We have finally got ourselves a French mobile phone (hurray!) and should soon
have access to the Internet (we are currently waiting for a data cable and
CD Rom from the phone shop to set it all up). In the meantime, please note
that David's mobile phone has finally given up the ghost and died (it was
a bit of an antique). So please don't use his number any more. Pamela's old
mobile isn't feeling too well either, so should only be used for text messages.
We don't want a lot of unwanted calls from people selling stuff, so don't
intend giving the new number here. But if anyone wants our new number and
hasn't already received a text message from us, please E mail us, or send
a text to Pamela's old number [07803 575 417], and we will re-send the text
to you.
Thanks and now back to the story so far .............
UPDATE - 13TH SEPTEMBER 2004
At the end of the last update, we were in a place
called Port sur Sàone, where they were having a folklore week with
fireworks. Unfortunately it rained so hard that they postponed the fireworks
until after we had left. Still never mind - we might catch them another time!
Sadly our lettuces have finally given up and their replacements, a red variety,
don't seem to be doing very much. We will just have to start buying lettuces.
David simply couldn't resist doing this next
photo in sepia, but still managed to have the colour version on the site so
-
HERE WE GO AGAIN IN SEPIA
As with all the places we stop, everyone has
boating in common and even if it looks a bit cramped on some marinas, all
your neighbours are usually very friendly. The next picture shows how busy
the marina at Port sur Sàone was. David took this picture of Pamela
going aboard, as he looked across at a boat called Popeye (with its own garden).
POPEYE
While we were at Port sur Sàone we met
Derek and Pauline, another couple from England with engine problems, who had
been stuck at this marina since May. Their boat "Campaen" is a more
traditional Dutch barge and we had one or two nice evenings together. If all
goes well for them we hope to see them again as they pass through St Jean
de Losne, on their way a bit further south to their winter moorings.
CAMPAEN
DEREK and PAULINE
In the village of Port sur Sàone we spotted
this mural on the gable end of a building. It depicts some very famous people
connected with human rights, looking out of windows or stood at the bottom
of the building.
GABLE END MURAL
Anne Frank stands under the right hand window
and the people looking out of the window above her are Mother Teresa, Martin
Luther King and Lech Walesa.
MOTHER TERESA AND FRIENDS
Eventually we moved on and as we did, we found
that in most villages, they had not demolished their old wash houses. In fact
they had in some cases rebuilt them to preserve the actual washing "troughs".
You can just imagine the gossiping that would have gone on in them and I wouldn't
mind betting that this one at Ray sur Sàone was designed oval so that
everyone could join in the conversation.
THE OLD WASH HOUSE
Just inside the building was a water pump which
worked by turning a small handle on the top. We think that it is probably
an example of the famous Archimedes Screw.
ARCHIMEDES SCREW
We took the next picture as we left Ray sur Sàone
and as you can see, the mosaic church roof and the Chateau made a very pretty
scene as we left.
LEAVING RAY SUR SÀONE
The next picture, which David actually took much
further back in time, is of "Mike" of the boat "Water Magic"
getting a riverside hair cut from his wife Kay. They have been cruising the
French system for years and he is a mine of information which he is always
glad to pass on.
ANOTHER 10 EUROS SAVED
The next pictures are of a place called Auxonne,
which is a larger town with military connections, and in fact is where Napoleon
Bonaparte was stationed for a few years. The first photo made us wonder how
difficult it could be getting anything delivered if you lived up this alley
(for info, alley comes from the French word "aller" meaning "to
go")
ALLEY
Auxonne is not really too far south of the Alsace
region, so this house style is still quite common.
HALF TIMBERED HOUSE
The next picture shows one of the gates to this
fortified town and is very French.
GATEWAY TO AUXONNE
The doorway where David is stood is right at
the side of the main entrance to the church in the centre of Auxonne.
DON'T MEND IT IF IT'S NOT BROKEN
These three cows seemed quite content keeping
cool by the side of the Sàone and didn't seem to mind us passing.
DON'T MIND US !
Here is a picture of Pamela, standing under the
main road bridge over the Sàone at Auxonne, again with very French
battlements.
UNDER THE BRIDGE
The boat moored next to us at Auxonne was a paddle
steamer in style, very colourful and built by a German. It reminded David
of work and the sort of thing that his old colleague Chris Barraclough would
have knocked up over the weekend.
HUA
Neil and Carol of "Comfrey" thought
a celebration meal would be in order as we only had one more day to go to
get to our respective destinations after travelling together since Cambrai,
three months ago. They intended wintering at a place called St. Symphorien,
which is about 5 kilometres north of St. Jean de Losne. We ate really well
on a leg of lamb that Carol had cooked and we all toasted a successful trip,
or as our good friend Michael would say -
SUCCESS TO TEMPERANCE
Leaving Auxonne brought us very close to St Jean
de Losne, where we want to spend the winter. Only about three hours by boat
and we thought it would never happen - to bye pass a weir, only one more lock!
It felt very satisfying as we approached our winter destination (although
we did intend to do a little more cruising this summer). As you look at the
next picture (our final approach) the left hand side of the bridge is a place
called Losne and the place on the right is called St. Jean. At some point
and for some reason, St. Jean became St. Jean de Losne.
ST. JEAN DE LOSNE
LOSNE
VISITOR MOORINGS AT H2O
At first we stayed on the visitor moorings, but
after a few days we were given a couple of options for a winter position and
decided that being against the bank was better for Gromit (our cat). The next
picture was taken just as we moored up and BEFORE we used a machete to trim
around the edges!
WINTER MOORING AT H2O
Apologies for the next item if you don't eat
veal, and/or refrain from drinking milk because the calves should have it,
but veal is plentiful here. Pamela says that if it wasn't for veal, she could
well be a vegetarian. This brings us on to the next picture which is of Osso
Bucco, a famous Italian dish and one which David used to talk to Pierre about
at work. They both felt quite hungry after taking about Osso Bucco.
OSSO BUCCO
WE ARE HERE
As you will see from the map, St Jean de Losne
is like the hub of a wheel and there is plenty of cruising all around the
area. Of course if we go much further south we will be on the Rhone which
is a big river and one where we may struggle to get back up north with the
relatively small engine on our vessel. So next season, Pamela fancies the
round trip up the Bourgogne canal and down the Nivernais, up the Centre canal,
and back up the Sàone to St Jean De Losne. It's a journey that can
take as long or short a time as you like. But we think that as most of the
villages you pass have wines named after them (Chateauneuf and Chablis for
example) it might well take us longer rather than shorter! It would be rude
not to taste the wines after all wouldn't it?
Of course we do intend getting to the Canal Du Midi at some point, which is
near the border with northern Spain. But the stories we hear vary so much
regarding the Rhone, that we will find out more before committing ourselves.
We can and will take advantage of anyone who is willing to give us a tow back
north if we need it but again, this is a story we have heard. Someone we spoke
to at a meal last night, who has made the trip up from the Med. twelve times,
says he has never known anyone come up being towed. On the other hand he says
that we would be ok if we picked the right time to return i.e. before the
end of the summer "rainy season" and before the snow melts in the
Alps as this all comes down the Rhone to the Med. Not this year though, so
we will probably just chill out generally with a few short trips and some
much needed touching up - sorry Harvey but three months of barging takes it's
toll.
