March 2015

Spring is in the air.

Wild violets, both purple and white, are flowering along the canal banks. A duck has made her 'nest' in the hollowed root of a poplar tree.

Good camouflage!

The town trees (and Tashi) get their annual 'hair cut'.

The city of Gien closes the main road for a week where the annual Spring Fair is held. So we went  along to see what was on offer.  It was a mixture of displaying farm implements and livestock, classic cars, garden structures, food and drink from the local areas, and the usual market stalls. Great fun.

The new puppy has arrived! Fellow boaters have at last collected their puppy named Yetti.

Yes folks, it's a Tibetan!

Our neighbours on Blue Gum had a new sofa delivered! After much heaving and shoving it finally went in through their 'dog box'.  We tried to refrain from "Right said Fred ...."

Thank heaven for 'Dog Boxes'

Boats are on the move. The first 'Bumper Boat' was seen leaving port on Friday 13 March! Hope it all went well. Another boat had slower progress through the Pont Henri IV.

That's NEVER going to under the bridge.! How about taking off the railings?

We order a new fridge on 7 March, as ours was becoming unreliable. But after two weeks nothing had arrived. We thought it would be a good idea to pull out the old fridge before the new one arrived, just in cast there was a problem getting it out - there was!  So we are living in smaller space than usual.


This delightful little Mandarin duck accompanies Tashi and me on our early morning walk.

He's the cutest!

2015

February 2015

As it was Shrove Tuesday on 17th February we decided to hold a Pancake Race along the quayside.

In full flight.

Entrants were requested to wear 'pinnies', and had to toss their pancake three times, while moving, and without dropping it!  After all this activity we retired for a well earned hot cup of coffee.

Now they're getting silly!

We're impressed!

  

Friday 13th was another beautiful sunny day, and we spent an amusing afternoon in the village of Ousson-sur-Loire, by the banks of the river. We went there to see 'an Alembic' in full production.

A very Heath Robinson piece of equipment, but extremely effective nevertheless!!!

Father and son distillers, emptying out the waste contents from the copper vat.

This 'still' is on a trailer and gets taken around the area, where villagers take their own picked fruit, which has been stored in a special sealed container since the autumn. Water is fed into the alembic and the waste and overflow goes into the river.  I'm sure the fish appreciate their annual treat! The fermented fruit is emptied into the vat and sealed, the fire of the Alembic is stoked up, and after about 3/4 hour the alcohol absolute is ready to be sampled. Our friends took cherries from their garden, and asked for the alcohol to be diluted to 50%. At the end of the each days process an official from the Customs & Excise comes to check the liquid, signs it off and the appropriate Customs duty is paid by each 'customer'.  Every 'customer' has an official document entitling them to an agreed amount of spirit, and has to take the shortest, approved route to and from their home.  So the paper formalities seem disproportionally strict when viewing such a basic piece of equipment.

On Wednesday 11th we went to the city of Bourges to go sightseeing. There is so much to see in this wonderful city, but we only had time to visit the 12th century St. Etienne Cathedral and Musee du Berry.We have never seen such an old church/cathedral in such good state of repair. Many donors have contributed to the repair and decoration of this cathedral.  The exquisite design of the whole building is outstanding.

Inside there stands an Astronomic Clock designed in 1424 by the clergyman and mathematician Jean Furoiris, said to be the oldest timepiece of its kind in France.  Encased in a wooden turret with a red brocade decor bordered by gold columns, it bears the royal emblems. It has been recently restored. It has the margin of error of only one second per 150 years! All the vital information of the heavens continue to be displayed on its face, including the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon, and the current monthly signs of the zodiac.

The Musee du Berry is a wonderful building housing some beautiful exhibits, including  many good paintings. But I had hoped to see some reference to the Duc du Berry Book of Hours!

We did have a small snowfall, evidence of which can be seen on the white patches settled on the iced canal.

But spring is on its way. I know this because the little pot of snow drops on our back deck are in flower!

OK, its only a small pot, but they are in flower!

January 2015

There is such a lot to celebrate and lighten our dark January days.  First of all, of course, we welcome the New Year, then we look forward to Epiphany 6th January.  In France the tradition is to have Galette des Rois.    Depending on the part of the country, there are two types of Galette des rois: one is made with puff pastry, the other with brioche.  The pastry circle with jam or frangipane is usual in the north, while southern bakers make a brioche roundel with dried fruit.  Each contains a plastic, porcelain or even a gold feve, with the finder having to wear a (paper) crown and becoming 'King' for the day.  This year 100 gold Napoleon coins were hidden in random pastries across the country!

Interestingly, the galette that is presented to the Elysee, however, has no feve, as the president, as leader of the Republic, is not allowed to be called 'King'!

A surprise tea-party for our friends wedding anniversary!

