November 2004 Update
Firstly our apologies, as unfortunately it is about two months since our last update when we thought we would be able to achieve one a month at least. The problem is that we seem to be busier now we are moored up for the winter than we were when we were cruising down from Calais.
The port of Saint Jean De Losne may seem, to the casual passer by, as a sleepy marina full of empty boats with nothing going on. But in truth, there are about a dozen or more boats with "live aboards" on them and everyone is busy beavering away doing all sorts of things. These range from preparations for keeping themselves and their boats warm during the winter to all the many and varied social events that are on offer. The unofficial spokesman for the cruisers at Saint Jean de Losne is Captain Bob and he enthuses everyone. But more about Captain Bob later.
One day, someone passing our pontoon pointed out a preying mantis and David took some pictures of it as it wandered around on a small Christmas tree at the end of the pontoon. As you can imagine, a green insect on a green fir tree is quite difficult to see! Fortunately someone gave us some photo software which allows you to make an image black and white then select part of it and bring the original colours back. It worked well in this case and made the preying mantis stand out from the background (we understand that the mantis was pregnant).
PREYING MANTIS
Now if you want to have a fairly lazy winter in Saint Jean de Losne you can have. But it's not obligatory and Captain Bob is your man if you need some encouragement or ideas.
Caroline who lives on a barge at "the old lock" organises a weekly walk on Monday mornings for anyone who wants to join in. We thought that this was a well established event but apparently not. It was a new idea this autumn and very popular, with a local French couple "Annie and Henri" usually joining in - so we get to practice our French as well! Caroline asked if a poster could be produced to advertise the event and of course David agreed to do one as he "can do posters". So on the next walk the topic of conversation was what to call the event, and after much deliberation, we came up with the amazingly original name of the "MONDAY WALK". No one said we had to have any imagination, but Lawrence from Bateau Bourguignon was heard to mutter lundi promenade (the French for monday walk), so "LUNDI PROMENADE" it is!
The next picture shows Pamela and Germaine on
the walk, looking at an old farm building. Germaine runs the very popular
"book swap" of English books where you can take books away even
if you don't have any to swap. It's free and open twice a week. More about
Germaine later who, she says, has "been very privileged to have led the
live she has".
LUNDI PROMENADE
I am sure that we have mentioned John and Irene before who live aboard Moët Chandon. We met them in Leeds last summer when we were moored outside the Royal Armouries at Clarence Dock. Their boat was built at the same place as ours (Ledgard Bridge, Mirfield) and at the time we met they were also dreaming of boating in France. Well they arrived in France at the beginning of September and made it to the bottom of the Bourgogne canal at Saint Jean de Losne by the end of October.
MOËT CHANDON COMETH
Unfortunately, just like in England, the lock keepers houses are sometimes left empty as commercial traffic is waning and lock keepers have vans or motor bikes to allow them to work more "electric" locks.
LOCK KEEPERS HOUSE
We went for a walk around the village with John and Irene, just pointing out things in general and enjoying the weather, which we didn't expect to last much longer as Captain Bob's weather forecasts predicted. David took the next picture for the colours on the house which is where the lundi promenade starts every week.
WAR MEMORIAL
On a monthly basis we also have something called
a "Soirée Franglais". This is when we meet at a bar and the
French people speak English and the English speak French.
To kick start the conversations we have a crib sheet of topics relating to
local events and issues, usually relating to food, wine festivals and tastings.
November's Soirée Franglais was held at the following riverside hostelry.
AUBERGE DE LA MARINE
On the opposite side of the river from the Auberge is the town's quay and in the summer the restaurants and bars along it are all open with people sat out enjoying themselves. It's not too touristy at all and we're sure the town could make a lot more of what they have.
THE QUAY AT SAINT JEAN DE LOSNE
The next picture was taken outside the post office
on John and Irene's first full day in Saint Jean de Losne. Not bad weather
for the end of October!
LATE OCTOBER AT SAINT JEAN DE LOSNE
A hive of activity next - "the Office du
Tourisme". Within this building, or connected to it, we have the following
facilities -
Tourist information
Internet and e-mail access
Book swap
Launderette
Toilets and showers
French classes
As you can see, there is plenty going on in this building and in late October, you can also collect walnuts which fall from the tree at the front of the building (next to the barge front on the next photo). Although the barge front is an ornamental and historical feature, there is actually a desk/table inside as though it might have had other uses whilst it has been there.
THE TOURIST OFFICE
In the next picture, we are ready for the Lundi
Promenade with (from left to right) -
Caroline (who had the idea of a weekly walk), Matthew, Irene, John, Pamela
in front of Brian, Jill, Ann, Germaine and Lawrence. And that's David taking
the picture as usual (we do have bigger groups but not on this occasion).
LUNDI PROMENADE GANG
The next photo shows us leaving the village behind and heading south towards Macon. We don't generally do going uphill we are very pleased to say (mainly because there aren't any) and we are normally back within two hours.
