No excuses, we are probably just hibernating,
but apologies anyway for not keeping up with the Website Updates.
Gromit certainly seems to have taken to the lifestyle and makes friends with
just about everyone. We even managed to get him back onto dried food after
he had a spell in a cattery in January. We're sure that it's better for his
teeth if nothing else.
HIBERNATING
Here in St Jean De Losne there are three places for concerts, all within walking
distance, and we have been to two of them for different events.
The local band (known as the "Batterie Fanfare") certainly know
how to raise the roof. They don't do many concerts during the year, but traditionally
do perform around Christmas. As you can see their uniforms are first class
and made in the village by the locals. All the concerts are well attended
and we are always made welcome.
BATTERIE FANFARE
When we arrived here in late August, we were
told that one of the locals (Catherine) made boat canopies and covers to a
very high standard. We thought we would have a warmer and roomier boat if
we had a full canopy on the back deck, so we contacted Catherine and although
she is always very busy, she promised to get us sorted before Christmas, mid
December to be precise. She didn't let us down and turned up at the beginning
of December to make the patterns. She seemed quite amused when we told her
that part of her company name was the same as our cat's name - Gromit!
BACHE and GROMMIT
Now we have been known to invite people around
for a drink around teatime - very informal and always good fun. Jill and Brian
have a catamaran moored here on pontoon B and they have both forgot what it
was like to have a job. They have lots of interesting tales about their adventures
in the Mediterranean and as you will see in the next photo, Jill tells them
with a great deal of gusto.
JILL EXAGGERATING AGAIN
Unfortunately Jill and Brian have had to nip
back to England but will soon be back, with more tales to tell we hope. The
next picture was taken on one of our trips to Dijon and as you can see our
clothing became thicker as the weather changed.
LOOK WHAT WE'VE FOUND
One of the activities we were encouraged to undertake
was a fire fighting lesson. Captain Bob is keen that everyone can deal with
a fire without going into a mad panic so... After our fire extinguishers had
gone through their annual check at the marine store, Bob made good use of
the out of date ones by organising some mock fires and giving us all some
basic instruction. It's always good to watch the effectiveness of a good extinguisher
and at the same time, the poor performance of some of the really old ones.
FIRE FIGHTING
The main pre Christmas festival in St Jean de
Losne was the arrival of St Nicolas on the 12th December. It was all very
colourful and the village Christmas lights were officially lit on the same
evening. The event was planned to the last detail so that everyone saw everything
in the right order, which was not bad really as St Nicolas, the patron Saint
of mariners, arrived by barge. In the next picture we have St Nicolas with
one of his many helpers. They started off from the barge by horse and carriage
and then went around the town before going on to the Salle Polyvalente (Village
Hall) where all the children were given a small gift (we think).
SAINT NICOLAS
The funniest thing about Saint Nicolas is that
he is accompanied by the "Homme Noir" (which means black man in
English) who is meant to frighten children who have been bad. As the black
man passed David at the quay he looked at a young boy stood next to him. The
boy was about five or six years old at a guess and he looked petrified to
say the least. He wouldn't even look the black man in the eye. His parents
seemed to be quite amused by this and we were genuinely amazed. For a start
in England we wouldn't be allowed to have a black man in such a role and unfortunately
our children have somehow been taught differently, so they don't seem fear
anyone these days anyway. It was a very touching experience and probably just
teaches the young that being good is ok.
SAINT NICOLAS' HELPERS
We have been taking French lessons every week.
These are held at the book swap next to the Tourist Information Office. Unfortunately
most liveaboards at the marina speak English and although we go to the classes,
we do tend to speak English too much. Currently our French teacher "Corinne"
has come down with child, so we have a break in lessons. We decided to buy
her some flowers and give them to her at the end of her last lesson.
MANY THANKS
Speaking of flowers, if you think they are expensive
in England, you probably get half the quantity here for the same price.
It soon became time to collect Pamela's sister Pat from Lyon airport and with
her feet hardly having touched the ground, we had our "River Rats"
Xmas dinner. This was held at a farm owned by Robert Bond (a director of H2O,
the company who have the marina here). We had a great night with roast beef
and pork on the menu, not to mention about ten different desserts. All this
was organised by the live-aboards and was a most successful evening. Many
thanks to Robert for the great venue. Apparently, the quote on the wall "Take
all you want, eat all you take" comes from Alcatraz.
AT ROBERT'S FARM
At one point we dressed up and wrapped up and
took Pat out for a tuppenny tour of the village then on for lunch at the L'Amiral
Restaurant. John and Irene came with us and a good time was had by all. Generally,
we chilled out between Christmas and New Year with a little bit of socializing
between boats thrown in.