Champagne all round chaps!

Then we ex-pats taking any opportunity to have a social gathering,  celebrate the Scottish poet Robert Burns with a traditional Burns night supper on 25th January.

The stage is set

 If there are any antipodeans in port, we join them to honour Australia Day on 26th January.

We have a private party for our wedding anniversary on 27th January. But friends brought a beautiful azelia plant to brighten our outlook, and also made a sponge cake with 53 candles on top. We didnt need the heating on that evening!  The accompany card explains who also enjoyed the cake.

Which leads us gently on to Candlemas Day (the Christian Festival of Lights) on 2nd February, which marks the midpoint of winter, halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox.  A lovely way to celebrate the increased strength of the life-giving sun as winter gives way to spring.

People used to say Candlemas Day predicted the weather for the rest of the winter.  Proverbs said that a fine bright sunny day meant more winter to come, whereas a cloudy wet stormy day meant the worst of winter was over.   Whatever the weather we shall join with the French and celebrate with pancakes, maybe not eaten their way, lots of butter and sugar, but perhaps with lemon juice and sugar!

Another year nearly ended!

Every where in town is looking very festive, and we are looking forward to Christmas, but also wondering what the new cruising season will hold in store for us!

December was a very busy and socialable month for us in Briare. We began by putting up our Christmas decorations on 6th December to herald the arrival of Saint Nicolaus at the Port de Plaisance.  He was preceeded by Zwarte Piet (Black Peter), a Dutch tradition introduced by our new Dutch port Capitain, Dorothe Maas.  This was timed to co-incide with day-long fun raising events being held at the adjacent Cultural Centre.

Arrival of Saint Nicolaus with Zwarte Piet

That evening we dined out on local fare:

Too much food for us, but Tashi benefitted!

For the rest of the month there were dinner parties, and drinks parties to attend, and new faces to meet.  Time was filled making and baking seasonal things, ginger bread men, mince pies, and finishing many projects for simple gifts to present to friends and family.  The trouble was that as fast as I baked mince pies they got eaten so I had to set to and bake some more!

The second batch!!!

The time just flew by.

We cheered up our view through the dismal month of  December by adding our own colours through our windows:

Baubles and candles.

Beautiful blue hyacinths!

There was even time to go walking to find fallen fruit and make jam, and pick mistletoe:

VERY sweet jam from unidentified fruit!

A quick kiss under the mistletoe!

and for visitors to stay a while and walk:

Lovely sunny day for a walk by the Loire

 We managed a traditional Christmas dinner even with our limited on-board facilities.

What no crackers?

October 2014

After visitors came to join us for a meal out in Le Chapelle Montilinard Tashi was left with a new toy!

November 2014

This month saw us attending a happy family party to celebrate the Golden Wedding anniversary of Geoff and Jill at the Haven Hotel, Sandbanks.

The Cake Cutting!

We managed our own early Christmas family gathering, which due to "The Dreaded Lurgy" didnt turn out quite as expected. However we did all get together for lunch.

The Happy Gang!

Tashi and I found some interesting things growing when walking around Briare!

     These strawberries looked pretty but had no flavour!            





 

These 'funghi' looked downright evil!

Sounds much better than "Meals on Wheels"!

Retracing our steps summer 2014

After we left Moret/St. Mammes we retraced our journey of two years previously and cruised up the Seine, turning off onto the river Yonne, at the junction with the town of Montereau-fault-Yonne.   This city profited from great prosperity in the 13^th century with medieval trade-fairs.  Having a fortified castle and ramparts Montereau was a popular city in the medieval period.  But the 100 Years Wars (1337-1453) – yes I know it doesn’t add up to 100 years, but this is what the guide books says, led to terrible destruction and later centuries brought much political and religious disturbance.  Also the Religious Ware (1562-1598) and La Fronde (1648-1653) were a great hindrance to the development of the town and its region during these centuries.

In 1814, on 14^th February one of the last battles won by Napoleon 1^st took place in Montereau during the “Campagne de France”. And a statue of the Emperor on horseback overlooks the confluence as one enters the Yonne.  Later in history, the 19^th century industrial boom in Montereau saw the exploitation of local materials and the arrival of large tanneries, pottery, the tile industry, brickworks and about all earthenware factories which employed as many as 900 workers under Napoleon III. On the 14^th and 15^th June 1940 the city suffered from terrible bombing which destroyed the city centre and the bridges.

Our next stop was at Pont-sur-Yonne where, on Sundays, they have one the best street markets we have yet seen. This year they also had a Grande Jumble Sale, with stalls displaying the weird and wonderful – not that we were tempted by them!

