Firstly we are very sorry that we didn't manage an update in September.
We always seemed to be doing other things that were more important at the
time. Anyway here goes....
Lots of things happened during our trip since the last update. First of
all we had Pamela's sister Pat with us for a fortnight and the day after Pat
went back to England, David's mum passed away at the great age of 91.
We arranged to collect Pat from the railway station at Vermenton which is
three hours south of Paris by train. We hadn't been to Vermenton before and
thought it might have been a bit more upmarket than it was. But there was
no staff at the station, no anything really and even the station clock was
short of a pair of hands! In fact we weren't sure whether we should have brought
some steps to get Pat off the train and at one stage thought that Clint Eastwood
might even make an appearance, it was so like something out of a spaghetti
western.
VERMENTON STATION
Pat soon got into the swing of things and as we had a quick look around
the village we noticed lots of flowers, literally cart loads of them in fact.
GETTING INTO THE STRIDE
Not many strides later we saw this character sat watching the world going
by.
A POTTY LOOKING CHARACTER
The next picture wasn't the clearest of shots but we thought it should be
added even if it is a bit sloping.
THREE SHADY CHARACTERS
Chatel Censoir was a place we had visited twice before so we felt quite
at home and decided it was a good place to get some smalls washed. The two
chaps who ran the boat hire base were very friendly and helpful and it was
nice to make return visits.
WASHDAY AT CHATEL CENSOIR
One of our favourite places was Clamecy. It has lots of history attached
to it, particularly regarding the logging that used to go on in the area.
Apparently the logs were floated down the river Yonne and when they arrived
at Clamecy they were lashed together to form great rafts for the onward journey.
The men who guided the great rafts of logs were called flotteurs (floaters)
and as you can imagine this was a very dangerous occupation with much loss
of life.
On a lighter note, Clamecy has a good market and everyone seems to be there.
Even a small Patisserie spills its goods out onto the street on market day.
In the next couple of pictures we have Pat (Pamela's sister) buying some of
the goods. Now David never thought he would be saying this, but quiches have
become a great lunchtime favourite although he still prefers one with some
meat inside.
IN FOR A PENNY
David has never eaten as many tomatoes in his life since coming over here
and although Pamela isn't as keen, we always have them on board (David can't
say that about cabbages-he has only managed to smuggle one a year on board).
IN FOR A POUND
As the three of us wandered around Clamecy we spotted a restaurant where
the menu and price suited us so we booked a table for an evening meal. Out
came the glad rags and although we say it ourselves, we all seemed to scrub
up quite well.
Note from David: I'm sure Pamela won't mind me saying, but she doesn't always
seem to get the hang of posing for a photograph. Just look at the first of
the next two photos!
ALL SCRUBBED UP
ALIAS SMITH AND ROSS
Quite by chance we came across a ceremony which involved some re-enactment.
There were GIs with their jeeps and armoured carriers but the next picture
of two chaps by the memorial to the French resistance seemed more worthy of
inclusion. Every where you look over here you can spot the scars of war. Even
the memorial to the dead of WW1 was knocked down by the Nazis in this village.
REMEMBERING THE RESISTANCE
Whilst in Clamecy we met Xavier and his children Carol and Victor who are
twins. Quite often Gromit breaks the ice with fellow boaters and of course
he did with Carol and Victor who both love cats. We didn't know at the time
but within a few days, Xavier was to play an important role in getting David
back to Scotland for his mum's funeral. The next photo was taken at a place
called Vincelles on board "IMISSA", Xavier's boat. We had met again
after leaving Clamecy and had been invited round for an aperitif.
ON BOARD IMISSA
Now Pat is partial to the odd drop of champagne, so we couldn't miss the
opportunity to call in at a place called Bailly where they have some old underground
mines that are home to millions of bottles of the stuff. It's actually the
Burgundy version of champagne and it's made in the same traditional way. As
we approached the pontoon at Bailly, we noticed that the sunflowers growing
in the field alongside the towpath had all had facelifts. As people had walked
along, they had pulled a few seeds out of the heads and made faces out of
them. They really looked very funny especially as they all look in the same
direction but with different facial expressions.
SUNFLOWERS AT BAILLY
We hope that the sight of Gromit fetching his own lunch in the next photo
doesn't cause offence to anyone-other than the mouse that is! After the episode
where we nearly lost him in the earlier part of the summer, I'm pleased to
see that he can still look after himself.
GROMIT, HUNTING AND GATHERING
During the earlier part of the summer, Bourgogne had its own miniature cylone
and swathes of trees were just snapped in half. We remember the night very
clearly and as Pamela said at the time "every window on the boat looked
like Niagara Falls" as the water cascaded down the outside. One boater
took off at full throttle and as he passed us with just a spotlight to guide
him, we thought he wouldn't negotiate under the small bridge ahead of him.
What we think happened was that earlier in the evening he had moored up across
on the other side of the canal under some trees. We're not sure exactly where
he was originally but there were certainly trees laying on the ground the
morning after. On the night we all thought he was fool hardy to move like
he did at the height of the storm but we suppose that the sound of a tree
crashing down near our boat might have persuaded us to clear off too!
CYCLONE IN BOURGOGNE
The little chap in the next photo flew past us as we were walking into the
village of Chatillon en Bazois. We've checked through our guide book and think
that its probably a "Great Green Grasshopper" or "Bush Cricket".
