves a couple of folding electric bikes on Saturday but had to stay till today (Monday) as the bike accessory shop is closed on Sunday.<br />
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So this is what we finally decided on......turbo charged for getting up hills and big paniers for stocking up on essentials like beer & wine π<br />
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Nevers is a very old city and many of the buidings are 11th or 13th centuary<br />
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The Cathedral of Saint Cyr and Saint Julitte is undergoing a thorough restoration, but while the exterior is architectually stunning<br />
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they seem to have ruined the interior for me. The stained glass windows have all been replace by extremely modern glass, which does cast great colours and shadows around, but doesn't suit the building at all.......just my opinion<br />
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There was a "vintage" festival on over the weekend at the local exhibition centre and we saw lots of these imacculate old cars knocking about in the few days running up to it.<br />
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As with most of the French towns we've visited, Nevers is immaculately clean. There were street cleaners everywhere using these "noo noos" (if you've got grandkids you'll understand) <br />
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The weather has taken a dive for the worse and we've gone from 27'C down to 12'C and constant drizzle/torrential rain in a couple of days. I'm sure it won't last and I'll soon be complaining about the heat again soon π<br />
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Bye for now, see you soon X<br />
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<br />Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223486941128790665.post-30945643497119852452018-05-07T06:29:00.001-07:002018-05-07T06:29:32.693-07:00A quick catch-up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Finally! I have enough signal to upload some photos π</div>
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We're still travelling slowly and have stopped at some really nice mooring places. Many moorings are free and are shared with touring camper vans, whose occupants are always fascinated both by the boat and by our life-style. </div>
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It seems to be peak "wisteria" season at the moment and these gorgeous bushes are everywhere.<br />
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The scent is overpowering when the sun shines on them<br />
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The next two photos are for my readers boating in the UK. We used to regularly come across abandoned or continuously moored boats that had "Section 8" notices on them. Basically, a notice to move or be moved.<br />
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Well it's just the same here in France, although I must admit that this is the first one we've come across. The notice tells the owner to move the boat within 6 months or it will be removed and destroyed.<br />
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British boaters are also used to the dreadful state of the towpaths and of having to share them with speeding cyclists. Here in France they actively promote cycling along the canals and are installing newtworks of wide tarmaced towpath/cycle tracks that run alongside the canals. This makes it much nicer for boaters and walkers alike as there is plenty of room for the cyclists to pass.<br />
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They also provide toilets every 10km or so<br />
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and places like this air and repair station<br />
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There's just one last photo I'd like to show you........our stoways<br />
This pair of wasps were building a very intricate nest inside the lid of one of our storage lockers. They were fast workers as the nest hadn't been there 6 hours earlier. Unfortuntely they had to be evicted and we moved shortly afterwards so they couldn't try and get back in. <br />
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We're currently moored in a very peaceful spot in the middle of nowhere, just outside the next major town of Nevers where we're hoping to stay for a few days and do some sightseeing.<br />
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We had intended getting the bikes out and going for ride, but it's 27'C out so I think we'll wait a couple of hours until it's cooled down a bit.<br />
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Bye for now, have fun<br />
See you soon π<br />
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<br />Yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00706326534368548443noreply@blogger.com1