June 2015

Well, as the saying goes "Time passes quickly, when you're having fun". How true! Suddenly, on 17th June,  we find ourselves at Villeneuve sur Yonne.

This, after meeting a large commercial peniche on a tight corner of the Canal du Loing after lock 7, and spending a peaceful night moored before the lock at Neronville.

Neronville, no boulongerie, no shops, nothing - only us!

We moved along to spend another night at Epsisy, and then on to St. Mammes, one of our favourite moorings.  Here we met Wendy and David in their boat, King Fisher, who not only know Ni's cousin Martin Sadler, but live just a few hundred yards along the road from friends of ours in Wimborne. Small world!

The post we were hoping to collect at St. Mammes had arrived the same day as we did, and the Capitaine, Laurette, very kindly picked it up from the tourist office in Moret-sur-Loing, for which we were very grateful as it saved us a cycle ride in the heat of a hot 34C afternoon!

On the Saturday morning we were awoken to the sounds of boats being prepared for the Flammbe de Jousters

 The area had organised a local 'Olypic games' of various sports around the region and they were pasaing 'The flame' from one sport/area to another as the games moved on. Here at St. Mammes the red boat was one one side of the Seine and the blue boat the other side. The two boats met in the middle and the flame was passed from one to the other, thus carried on its next destination.

The following day we spent an anxious afternoon as the jousters spent the time swishing back and forth in their boats across the stern of our boat, while challenging their opponents to the 'duel'!. They only knocked into our boat twice, after closely fending off a few more times. Hopefully no paint was lost!!!

From St. Mammes we sped up to Montereau where we managed to renew our SFR dongle and so had again connections to the outside world. Hooray!

When we moored at Pont-sur-Yonne we were delighted to be joined by Hebbes with its crew of Dinny and Simon. As there was no more available mooring space they rafted alongside us and we spent a pleasureable eveing dining and playing Mexican trains.


At Sens we were joined by the boat Silver Steel with its crew of Gordon and Dianne who we remembered meeting in our first year in France at St. Mammes. We passed the evening reminiscing about all our doings over the past few years. Plus, they are from Middleborough so we talked of goings-on in the north east and childhood memories of Tyneside.

We waited in Sens for the much heralded Train de Bois, travelling from Clamecy to Paris in celebration of the 400 year old practice of floating logs to keep Paris warm during the cold winter days. The Flottage was a mere representation of the original flottage which shot down the rapids of the Yonne before the canalisation of the river, which must have been quite a hazardous journey.

Train de Bois leaving Sens, on its way to Paris

I had the most fabulous birthday in celebration of my 70th year, and saved our special dinner out until we could be joined by our friends, Nicky and Tony, in Villeneuve sur Yonne, where we dined at the Auberge La Lucarne aux Chouettes.

Villenueve sur Yonne, one of our favourite places.

I indulged in my favourite French food of all time!

Oeufs en Meurette, though they do vary both with content and quantity!, but basically its poached eggs in a Boeuf Bourguignon sauce with toasted or fried bread.

After dinner we returned to the boat and enjoyed the cake, which Nicky had given me,  consisting of chocolate brownies topped with a candlabra which we enjoyed!

Although there were plenty of free mooring places at Joigny, we stopped at the Locaboat marina for two nights 20/21 June. Much to Nigel's disgust our tv wasn't working, no picture, no sound, and he wanted to watch the Austrain Grand Prix. So after much fiddling with wires, fittings etc, eventually a temporary solution was found which allowed him to watch the actual race on Sunday.

We did the very gentle journey from Joigny to Laroche St. Cydroine and found Nicky and Tony still tied up at Simon Evan's boat yard, although now only 3 boats out, as opposed to their previous 5 boats out!

Archangel, Those flowers are going to take a lot of watering!

Now we're sitting at Laroche St. Cydroine  killing time, whilst doing more maintenance, because we have a new fuel tank being delivered to St. Florentin, and we dont want to stay there too long.

I was woken this morning by faint tip-tapping sounds on the cabin roof. So I got up to investigate, only to find grey wagtails hopping about devouring the many insects which had committed suicide on our roof overnight.  It looks like being another fine day with yards of blue skies, and a bank of summer mist rolling towards us from the lock!

Early morning mist, at Laroche St.Cydrione

Well I never thought I would have a dog of mine wearing any kind of coat, but I now do. Tashi has a dog 'mac' and a 'Cool Coat'. The first keeps the rain off her, as well as dirt splashed up from the road. This is particularly helpful when living on a boat, as its difficult to dry a dog and stop all the mud from being spread around the place, not to mention all the towels when she gets wet. And the Cool Coat helps to keep her cool on hot summer days when we are travelling and she just sits in the sun without the shade of the bimini (bridges are too low to allow us to keep it up).

Tashi's mac "OK you guys, if it's that wet,I dont want to go out!!!

Tashi's Cool Coat "This I will tolerate - under sufferance!"

May 2015

Montargis. We arrived here on 21 May intending to just stay for the weekend, but as Nigel broke the frame of his glasses he went to an opticians to see if they could be mended or replaced. No - mended, yes replaced. Well  a bit like one of Ni's favourite sayings - "why ask a barber if you need a haircut ". The new glasses didnt come in until 30th so we really got to know the town this stop. I took the opportunity to order another supply of contact lenses, and wish I hadnt. They were twice as expensive as the ones from Briare which I bought only just in February.