Just out of interest to the older generation (of which David is one), the
chap running the marina here is Chris Matthew. His father is Brian Matthew
who still has a show on BBC radio called Sounds of the Sixties. In David's
day, Brian Matthew had a weekly TV show called Thank Your Lucky Stars. Yes
those were the days my friends and as someone said to us a few weeks ago "The
older I get, the better I was". Another friend of ours (Liz Carr) says
"We are here for a good time, not a long time". Both comments make
us laugh.
ANYONE FOR A BUSH CRICKET
As we moved further on down the Canal du Nivernais we knew that we would
have to reduce the overall height of the boat, as some of the bridges have
only 2.7 metres headroom and with our back canopy up we are around 2.9. Although
the canopy is a great addition to the boat, it really looks well without it
when we are on the move. We are sure that Ledgard Bridge (our boat builders)
would be pleased with the admiring glances and remarks the boat gets.
READY FOR ACTION
There was plenty of headroom as we went over the Loire at Digoin on the
famous aqueduct and what a view!
AQUEDUCT OVER THE LOIRE
Note from David: I caught Pamela practicing her photographic pose and I
must say doing a great job here. The piercing blue eyes are a great "King
family" trait.
OL' BLUE EYES
It is always good to see a well trained animal but we sometimes think Gromit
takes it a bit too far. What do you think? Isn't this hole just a tad too
big?
GROMIT DIGGING FOR VICTORY
Pamela bought David a chop saw for his birthday this year because he still
has some bits of wood trim to finish off and there is always some other little
shelf or cupboard required. If only we had known that this earlier model was
going to be available!
PRE B & Q CIRCULAR SAW
On the canals that we have done this year, we haven't seen too much commercial
traffic. Plenty of hotel boats that are quite big, but the canals were built
for freight and the barge in the next picture was built specifically to fit
the lock with no wasted space. This particular lock was the standard gauge
developed by a chap called Freycinet and is approximately (in feet) 130 feet
long by 17.5 feet wide.
MADE TO MEASURE
The lock in the next picture is the last canal lock which dropped us from
the Canal du Centre into the Saône near Chalon sur Saône. A bigger
lock for even bigger barges, but even this one is small compared to the ones
on the Saône. This particular one is famous for its drop which is about
33 feet and the lock gate is a guillotine type. We all had to wear our life
jackets at this lock and as you can see in the picture, Martin and Jackie
on board Waihiki can be seen wearing theirs.
DROPPING DOWN TO THE SAÔNE
Another two days travelling brought us back to Saint Jean de Losne, where
our journey this year started on the 18th of May 2005. We clocked up over
300 engine hours on the trip this summer, which doesn't sound a lot but we
reckon that its around 1200 kilometres (that is about 750 miles or about the
length of the British Isles). After all, we only travel at walking pace so
it puts it all into perspective and they do say that "boating is the
quickest way to slow down".
HOME SWEET HOME
Of course it didn't take long to get back into our stride with socialising.
This often includes a drink of vin rouge but if you can't enjoy one here in
France, where can you enjoy one! On that note, Martin and Jackie from "Waihiki"
often invited us for a pre dinner drink and it was always good wine and cheese
on their boat. Unfortunately they had to return to New Zealand for the summer
(the other summer) as see they seem to like two summers a year. We can't imagine
why!
MARTIN AND JACKIE'S FAREWELL
Food played an important role last winter and exchanging recipes and ideas
was very popular. This winter we understand that there will be fewer liveaboards
in the marina so we intend keeping our heads down a bit and getting on with
all the jobs that the summer cruise has brought to our attention (plus of
course all those jobs that we never got round to from last year).
We will of course be keeping in touch with all of our friends, old and new,
and particularly with our French friends, as this does help with the "parlez
francais".
Two friends we met up north last year are Derek and Pauline on "Compaen",
a Dutch Tjalk (pronounced "chalc") around 100 years old. They were
having engine trouble and were awaiting parts and labour at Port sur Saône.
We met them again at Saint Jean de Losne in the autumn and again this year
as they were passing through. It really is true what they say - it is a small
world on the canals and everyone seems to know everyone.
Sadly Derek and Pauline are selling their boat and going back to Blighty.
They have done the years afloat that they intended doing and now think it
time to return to family, friends and grandchildren. We took the opportunity
to go with them up to St. Symphorien where the boat will be wintered and sold
(asking price 140,000 euro about £95,000). If we had a bigger slush
fund and more bottle, we have both said it would be a great boat to live on.
DEREK AND PAULINE ENTERING THE SAÔNE.
Xavier, who we met at Clamecy, felt that at one point we had helped him
in his hour of need and seemed to think that we were very kind. But boating
is just like that - people help each other and you know what they say about
"reaping what you sow"!
Well, the day David's mum died we were in Vermenton and just couldn't see
how David could get to Scotland in time for the funeral. But out of the blue
Xavier turned up in the port with his children and their friends, en route
to the beach for a cooling swim. On learning of David's plight, Xavier offered
to help get him a flight and even changed his own planned return to Paris
so that he could drive David to Charles DeGaulle airport. As David has said
many times, Xavier did everything except strap him into the seat on the plane!
Merci bien Xavier - vous etes tres gentil.
Help in Scotland was the same. Gordon's partner Amelia has a sister, Elizabeth,
who lives near Aberdeen airport with her husband George. They picked David
up from the airport, gave him a beautiful room and meals and made him very
welcome. David hopes to see them again soon and would like to thank them again
for the help and friendship they gave him when he needed it most.
MUM ROSS ENJOYING A CREAM HORN
We normally finish with the route map, so once again here it is. Let's hope
we find the time to update on time in future (now where have we heard that
one before?).