GOING FOR LUNCH
All too soon New Year's Eve was here and, as
in England, the thought of the shops shutting for a day seemed to send people
into panic buying mode. It was soon time to get ready to go for a New Year's
Eve get together on board "Moët Chandon". As we were going
local (next boat but two) David thought it would be nice to wear his late
father's kilt. This caught the crowd by surprise and Irene insisted on taking
our picture as we arrived. In this photo it might appear that David is connected
to the electricity supply via his head, but that's not really the case - honestly!
PS: David is the one in the skirt!
MAKING THE EFFORT
In the next picture we have Pat sat next to Lawrence,
who is married to Ann. They have just sold up in England and have a steel
Cruiser called "Bourguignon", in which they have cruised the French
canals for many years. They have also just bought a very nice house near St.
Symphorien which is about 4 kilometres up the Sàone.
NEW YEAR'S EVE on MOËT CHANDON
During New Years Eve Havelock, one of our closest
neighbours, said that he had a couple of masks in a bag and asked if David
would put one on. David expected them to be of the rubber type and resembling
well known people. But they weren't either of those things, as you will see
in the next photo. They were in fact cardboard and only the top of a face.
Before we saw one of the masks on someone, we weren't sure what to make of
them, but put them on anyway and walked back into the cabin area. Everyone
went into fits of laughter and when David looked at Havelock, he too could
see the transformation - a very funny one at that.
INCOGNITO
The four people in the next shot look like something
from an amateur dramatic comedy. We think that "David the Elder"
(as his wife calls him) has a look of Spike Milligan in this picture, but
for info the culprits here are left to right, David, Irene, Pamela and Pat.
DAVID THE ELDER
Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas if the humble
sprout didn't get a mention. So here we are having a meal with John and Irene,
onboard Moët Chandon, with the aforementioned sprout.
OBLIGATORY SPROUT
Irene of Moët Chandon seems to have a real
knack when taking photos. We think that if we all stood side by side, went
for a walk and took 20 or more pictures each, Irene's would come up trumps
every time. Irene has a much higher percentage of what you would describe
as professional looking composition and the next picture is no exception.
We're not sure when it was taken but it was before the really cold spell.
Although this is a lovely sunset evening, even Irene couldn't make David look
clean shaven!
UNKEMPT BUT CONTENT
We think that John and Irene's patron saint might
be St. Vitus, as they are always active and on the go. Even when everyone
was moored up and snuggled up for winter, they went up the Sàone for
a short cruise and enjoyed every minute of it. They both enjoy life and live
every day to the full. Here's John mooring up after their cruise and sporting
a black eye which he gave himself by walking into his tiller arm.
A NICE WINTER'S CRUISE
In January we got the chance to go with John
and Irene for a 10 day break into Switzerland, Wengen to be precise. The men's
downhill was being held there and it was going to be on during our stay. From
the apartment to the finishing line was only a 20 minute walk away. We arrived
in Wengen on the Friday and the downhill race was due to be held on the next
day, Saturday. Basically, we were so handy for the event that we got a little
complacent and to put not too fine a point on it, we missed the race! How
embarrassing!!!!!! People were coming away as we walked to the slope and at
the time we just didn't know what was happening. Was there not enough snow
or, God forbid, had someone been killed? We just never thought that a 2.5
mile course in 2.5 minutes wouldn't take all that long, even for a couple
of dozen racers doing the course twice. We did manage to see the main presentation
at teatime in the village and we did make an earlier start on the Sunday to
watch the Men's Slalom race.
The apartment was beautiful, like something in
a Bond film, with uninterrupted views of the mountains and the resort of Murren
across the valley. David took this next picture from the window in the bar
just after we had received a fresh fall of snow. (Perhaps we should try to
paint this view at some point.)
VIEW FROM APARTMENT
Before we left we thought we should pose for
what might be next year's Christmas card so don't forget, you saw it here
first!
NEXT YEAR'S CHRISTMAS CARD
Unfortunately, our neighbours back here in St
Jean De Losne, Carol and Havelock on "Casco", are thinking of selling
their boat and just to try and help, we said that we would put a picture of
"Casco" on our site.
"Casco" is a Dutch style barge, just short of 15 metres long and
at a guess about 3.5 metres wide. Two bedrooms (both en suite); a saloon/galley
with breakfast bar; a collapsible wheelhouse; upper decks front and rear,
both with safety rails and one with a bimini cover. We think the engine is
around 75 hp and David has been on "Casco" on the Sàone and
reports that it cruises very nicely. A negotiable £95,000 would buy
this barge.
Anyone interested should contact Havelock on his e-mail address at: NoScale@aol.com
or on mobile number 0033 688 002 684.
BARGE FOR SALE IN FRANCE
Well that's all for now.
We woke up to around 3 inches of snow this morning and from what we see on
TV, England and particularly Yorkshire seem to have had a much heavier dump
of snow. We hope that everyone got to work OK?
Once again, we will try to keep updates a bit more regular in the future.
OBLIGATORY SPROUT