PROMENADING
The next picture was taken at a "Cave"
in a place called Nuits-St. Georges. Carol and Havelock, who live on the next
boat "Casco", offered us a trip out in their car. After all we are
in one of the most famous wine areas in the world! We went to Beaune and other
places of interest as well, and spotted this "Cave" whilst travelling
through Nuits-St. Georges. We weren't going to go in at first as there was
a Porsch outside and we were only looking for something cheap and cheerful.
Finally we did venture in though and as expected found the bottles of wine
to be more than we wanted to pay. There was an exception however - red wine
in 10 litre boxes at €25 a box. It proved to be excellent and is now
our favourite red wine with plenty being brought back to Saint Jean de Losne
for the other live aboards. After all, for the equivalent of €2 a bottle
(about £1.40) you get something of really good quality, good value and,
according to everyone you speak to, it's very good for you. The proprietor
took the next picture - all part of the service (you can probably just make
out the grape vines on the hillside through the window).
NUITS ST. GEORGES
Whilst on one of our monday walks we spotted this house where it seemed Halloween was being taken quite seriously.
WELCOME
After John and Irene had settled in, they decided to invite the other live aboards onto Moët Chandon for a drink and nibbles. The next picture shows Carol from the boat Casco on the left talking to Irene from Moët Chandon waving at the cameraman.
MINE HOST
These informal get-togethers just seem to happen and can be anything from a few people having a coffee to a full blown boatful. But even the boatful ones don't really take much organising as you just take along a bottle of your favourite drink and some cheese or nibbles and away it goes.
Now we have previously mentioned Captain Bob and in the next picture here he is, just about to try the apple pie. Looking at his face, seems like he can't get back to his spoon fast enough!
CAPTAIN BOB
The morning after Moët Chandon's soirée, Irene took this picture from Moët Chandon (just a few boats away from us on the same pontoon). She certainly seems to have a knack of getting the right picture out of her camera. It was taken from the front of her boat and is no exception. Apparently she had to wait a while for the ducks to arrive and to get the reflection of the moon.
MORNING IS BREAKING
The next view is of Saint Jean de Losne as we walked back from "the old lock" on another one of our walks (David had to zoom in so it's not too clear). The Old Lock is where people moor the bigger boats, as the pontoons at the marina don't like the length and weight of them. We are not sure what the big boys weigh but they get up to 40 metres in length, compared to ours which is just 12 metres long and 26 tonnes, so we suppose that they could be 75 tonnes approx.
SAINT JEAN DE LOSNE
Another pastime we have found is making greetings
cards. Ann, from the boat Bourguignon, makes cards and has started a class.
Initially David thought that they might be a bit "tacky", but having
seen the cards being produced, he is actually quite impressed. Some are so
intricate that he is convinced that the big card makers wouldn't and couldn't
set up to make them. Pamela is seen here practicing techniques she has learned
from Ann.
GREETINGS FROM PAMELA
We have mentioned Germaine before and no doubt
she will get more of a mention as we get to know her better. She is very knowledgeable
and we are sure that some of her stories will make excellent reading. Germaine
gave us the tomatoes in the next picture a while back and they reminded us
of party balloons (the wine cork is with them so you can see the actual size).
Apparently the yellow ones were first given to her by some Germans. She kept
the seeds and now grows them herself. There is a small triangular plot of
land behind the H2O offices which Germaine uses for an allotment.
GERMAINE'S TOMATOES
The marina has a social "club" called the River Rats of which Captain Bob is the kingpin. We have a monthly meeting to keep everyone informed of events through the winter. The November meeting was held at a place along the river called St Symphorien which is just about 4 kilometres up the Sàone at the start of another canal leading towards Strasburg. It is another place for the bigger barge types to moor and is where the "club's" financial secretary Hazel and her husband John live on Whistling Mouse, which is a large Dutch Barge. They kindly offered their hospitality and boat as the venue for the meeting. In the next picture, if you look past Captain Bob (with his "What No Pie look") you can see the size of the saloon on "Whistling Mouse" -very impressive!
WHISTLING MOUSE
November seems to have arrived very quickly and it will soon be time to get all the winter jobs done. The main village event this month centres around the war memorial and remembering the dead from all the wars. This never goes by unnoticed as is the case in all French villages.
REMEMBRANCE DAY
Some good news is that Derek and Pauline, who
were broken down in Port sur Sàone, are cruising again and heading
for their winter moorings slightly south of here. We had evening meals on
each others boats as they passed through Saint Jean de Losne.
Their boat is for sale as they have finished their four year French adventure
and feel the need to be with their grand children back in England. A lovely
couple of new found friends, who we will certainly miss.
Well that's all for now except this short list of events which are all organised and run by the River Rats (with the exception of the French lessons given by Corinne from the Tourist information office).
Monday AM - Walk PM - Art class
Tuesday PM - Greetings card class
Wednesday AM - Yoga PM - Boules
Thursday AM - Book swap PM - Greetings card class and French lessons
Friday AM - Yoga class
Saturday AM - Book swap
Sunday Free
These are the regular weekly events with monthly events including the River Rats meeting and the Soirée Franglais. Future events will also include:
First aid classes
Christmas decoration making
Fire fighting classes
Knot tying classes
Pub type quiz afternoon
Christmas party at a farm on the Bourgogne canal
