August 12th 2005 Update
UPDATE - 12th AUGUST 2005
So here we are, 3 and a half months since leaving St Jean de Losne and nowhere near the half way stage of our planned route! Never mind, the boat is going well and we have met some great people.
If you read the last update (30th June 2005) you will know that we encountered David and Liz and their boat "Ingrid". They are a couple of Canadians we met on the Bourgogne canal and, as always, we all seem to enjoy the same things. Cruising with different people is very interesting, especially for us as we are really novices at this lifestyle.
On the theme of novices, I must say that the number of different electrical connections and adaptors that we have for connecting to the shore power seems to grow every week. David took the next picture as he thought it might be of interest to some readers and we have since added a couple more connectors to our collection.
HAVING THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS
In our last update, we had reached a place called Joigny and intended heading south on the Nivernais Canal. This we did and the first large town we came across was Auxerre. This is quite a grand place compared to some of the smaller villages we tend to stop at and there was a large national supermarket about a five minute walk from the boat. So it was a good time for us to stock up with provisions before going into the unknown. Weight, once on the boat isn't a problem and as you will see a bit later on Liz found a shopping trolley for us (like hers) that can climb up and down stairs.
The next picture is of a famous place on the Nivernais Canal and reminds me of a place between Skipton and Grassington. What do you think?
KILNSEY CRAG LOOKALIKE?
Once again, as in our last update, we nipped around to see David from "INGRID" only to find him as busy as ever checking the efficiency of one of his cooling fans. We really don't know how he fits everything into his busy schedule!
DAVID'S STILL BUSY
We did manage at one stop to find some shade right by the lock. It was a great place to people watch, as you can imagine, and quite often the people coming through the lock are people you have met earlier in the trip.
TWO SHADY CHARACTERS
More than once, swimming was the only way to keep cool and it didn't take David and Liz (from the boat INGRID) long to get organised. In the next picture we have both David and Liz knee deep but, as the current was quite strong, David strung a spare anchor rope across the river Yonne for safety.
TWO COOL DUDES
We think that the French must have a motto that they seem to stick to of "Don't mend it if it isn't broken". Maybe that's why so many villages and towns look so pretty to us. We also think that their version of broken isn't the same as ours and is more like if it hasn't totally collapsed then it's still OK.
David spotted the shed in the next photo at one of the locks and wondered
what it's purpose was. We will be passing it again this year so will ask the
lock keeper next time through. As for what we said earlier about the French
version of broken...
Is it the tree here that has saved the shed or has the shed saved the tree
from being felled? Neither look to be in their prime but seem to survive with
help from one another.
LEAN TO
The motor scooter in the next picture has also seen better days but still serves its owner and over here you can generally leave things like this unattended and know that they will be there when you return.
ON YER BIKE
Whilst on the Nivernais and at the harbour of Clamecy, we spotted this English
wide beam boat which has a steering position and useful deck area up on the
roof. Just behind them and to the rear, we noticed Mike and Ursula's boat
"Bon Adventure".
They are friends of John and Irene's (from MOËT CHANDON) and all met
at Laroche Migennes in September last year.
USEFUL ROOF SPACE
One of the lock keepers we came across on our travels was trying to train his young pup and managed to get it to sit fairly still on the seat of his lawn mower whilst David took this picture. We will have to let him have a copy of the photo on our next trip through.
A YOUNG ENGLISH SHEEP DOG
One of the villages we had a couple of nights at was Villiers sur Yonne. This is a very agricultural area where the main traffic seemed to be tractors and trailers. Of course we could have waited for a tractor full of hay to cross the bridge before taking the photo but we are sure you can imagine that scene. There are no shops in the village but a bread van calls every morning except Sundays. It stops by the boules area and the lady driver blows the horn at about ten past eight each morning. She doesn't wait long so being early gives you the chance to have an early morning chat in the bread queue.
VILLIERS SUR YONNE
Whilst cruising with David and Liz, it became customary to play "Petanque" (boules) whenever we had a suitable surface. Quite often the tow path was just about right as long as it didn't slope towards the canal. David spent quite some time with a magnet at one of our stops before retrieving one of his "boules". A pre or apres dinner game always went down well with a brace of David's taking on the ladies. We thought that overall, we were well matched and over the seven week period we probably drew. The little ball is called a "cochonette" which is also one of the names for a little piglet.
The ducks in the next picture think that anything a human being throws is food for them and perhaps the "piglet" could be described as a light starter. But they might find the main course (the "boule") just a little bit too heavy!