In June we pulled into the city of Sens.  We always remember where we are for the month of our birthdays as we treat ourselves and find somewhere that looks interesting to go and eat out.  We stayed here a few days to explore the city, visiting the cathedral and its museum, which houses many ecclesiastical treasures.  The museum being formerly the Archbishop’s Palace, is a very grand building suitable for the exquisite painting, tapestries and artefacts it houses.  One of the most notable are garments which belonged to Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor to Henri II of England.  Under threat from his king, he took refuge in Sens.  One of the most stunning garments was a great velvet and gold cloak decorated with fleurs-de-lis, and trimmed with ermine.

We also managed, on another very hot day – 34C -  to walk down to the tropical gardens, where we wandered under the shade of the trees, and cooled down before we left with an ice-cream.  The City Tour is worth walking around to view the many and interesting buildings, and again we braved the heat of the day.

 Sens, Hotel de Ville

Interesting staircase of Jean Cousins, architect                         

In the event we didn’t celebrate my birthday with dinner out in Sens as we were entertained all afternoon long,  by a dance class being held on the quay adjacent to our boat. We thought it was a Latin American dance, but were told it was Kisomb, African.  It involved some extremely sinuous and sexy movements!  So we sat on our deck sipping champagne and enjoyed the show!

 

A very intimate dance!

After an exhausting week of site seeing we decided to move on to the quieter town of  Villeneuve-sur-Yonne. The town was founded by King Louis VII in 1163.  There were 2Km long defensive walls, broad moat and towered walls opened by five monumental gates, two of which survive to this day. One can stroll the now tree lined moat from one town Gate of Sens to the other Gate of Joigny.    Many elegant houses remain, built for the successful merchants of the wine and leather traders.   The town subsequently suffered badly when the vineyards were destroyed by the Phylloxera virus. 

Joigny Porte and Laverie

 And so on to Villeneuve-sur-Yonne

This was the view from our boat early one morning.  We are so lucky, and feel very privileged to have such fantastic, ever changing scenery to greet us each day.

It was here in Villeneuve, on the hottest day we had experience to date – 42.1C -  that we celebrated my birthday, not by dining in the restaurant on the quay side, created by the actress, Leslie Caron, but instead we went to an evening ‘Soiree’ in a  small family run bistro.  This turned out to be a slightly different evening that we had anticipated, but hilarious nevertheless. The Soiree was in fact a Karaoke run by an MC, who interspersed film music with questions about the music played.  Well, even if we had understood what he had asked, we are so out of date with the entertainment world that we wouldn’t have known the answers anyway.  But the other diners appreciated our presence apparently, as they cheered loudly when we attempted one answer. And after dinner, taking our leave before any of the others, they again cheered us and clapped as we left, toasting us with a ‘Vive l’Anglais’.  All very bizarre, but fun and a memorable evening.  So glad we didn’t settle for a conventional meal!

This time we managed to get a mooring in Joigny (prounounced to rhyme with Swannie!), and so we went off exploring. The town grew around the 10th century castle, attributed to Raomard-le-Vieux, count of Sens. A chapel was added, then a monastic institution and further fortifications.  The tourist guide boasts 29 points of interest, including three churches which were all open to wander around.  Joigny is built on an extremely steep hillside, fascinating but tiring on a hot summers day.  So we retreated to the boat to sample some of the local produce!

One of the narrow streets of Joigny!

 The hillsides around the town are covered with vines, producing the grey Cote-Saint-Jacques Burgundy wine, white, red and Cremant Burgundy wines, all of of course have to be sampled.  Other local specialities include Pave Ragobert pastry, Dagmar sweetnesses, and Pain d'Epices bread. By the quay side there is an attractive market hall with green painted metallic structure, over red and white patterned brickwork. Built in 1887, classified as a Baltard-type building and typical of this region.  

Joigny from our back deck.

After the heady treats of the three previous towns we retreated up a small diversion to little hamlet of Cezy, with its population of 1,100.  We had stopped here two years before and sampled its restaurant, tabac, small grocer and boulangerie.  The mooring is just long enough for our 20M barge, and the village is accessed across a little bridge over an island, and through woodlands to the village streets.  This year however much excitement was created by many gendarme being present, and a helicopter landing in the nearby sports field. We never got to hear what was the cause of all this activity.

Our next stop was Laroche St. Cydroine, as short pontoon providing free electricity and water. From here we could, and did, cycle into Migennes for the extensive market. I also managed a visit to Simon Evans at this boat yard, to say "Hello", receiving a welcome reception, despite interrupting their morning coffee break!

We stopped this year at the wood side mooring of La Graviere, just above the lock. From here we witnessed Simon Evans rescuing a boat with engine failure, by towing it away with his tug!  Lucky for them they were so close to the boat yard.  While they waited for Simon to arrive however, and so that they didn't hinder anyone's progress, they had to rise and fall in the lock with each passing boat.

