We were right in our last update in thinking that there would be old and
new friends to meet in St. Jean de Losne. In fact this winter is probably
busier than last with "all the frivolity appertaining thereto" as
a friend of ours used to say.
Before we start with our normal update though, we have an important announcement.
No, neither of us is pregnant!
We just want everyone to know that someone we have known for all of her
life (that is her life up to now), Wendy Johnson, is going to run in this
year's London Marathon. Wendy is hoping to raise money for the RSPB's "Save
the Sumatran Rainforest" campaign - a very important cause. So if, like
us, you want to feel good about something new today, just go to the following
website address and make a donation.
http://www.justgiving.com/wendyjohnson
It's good to hear from you Wendy and great to know that everything is going
well in your life. Keep on training (and smiling) and very good luck with
the run.
GOOD LUCK WENDY JOHNSON
So on now with the update.
We took some pictures of Dijon port as we came through in October and as
the port was due to be emptied of boats and water for remedial work, we went
back in the car to get pictures during this period. It wasn't exactly spectacular,
but we thought that it was worthy of a couple of photos.
BEFORE - DIJON PORT IN AUTUMN
Notice the finger pontoons on the right at a weird angle
AFTER - AN EMPTY DIJON PORT IN WINTER
Before we left Dijon in October, we managed to catch our friend Bill working
on his new wheelhouse. His boat, a Humber Keel, was featured on this website
a couple of seasons ago in the summer of 2005. Hopefully we can get more pictures
as his project progresses
BILL THE GRINDER
It can be hard work you know, even if you are only watching! So a siesta
is always welcome, as you will see in the next photo.
CAUGHT NAPPING
Getting back into our winter mooring was a good feeling, but not everything
was as we left it. For example, Gromit likes to sunbath on the next boat's
roof but now he has to share it with Fips. We're not sure whether they get
on too well at the moment. It seems to be more a matter of suffering one another.
Lets just hope that it stays that way, or improves.
GROMIT AND FIPS
After settling in for the winter, it wasn't long before the winter activities
were back in full swing.
One of these is weekly first aid classes, hosted by John and Hazel on their
boat Whistling Mouse. The lessons are excellent and when it comes to needing
a dummy, we are always happy to oblige.
DOCTORS AND NURSES
Monday morning talks, sorry walks, continue and this next photo, which was
taken on one of them, inspired me to try painting it at the informal art afternoon
that we attend.
ST SYMPHORIEN
Our good friends Paul and Judy made a quick visit from Canada to deal with
some boat repairs on their peniche Normaddie. As you can see from the next
photo, the weather really couldn't have been much worse for them as they returned
to their mooring from the repair yard.
C'EST LA VIE
They are always good company and we did manage a little socialising with
them and Uschi before Paul and Judy returned to Canada.
WATCH THE BIRDIE
This year we wanted to get involved a little more with the French charity
event "Telethon". We knew that pulling the restaurant barge "Le
Maltess" from Longecourt back to St. Jean de Losne (about 15 kilometres)
was one of the challenges so we put our names down and off we went.
PULLING THE MALTESS
It was a very successful day and 900 euros was raised in that event alone.
Now although political correctness is high on every do-gooders agenda (for
"do-gooder" read: do no good), it is not so in France. Here they
take things with a pinch of salt and don't let being P.C. change their traditions
too much.
Our next photo is from the St. Nicolas celebrations in December and if you
don't know the story of St. Nicolas, you could look at it in Google. Alternatively,
this is one good site we found
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=86
In this part of France, Saint Nicolas is accompanied by "Père
Fouettard", who carries a bunch of sticks, or a whip, to punish any children
who have been naughty. He is often called Black Peter and in Holland the mischievous
helpers with black faces and colourful dress (dating back two centuries) are
also called Black Petes. So next we have a picture of the man himself, Père
Fouettard, a local man all blacked up, standing behind our local priest.
WHERE WOULD WE BE WITHOUT RULES?
We spent a very pleasant evening at Gérard and Sylvie's house, where
Gérard took on the role of chef du cuisine, throwing in a few tips
on French etiquette for good measure.
What is happening in this next picture is not what you would assume. Apparently
the hand should not actually be kissed but should be gently breathed on from
the nose. "Not a lot of people nose that!!!!"
ETIQUETTE
While on water duty during a frosty period David bumped into a very cute
Yorkshire lass on pontoon E, who has the same name as our boat.
LEA
Our friends Maguy and Gérard from Longecourt came one evening for
a meal and it was another great evening.
MAGUY AND GÉRARD
Since then, Maguy and Gérard have been over with a Tartiflette, which
was a magnificent supper. Could it have been so good because Maguy is originally
from the Savoie region (home of Tartiflette)?
Around Christmas time we had a hoar frost that lasted for a week or more,
eventually giving way to the sun. At that point we didn't have too much time
to get a good picture, so a scramble around the village with the camera was
called for.
A PRETTY SIGHT
Of course not every picture is perfect but you can't have everything can
you?
NOT A PRETTY SIGHT
Underneath the trees where the frost had dropped off was the only place
where it looked like snow had fallen. Does that count as a white Christmas
do you think?
COLD QUAY
The chain mesh fencing near the tourist office here in the village kept
the frost well as this part didn't see any sun and was always in the shade.
It makes a very pretty photo.
JACK FROST
The big day finally arrived and we were possibly ignoring the crew a little
so Gromit decided to get in on the action.
SANTA CAME
A quiet Christmas day was planned with a little first footing and by lunchtime
all we had to do was chill out.
CHRISTMAS LUNCHTIME
Even Uschi's cat Fips wanted to join in the "chill out"
FIPS RELAXES
Our chill out lasted for the best part of a week and before we knew it New
Year's Eve arrived. We had been invited to celebrate the New Year with Uschi
and her son Björn which was very special for us as it was the first time
where we were the only English present. That is as long as we don't include
Freddie Frinton doing his "Dinner for One" routine. It seems that
the rest of Europe watch this 10 minute comedy film on television every New
Year's Eve. If you haven't seen it, it's worth watching out for.
Just before midnight we were joined on board Uschi's boat by some Swedish
friends so it really was an international event.
HAPPY 2008
As you can see from the next photo, Champagne and/or Cremant de Bourgogne
was very popular that night.
SKOL
The next 2 photos are related to an improvement that David made to our reception
of WIFI here on the boat. The idea came from a TV programme we saw about a
place in Africa where communications and access to the Internet are crucial
for some medical personnel.
They simply concentrated the WIFI beam between places by putting a large
tin can around the aerial. It is very basic but it truly works. Amazing!!!
So when David saw the jug in the next photo on sale in Lidl, he just couldn't
resist it.
OUR NEW JUG
And hey presto, the jug became an amplifier for our WIFI aerial!
OUR NEW TUBE
Finally, our last 2 photos were sent to us by a friend in England and are
of a part of West Yorkshire we know well (although there isn't usually so
much water there!). There must have been a huge amount of rain to cause such
problems.
HIGH WATER 2008 IN HORBURY, WEST YORKSHIRE
MORE HIGH WATER IN HORBURY
Well that's all for now, so bye from David and Pamela
