Firstly, no excuses about the late update - we have been a bit busy you
know!
What with making a cave for our wine and getting the boat out of winter
mode (de-cluttering), there was a lot to do. Then it was time for our first
lift out and bottom check in France. No surprises there (thank goodness) although
there had been more galvanic activity than we had expected. Never mind, more
anodes and plenty of paint (including the bottom plate) and we will see what
the next lift out shows up.
As usual there was a lot of socialising to do and as the weather started
to improve it gave us all a chance to spend some time warming up outside of
our boats. Our first photo shows Pamela and our friend Yvette testing the
temperature of the beer.
CHEERS
A big market in this part of France is held on Mondays at a place called
Louhans and it is famous for the livestock on sale. In our next photo we have
a cheeky chappy who thinks that pretending to be a bunny might find him a
new home.
SPOT THE DOG
This next chap sold some very tasty cheeses and wearing what looks like
his wife's hat didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.
FROMAGE DU JURA
Back in St. Jean de Losne, at one of the local bars, we saw the sign in
our next photo. Now Pamela is really quite good at French and did explain
that the beer hadn't actually just arrived from another planet!
NEW WORLD BEER
Moving on to food (for a change), this is one of our favourite concoctions.
It's our version of the famous Bouillabaisse of Marseille. A great starter
or main course, which I'm sure, will get more additions as we go along.
FISH STEW
Talking of food, which we think will catch on, we had an invite to a very
good friends house and it was a really successful occasion. Pamela's sister
Pat was staying with us and everyone did their bit to make it a perfect day.
We were a little slow with the camera though that day as after a walk around
the garden we came back to find Steve's dog had made a start on Uschi's beautiful
aperitifs!
06 DINNER WITH STEVE
Now we aren't sure whether the lock gates leak or whether VNF (French equivalent
of British Waterways) actually do get on with some winter projects. But this
next picture was taken midway between St. Jean de Losne and Dijon and shows
just how shallow the water is at the sides of the canal. The big hotel boats
must really be scraping their bottoms when they pass each other.
WINTER WORK
On the way back from dropping Pat off at Geneva airport we stopped off in
the Jura mountains for some lunch and found a very pretty place called Les
Rousses. Last winter the people from Losne organised their annual day in the
snow to this resort which is around 2 hours by bus from St. Jean de Losne.
WINTER IN LES ROUSSES
Of course the ship's cat, Gromit, doesn't do skiing or getting cold. He
does however manage to keep himself busy doing nothing. What a life!
HARD WORK THIS!
A good friend in St. Jean de Losne, Gérard, was incapacitated this
winter for a while after an operation on his wrist. This gave me a chance
to do a little extra physical work and keep my hand in with some of those
jobs around the house. The good thing about this arrangement was the lunchtime
picnic. We both seem to enjoy the same wines from the "Bourgogne"
region and a bottle of this was just the icing on the cake as far as I was
concerned. Of course as with most French lunchtimes, 2 hours is just about
right. I just hope that the arrangement can continue when Gerard's wrist has
mended.
PICNIC AT RUE MONGE
Well the snow did finally arrive in St Jean de Losne, but just for a day
or so and only a few centimetres. Of course you don't know how bad it will
get and you do need to keep your walkways clear. Now Gaby, our neighbour,
doesn't seem to suffer the cold like everyone else and we honestly don't think
we know anyone else who clears snow away whilst wearing shorts! Makes us feel
cold just looking at this picture!
FIRST AND LAST SNOW
We had a trip into Dijon at the end of March and noticed these post office
vehicles, all nicely parked at the side of the main post office. Someone told
us that the post office had been told by the French government to buy French
vehicles as the industry wasn't doing to well. Good for them! There's nothing
wrong in sticking together and supporting your own industries is there?
CHARITY BEGINS HERE
Eventually we thought it was time to have a Barbecue, although we did have
to postpone it for a week due to a wet weekend. Of course you have all seen
barbecue pictures before so we won't bore you with more of the same. Instead
we offer you our next photo….
Murray had stolen the show with his ability to do things with rope and cord
that we all would like to aspire to. Not being outdone though, Gérard
(from pontoon E) decided it was time to get himself a woman (perhaps he was
a cowboy in a previous life?). Of course he did have to return Annie a little
later, unharmed, to husband Gaby.