Now at Montbouy. We have had sunshine and showers, some quite heavy with thunder in the background. We managed to do some routine maintenance and paintwork. The showers produced a fabulous rainbow.

 While we were at Rogny-les-Sept-Ecluses we were lucky enough to have two sets of visitors. Jackie and Peter came first, and was feted with a small 'birthday cake'!

OK, it was a very small one!

 Next came Jill and Geoff.

Pay attention, we'll ask questions later!

Not sure whether it was going to rain or not, we even managed a cruise, and after a chilly morning, the sun came out!

After the saga of the fridge with NO ICEBOX!!!  we now have a separate frezeer, curtesy of delivery of Geoff and Jill. So far we have connected it up, it works, and now we have to stock it.

According to French tradition, since 1561 on 1st May when Charles IX was presented at court with a bouquet of Lily-of-the-Valley flowers, he thought this gesture so charming that he continued to give these as a gesture of affection and friendship. Now these flowers are on sale all over France on this date.  However as we were miles from anywhere on 1st May, and no lilies were growing in the hedgerows,  we made do with cowslips!

We managed to move down to Rogny-les-sept-Ecluses curtesy of the hotel peniche who had requested the locks to be opened. But we could go no further than Chatillon-Coligny and as it has very few mooring spaces large enough for us, we have decided to stay at here until the backlog of trapped boats have passed.

Mooring at Rogny

Its very pleasant here and we have shops, water and electricity, but no TV reception. Oh well, guess we cant have everything.

The ancient locks.

 According to the guides lock 17, Sainte-Barbe, marks the beginning of the seven locks of Rogny. A remarkable feat of engineering, when built during the reign of Henry IV, this ladder has now been replaced six non-contignuous locks, allowing boat to pass one another, which used to be impossible.

So much for April showers.  We've had those and now its 'May downpours'.  We hadn't got very far before the canals were closed due to too much rain and consequent flooding.  I dont know why this should stop the movement of boats. I should have thought a lot of water was a good thing, but what do I know.

We stayed for a few nights at Ouzouer-sur-Trezee, then moved on to one of our favourite places, the lakes at Etang la Gazonne. Unfortunately we've been here for a week now, and cant go any further at the moment. Much as we love it here, the peace and quiet, the variety of wild flowers and birds - cormorants, ducks, herons, swans, tufted grebes, osprey, owls, Canada geese and scores of cuckoos we want to leave!

Etang la Gazonne, on a sunny day!

I've cooked and cleaned, tried out my new sewing machine, groomed Tashi, picked cowslips, and we are now running out of food, and more to the point - booze, so need to move to somewhere which has shops. I cycled the 4.5Km back to Ouzouer once to stock up, and may have to do so again if necessary.

Nigel says all this rain is because I started on the outside paintwork. I treated rust spots on the cabin roof, covering them with Hammerite, but didnt get chance to repaint before The Floods arrived.  So now we look like we have 'boat measles'.

April 2015

Finally we leave Briare on 24th April, and wave to the farewell party standing on the side of the first lock   out of the port. 

A hearty wave from Door, the Capitaine

A calm day to travel.

We nearly had another crew member on board, as Sammy the dog tried to come with us!

Our last evening meal in Briare, on a beautiful sunny evening!

Well on 22nd April we are still in Briare. Events have overtaken us. Friends  due to vist us from 17-22 were struck down by the dreaded 'lurgy' of food poisoning. Another few days were spent making a quick dash to the Uk to visit my cousin in Newcastle who has just been given the ghastly news that the cancer in various parts of his body is untreatable. It seemed the best time to visit while we have a direct rail line from Briare to Paris, and direct flights straight to Newcastle. What should have been an easy trip to organise was disrupted by having no WiFi signal to do online bookings, and then confounded further by Air France crew going on strike on the preferred day of my flight, followed by a complete French traffic  strike the following day. So I elected to travel on the Tuesday directely after Easter Sunday. Weirdly I was accompanied on the plane by many small girls dressed in various Disney character outfits. All presumably returning from Euro Disney. My return flight was equally bizarre as there were on board many hearty men coming to France to run the Paris marathon!

The weather in the Uk was kind to me and I was able to walk along the beach at Seaton Sluice with my cousins wife, Sheila.  We took their dog along with their son's dog.

I was treated to a really unexpected and entertaining evening listening to young Lance singing his Country and Western songs at a local club. He has a wonderful voice, being able to sing both higher and lower notes. and sings under the stage name of Trey Jackson, advertising aptly as from "Newcastle to Nashville". I'm sure he has a bright future ahead.

We had a farewell dinner at the restaurant Petit St. Trop with Nicki and Tony, just before they set off. We are sad to see them head off in the opposite direction to us. Who knows when we will see them again. This is the down side of travelling, meeting such lovely people, but having to say "Goodbye" to them.

I braved the hairdressers again to have a 'spring chop'. This time I went to the same salon that ni visited last time. She (the lady proprietess) made such a good job of Ni's hair that I felt I would be in safe hands.  Although I told her I only spoke a little French, she chatted away merrily to me regardless, and with such good humour that it was a very pleasant experience. It transpired that a friend of hers is a jockey in England, having spent 5 years racing there. Such is the variety of people we meet. After a phone call he came into the salon to say "Hello" to me.

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"!