Who said "I don't believe it " ? Well Mr. Meldrew, we have actually
managed to update within the month! That is if we get our fingers out as it
is actually the 10th today and has been raining all morning, so David decided
to get twenty or so pictures together for the website. Now for the hard part
- writing something.
It has been a very different month for us with lots of things happening
so we hope that the stories are of general interest and not too party/boaty.
Last November, when we visited Lancashire, we visited "shoe valley"
(Rossendale) to get this years footwear. Nothing special but after a couple
of seasons, you kind of know what is comfortable and hopefully good for your
feet. David tried wearing sandals (very airy) but wouldn't want to go too
far in them. Trainers on the other hand (or do I mean foot?) are comfortable
but not airy. So what was done last year as a trial has been done again. Lets
hope it works!
COMFY SANDALS
Getting ready for spring meant lots of road trips to the hardware stores
and we took the next picture coming back from Dole on the 18th of April. As
you can see the lettuces are well on their way and they are not even under
cover.
BATAVIA/LOLLO ROSSO
We have mentioned our friends Al and Robbie before so no apologies for giving
them another mention as this little story involving them illustrates what
is really nice about where we are...
We spotted Al on his bike and as he pulled up we saw a bunch of flowers
in his basket. We weren't sure whether to mention them to him as they might
have been for someone we shouldn't know about. But as you probably know David,
being the sole of discretion, asked him if they were for his fancy piece!
Al said "well, not exactly but they are for a lady".
Al went on to tell us that he had been out shopping earlier in the day and
realised as he made his way back to his boat (Escape) that he had lost his
wallet. The wallet didn't have his life savings in it or anything as Robbie
probably takes good care of them. But Al did want the wallet back. So he retraced
his steps back to where he had shopped with no luck. He then went to the Gendarmerie
(the police) to report the loss.
Although Al lost no time getting there, he didn't manage to get there before
the person who found it! The lady who found it had seen the wallet lying in
the road and had taken it straight round to the Gendarmerie. Everything was
there, nothing missing. Maybe that wouldn't happen everywhere in France but
on this occasion in St. Jean de Losne it did.
When we saw Al with the flowers, it was his 4th attempt to catch the lady
at home. We will be seeing Al and Robbie again soon, so we must ask him how
he went on.
AL SAYS IT WITH FLOWERS
The 15th of April saw the first email from Nick and Diane, a couple we didn't
know who are having a boat built at Ledgard Bridge to eventually bring over
to France. They had seen our website and were very interested in how we are
finding life here and what (if anything) we would change if we were to start
again. Well not too much was our answer and a few emails later Nick and Diane
came to visit the area. We had lots in common with plenty of boat talk and
without going on at length, we all thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Best
wishes to them both and good luck with the venture.
Of course, we had to explain to them that they mustn't fall into the trap
of drinking too much red wine when they get here and proceeded to show them
how to avoid the pitfall.
NICK & DIANE CHECKING OUT THE WINE
We spotted the vehicle in the next photo on the quay at Saint Jean de Losne.
There wasn't much trade however even though Nick and Diane brought good weather
with them.
STOP ME AND BUY ONE
H20 decided during the same weekend to have a sort of flea market cum barbecue.
We did participate and everyone enjoyed the afternoon. Our next photo shows
"Resident Chef" Captain Bob ... pokin' his smokin' burgers.
CAPTAIN BOB'S BURGER BAR
Nick and Diane stayed with our French friends Gerard and Sylvie, who have
a couple of rooms at their home that they let off to tourists/visitors. The
location was perfect for them and no doubt they will see each other again
before too long.
SYLVIE AND GERARD'S GARDEN
Then the time came for our cruise to start. Anything not done now would
have to get done en route. So on Monday 24th of April, after the world famous
"Lundi Promenade" (and with a little persuasion from Caroline, Matthew,
Al and Robbie),
we slipped our moorings on pontoon D and set sail down the river Saône
towards Seurre and beyond. We didn't want to stop as soon as we had started
so thought a working lunch might be in order.
ITS ALL GO
After Seurre, and with a bit of a flow on the river, we decided to give
Verdun sur Doubs a miss and carried on down to Chalon sur Saône. The
next day we walked into the old town and were lucky enough to stumble across
the market. Markets here are always colourful and are very good for people
watching.
MARKET DAY IN OLD CHALON
Still in the old town and near the Theatre, we saw this building. Someone
(presumably the owner) had painted this "trompe l'oeil" (trick of
the eye) in two of the windows.
TROMPE L'OEIL
Santenay is a small village at the southern end of the Beaune region and
is famous in its own right when it comes to producing fine wines. The mooring
there was very picturesque and only about a 10 minute walk from the centre
of the village. Our old friend Ann Meehan might appreciate this next photo
of the view we had from our boat while we were there.