We managed to get a good mooring at Gurgy in the shade, and even good TV reception for Ni to watch the British Grand Prix!  It felt quite emotional arriving at Gurgy, the place where Joli Coeur sank two years ago.

By this time we were convinced that our batteries needed replacing before our winter stop. So we pulled in to Auxerre to organise this.  We were joined here on 13th July by friends, Lissie, John and their cat Patrice, to celebrate Bastille Day as the town were putting on  their firework display that evening.

From here, and on one of the hottest days of the summer, we hired a car to visit Australian friends in St. Jean de Losne. At least we had air conditioning in the car.  We did think of sleeping in the car that night just to keep cool!  Sunday 20th July was the weekend of music all around the city of Auxerre, and various bars hosted different groups every night.  So we enjoyed the free after dinner concerts from our upper deck.

With our new batteries installed, and much appreciated help from Jean Phillipe, we moved down to the mooring by the park to await friends arrival for the weekend.

Auxerre, a quiet mooring by the park!

Towards the end of the month, we were joined by family members who cruised with us from Auxerre to Clamecy.  One ran between locks on some days, helping the eclusiers with gates and us with ropes. The other member showed off his new found skills by 'pancaking' ropes after leaving the locks.

The runner and Tashi cool off in the shade!

Looking cool with pancaked ropes!

Our visitors even managed to include a mornings rock climbing at Merry-sur-Yonne:

The explanation tells how the cliffs have been dated to be 150 million years old with much of  this are of France being underwater then.

It also tells of traces of coral being found in the limestone cliffs.

After all this exertion a well earned trip around the wine caves at Bailly was rewarded with tastings and purchases from the cave.

We arrived in Clamecy with a day to spare before they had to leave, so we took the car up to the hill fort town of Vezelay. This is said to be the height of Christendom, the gathering place of pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land, and a compulsory stop-over on the Saint-Jacques de Compostelle Road.  In fact one did feel a bit like a pilgrim, joining the flow of visitors up the steep hill, through the narrow street to the church at the top.

The Abbaye Saint-Marie-Madeleine de Vezelay was a Benedictine and Cluniac monastery.  Relics, said to be of Mary Magdalene, can be seen inside the Basilica.  The abbey church has very complicated imagery in sculpted capitals and portals, a renouned outstanding masterpiece of Burgundian Romanesque art and architecture. Sacked by the Huguenots in 1569, the building suffered neglect in the 17th and 18th centuries, and some further damage during the period of the French Revolution.

Both the church and hill were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979, and subsequently much sympathetic restoration has taken place.

After our visitors had left we were treated to a uniquely French spectacle in Clamecy, of the Descente Bidon, Les Crapauds de Basseville!  Basically this consisted of home made floats, carnival style, parading before the crowds gathered on the banks and bridges.  The particpants got pretty wet, getting water from all directions, sightseers on the banks and bridges had buckets which they lowered into the canal and doused them liberally.  Then a thunder storm arrived when the actual race began, and as they all had to pass through the lock they were 'sitting targets'!

The Parade!

After leaving Clamecy all the next part of the Canal du Nivernais was new to us, and we enjoyed the many delightful stopping places, too many to pick a favourite.  Although this canal is advertised as having free WiFi we found that at many places there was no signal for that nor phones or TV.  Luckily we had been warned about the scarcity of food shops after leaving Clamecy so we stocked up with long lasting food stuffs. Ni said I looked as I was preparing to go up the Amazon, so it became referred to as our 'Amazon supplies', and jolly grateful for them too we were at times.  

Our journey through the tunnels to reach the summit at Etang du Baye was unnerving.  The tunnels themselves were OK, but the bits in between had nasty sharp sided rocks narrowing our passage through.  

New effective spotlight!

Having experienced difficulties with previous unlit tunnels, Ni fitted a new spot light during the winter ready for just such an occasion.   Note the ladder/gang plank on the left hand side of the cabin roof.  This subsequently disappeared - where to, or who took it and why, we have no idea, but most annoying. Luckily we have another one, as we have needed it several times since Baye.

Other family members joined us at Baye, and it was a good job I had already emailed co-ordinates of our situation, as no further messages could be sent from here, and its a rather out of the way place. Their stay was brief but busy. One afternoon was spent canoeing

Look, no hands!

We dined at the local Chambre d'Hote on the Saturday evening. This was an usual meal in that we all sat around a table like a family, with Madame joining us in between serving the meal. We were a mixture of nationalities, Dutch, Italian, French and English, so the conversation was a bit stilted.

A day out to Guedelon was squeezed in as well, with the cart horses being the favourite!

Chateau of Guedelon

The fortified chateau is being reconstructed in the style of 12th century, using the same materials and techniques as the original. It is planned to be completed by the year 2025. It would be interesting to return then and how its progressed!