LASS WHO
Among new friends this year were Johnny and Ulla who spent the winter around
at Blanquarts marina. Their catamaran, Spice Too, was built by them out in
Brazil then shipped over to France on a container vessel. Johnny was a marine
engineer in his previous life and he decided to build Spice Too with most
of the problems and flaws associated with boats removed. Living space is all
on one level and we don't think they have a pump for anything except fresh
water. We couldn't possibly tell everything about this couple and their boat
but they do have their own website and it's well worth a visit at http://hem.passagen.se/aspicetoo
The picture below was taken after an evening on Spice Too with our good
friend Uschi. We can't just remember what the meal was but we do know that
Ulla makes a very nice potato and fish dish called "Jonssen's Temptation",
which goes very well with Schnapps.
SPICE TOO
Time moved swiftly on and Lea Crest was about to be lifted out of the water
for the first time since arriving in France. We had a few jobs that wanted
attention so we were booked to be out for at least a week. Our lift out coincided
with Ave Sol's, so it was an opportunity to get pictures of each others bottoms
(if you know what we mean!). As you can see, Ave Sol is a beautifully finished
Tjalk (pronounced chaluc) owned by Said and Yvette.
AVE SOL
The boat yard just managed to get Lea Crest out of the Saône as the
clock struck mid day so, it being France, everything stopped for lunch. They
did however return to drag us further up the slipway that afternoon.
LEA CREST
After Ave Sol had gone back into the Saône, another Tjalk arrived.
This one was longer and we had seen it a few times before. You couldn't really
forget a boat called "Pastis" could you?
Pastis belongs to John and Grace who we would describe as Australians who
returned to Blighty and decided they were really meant for Europe. Lots of
stories to tell over dinner and Grace is the first person I know who gave
Pamela sardines as a main course and was complimented. So, there is hope for
escargots yet (NOT!).
PASTIS
It was only a matter of time before we were to meet a man called Joe Parfitt.
We had heard of Joe (who has a boatyard over here) many times and always had
good reports from everyone.
When asked if we could put a picture of him on our website, he was more than
happy to oblige.In fact, we got the distinct impression that to feature on
anyone's website was something he had been waiting for. Joe's assistant Door
(hope all names are spelt correctly) was also to be in on the act. Fame at
last…
JOE AND DOOR
During Paque Boat (a boating exhibition/fair) it seemed that you could buy
anything. The stall that made us laugh was the one selling the modern day
version of paper windmills. How things have moved on, as you will see in the
next photo.
633 SQUADRON
Sunny and warm weather meant that refreshments were the order of the day,
so a half bottle of Pinot Noir for David and a cold beer for Pamela.
PAQUE BOAT
The man in the next photo seemed to be happy with his purchase. Its to be
hoped he wasn't going home on a bike!
BARGAIN
Back to the boatyard and the muck that goes with it. It really was impossible
to keep the place clean but it wasn't going to be for much longer.
WHERE THERE'S MUCK
Back in the water and all went well.
Our friends Sylvie and Gérard had never been on a narrow boat and
were curious. John and Pat of narrowboat "Hoddy Dod" were due back
at anytime and had agreed to let them look inside their boat. Of course a
good bottle of Burgundy was ready and after the tour of Hoddy Dod we all relaxed.
Sylvie and Gérard aren't as professional as boaters when it comes to
relaxing as they don't normally get too much time to relax. They do however
make up for it with the happiness that always radiates.
TIME TO RELAX
Now we reach the end of this update.
It is the first of May and everything is done.
Hopefully we have said our cheerios to everyone, a job that is getting more
and more difficult every year. So if we missed you, sorry and a bientot.
From our next photo we think you will all agree that it looked a perfect
day to set off.
TIME TO GO
PS: Congratulations Wendy on completing the London Marathon. We hope that
the blisters are mended by now.
The leaky back end (of the boat) that we have suffered for the last 5 years
has now been rectified. Anyone interested in the design modification? Just
send a donation and we will forward the details.
Very best wishes to all who read these updates and thanks for the occasional
emails we receive from well-wishers,
Bye for now from David and Pamela and more from us soon ......