BEAUTIFUL
Obviously plenty of money has been made from these classic wines over the
centuries and the splendour of the chateaux only goes to prove the point,
as you will see from the next photo.
THE CHATEAU AT SANTENAY
David seems to have been hypnotised by doorways and arches since coming
to France. The simple doorway in the next photo leading off the road and into
the vineyard must be on our "to do" list of watercolours.
LE VIGNOBLE
Something else that fascinates us is the tree pruning that goes on over
here (we've forgotten the proper name for it). Pamela hates it but I think
it looks great, so you will just have to make up your own minds from the next
photo. The first time we saw trees like this was at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.
FRENCH - NO LEAVES
We went to a very large flea market in St. Leger sur Dheune, which was free
and we like doing free (you normally have to pay to get into such things).
It's amazing what some people have collected over the years but somehow they
seem to be able to sell them on. As you can see, the chap in the next picture
was selling buttons. He had literally thousands of them but what we don't
know is where he got them all from. Of course what we don't know, we just
have to make up so we think it likely that they may well have popped off his
clothes through sheer pressure over the years. What do you think?
BODY POPPIN'
On the same day there were lots of school children selling Lily of the Valley
(Muguet as it is called here). Apparently they are meant to bring you good
luck.
MUGUET
Our next stop was at Paray le Monial, a lovely village with one of the best
moorings on the Canal du Centre. No hire fleets, just visitor moorings that
stretch for a couple of kilometres or more.
PARAY LE MONIAL
Whilst there we met a chap who was fishing just along from our boat and
it wasn't long before a conversation started. It turned out that he lives
with his girlfriend in the local area, near to Roanne where we were heading.
Now you must have heard the saying that "a stranger is a friend you haven't
met yet". Well Jean Claude and his girlfriend Raymonde are a very good
example of that.
They suggested that we should go to dinner with them when we reached Roanne
so to keep things in order, that story will continue when we get to Roanne.
JEAN CLAUDE & RAYMONDE
Earlier in this update we mentioned shoe valley in Lancashire (the Rossendale
valley) and after reading some tourist type leaflets regarding places of interest
we spotted that a large part of the area around the Canal du Centre is called
amongst other things "ceramic valley".
The next picture will be quite close to most boaters hearts as it doesn't
take boaters very long before the topic of conversation turns to toilets.
For those who are non boaters, you might want to know that another name for
a ship's toilet is a "head". We are told that this dates back to
the old sailing ships and galleons where bums were just hung over the side
and the word "heads" was yelled. This was to warn people on the
lower decks to keep their heads in (according to Martin from "Waihiki"
who we met last year).
The next photo is of stacks of toilets and we assume that the glaze is frost
proof as they seem to stack the finished goods out in the open.
HEADS
Swiftly changing the subject to recycling, our old kitchen table became
redundant after the corner seating/sleeping area was completed. It wasn't
really a practical table for a boat as the drop leaves were only small and
the top was always too big. So recycling was the obvious answer. Val and Paul
(DILLYKIM) used the legs to make a set of four men for the roof of their narrowboat
and we hope we get a picture of them at some stage. The top was put by the
rubbish bins (poubelles) and it wasn't long before we saw it going into the
back of a hatchback, bound for Switzerland. The only bit of the table that
was left, David used to make a bike rack. So I suppose it was well and truly...
RE-CYCLED
Next stop was Roanne, a big town of about 50,000 people.
As you may know, apartments are very popular in France. The French and indeed
most of the rest of Europe, don't seem to feel the need to buy property as
much as the British. The only reason we mention this is because it does affect
the physical size of the town. It doesn't really look big enough for that
amount of people.
We weren't intending to stay in Roanne over winter so we had to moor at
the visitor's quay, which felt a bit like being in quarantine. But it actually
worked out quite well for us as it stopped Gromit wandering off visiting other
boats which is one of his favourite pastimes.
QUARANTINED AT ROANNE
We thought that the woodwork had stopped when we left Saint Jean de Losne.
But the bike did need a home and since the table had been dismembered, we
liked the idea of a new table for the back deck. David just happened to have
some very nice pieces of wood that he thought might just fit the bill.
Drop leaf was what the other table lacked so this one was to be just one
big drop leaf, hinged to the back rail. We are trialling this simple version
over the summer and if we like it will make improvements during the winter.
What we do like about this one is that we both get a good view.
AL FRESCO IN ROANNE
From Roanne, we expect to be seeing:
David and Renate (SUKI), friends from our first winter in France who are
heading south
Val and Paul (DILLYKIM) from last winter who are also heading south
and last, but not least,
Al and Robbie (ESCAPE) from last winter who, like us, are heading for Paris
and trying to catch us up (shouldn't be too difficult)
Sorry to all Gromit fans that he isn't featured in this update but he is
fine and seems to enjoy exploring the new places.
All the best for now and we hope to update again before July!!