OUT FOR A DUCK
Our central heating boiler conked out earlier in the year and we are still trying to get the right spare parts so that we can fix it. Although we have some parts we bought from the French agent, we are finding it easier to deal with the English supplier. It seems that the maker has made modifications to the flame tube and the French supplier doesn't know or didn't think to query our order. In the next picture David is pointing to the damaged flame tube extension which is no longer fitted and has been superseded by something else. More on this subject later.
BIEN CUIT
It was soon time to turn around and head for a rendezvous with Pat, Pamela's
sister. Pamela and Pat had been texting and organising a place to meet up
without Pat having to make too many connections. A place that seemed a good
choice was Vermenton.
We hadn't been there although we had been quite close and it is in a beautiful
part of the Nivernais Canal. I'm sure Pat can't wait to get stuck into the
snails and frogs legs, not to mention some of her favourite Savoyard Sausages.
It just so happens that we have found an "Andouillete" sausage which
I'm sure Pat will find most pleasing (not)!
It was time to temporarily part company with David and Liz and head back towards the rendezvous in Vermenton. A meal out was called for so the local restaurant at Tannay Gare was the choice.
FAREWELL AT TANNAY GARE
A nightcap on David and Liz's boat, and, as you can see, Liz prefers a semi skimmed rosé wine!
SEMI SKIMMED ROSÉ
The next morning saw us heading back down the Nivernais Canal towards our meeting place at Vermenton. We left ourselves plenty of time as we wanted to do a few jobs on the way. Some of the work was painting and we wanted to give it chance to harden before picking up Pat. Pamela took this next shot having spotted the chap in the next picture taking a short cut with his cows along the canal towpath. Now that's what you call a fresh meat delivery.
DOOR STEP DELIVERY
Clamecy was our next stop for a return visit and there were plenty of photo
opportunities here. Fortunately the old buildings are still standing and still
serve a purpose in one way or another. Market day in Clamecy is on a Saturday
and as in England they tend to sell the same goods at every town... jeans,
T shirts, hand bags and watch straps.....with sometimes a mattress stall and
occasionally a live chicken stall. If the town has a traditional old indoor
market hall, fresh food can be bought there.
The river at Clamecy is the Yonne and logging and floating logs from one place
to another was a big industry here at one time. The "floaters" even
have a statue on the bridge to remember the ones who lost their lives.
MARKET DAY IN CLAMECY
We saw one boater walking past at Clamecy harbour with wine in a water bottle (not a hot water bottle, just one of those from the supermarket). He told us that it was from a cave up by the church and this was the container the owner of the cave uses if you only want a couple of litres. So we went up, found the cave and sampled some of his wine. We told him that we had limited carrying capacity from the cave to the boat which he said wasn't a problem as he could deliver down to the harbour. As he started to fill up one of our wine boxes David said that it would make a change on the website for at least one picture not to be canal orientated. At that point he nipped off and came back with a hand written sign. A good sense of humour and a very nice Côte du Ventoux at two and a half euros a litre.
NOT ANOTHER CANAL BRIDGE
The next picture brought back memories of the boat "Reliant" that David and his friends built at work, back in the 1970s. It was just big enough to have a great holiday on in the summer of 76.
HOME MADE FUN
Another couple we saw with their two children were in rowing boat which didn't seem much bigger than our tender. It had a blue canvas as a makeshift tent which just left them a very small space at the front and rear to operate from. They were in a lock and so David asked them how many bedrooms they had? The mother replied "four very cramped ones". Apparently the children had read all the Swallows and Amazons books and this was their children's 6 week adventure. Others who had spotted them told us that they had the boat put in the water at Auxerre. What a terrific experience for those children and the parents (of course). Quality time at its best with much to tell their friends when they get back home. They will of course have missed the Wacky Warehouses and Big Macs, but you can't have everything can you? We just wish we'd had the camera handy - it would definitely have been one for the site.
At a place called Mailly la Ville we bumped into our friends John and Irene
(Moët Chandon) and spent a few very pleasant evenings with them. They
had visitors and it was great to see them again and to meet their visitors.
We haven't mentioned Gromit the cat this time as he hasn't done anything unusual really. But it's not a good reason for leaving him out. Maybe his usual antics are the ones that make him what he is so if you're a bit squeamish, I should give the next picture a miss. Gromit doing what he does best, catching his lunch at one of our stops.
