Tucking Armida In

Strasbourg.

Armida will not be travelling any more this year.  Today I will change the oil, winterize the engine and drain all the water systems.  Next week they will haul her out of the water and put her inside a shed until we return in April.  We have been cleaning and packing the last couple of days and last night we moved out into a hotel.  We were trying to remember the last time we had unlimited internet and hot showers we could leave running and are enjoying those small luxuries.  Now as for French TV…..

After we are done with Armida we will spend a couple of days exploring Strasbourg and then take the dogs on the TGV to show them the sights of Paris.

Late Season Travelling

We usually rented boats in the late season to avoid the crowds but this is our first experience with Armida and it is later in the season than we have done before, and we are further north so, you guessed it, it’s colder.  As I write this at 9am the sun has just hit the boat and is almost up to 0C (32F) outside after a minimum of –4C overnight.  It was still that at 8am. Armida has good insulation in the hull and the roof but the windows are not double glazed, nor are the walls around them insulated. With us inside generating moisture this means there is substantial condensation, so our morning task is drying down the windows and walls.  Today is a little hard as some of them are covered in ice, even though we had shore power and ran an electric heater all night and the inside temp stayed above 7.  We were cosy, cuddled together under our warm duvet, dogs on top under another blanket.  Any budding plans of wintering aboard Armida were put to rest – these cruisers are definitely 3 season boats.

Late in the season means less rental boats but this canal is a popular one and it is School Holidays in France so they are still about and will slow us down a little on our trip to Strasbourg.

Later that day – Today we went through 2 tunnels, the boatlift again, 21 locks and covered 33km so it was a long day.  The warmest if got was 7C and that was in the tunnel!  Still we are well on our way to Strasbourg and hope to the be there on Sunday, when the weather will add some rain.

The easy way out

After musing over all the work we need to do to prepare Armida for winter here in Nancy where they can expect up to 8 inches of ice and who knows what other type of weather we are taking the easier path by heading to Strasbourg where they will lift her out of the water and keep her inside for the winter - and I will sleep a lot better for the next 5 months.

It is a bit of a shame as we were looking forward to two weeks of getting to know Nancy better, a town we really like so far, and also the other boaters in the port who have been very friendly, helpful and interesting.  Never mind, we will be back this way in the spring.

So tomorrow we set off down the Canal de la Marne au Rhine yet again, down a path we have already done twice.  This will not be a fun trip this time as the weather is cold and the best day in the forecast has a top of 11C (51F) with some showers mixed in.  We can stay warm by steering from inside but we have to go out for the locks every 15 minutes or so in some stretches.  With luck we will be in Strasbourg in 6 days

The Blog is back

We haven’t sailed off the edge of the world we have just been slack. After about a week in Nancy organizing things for leaving Armida for the winter and preparing for guests, the Udpegroves arrived.  They were our first guests on the boat and we didn’t know how well it would work.  Before they arrived had to clear out all the stuff from the V-Berth (the front cabin) that we had been using as a pantry and general storage room, and find other places to put that stuff – we did.

As it turned out it was fine and Craig and Susan where considerate guests and we all got along well – and the weather cooperated which can make a huge difference, so we could manage aperitifs and sunset on the back deck almost every night. We cruised out of Nancy on the Canal du Marne au Rhine.  This is a relatively recent canal and does not follow a large river. It passed through some industrial areas on the way out of Nancy and quickly became very rural and quiet, sometimes a little too rural.  The villages where very small and most did not even have a bakery, which disqualifies them from being a real village in France.  Fortunately we had supplies. 

After Lagarde we hit the main cruising area which is well served by rental boats and the first such area we have encountered this trip so we got to make fun of the novices and their antics, and remember our first cruises when we were like that.  Fortunately we did not have to share the locks with other boats very often.  This canal was  interesting for it’s technical features: there is one lock that is 15m (50’) high in one lift, two long tunnels (one 2.7km) and the famous Arzeviller boat lift where you sail into a trough that then slides 45m down the mountain side – it was very impressive. Craig has some good video

The canal then goes through a beautiful stretch of forested valley out of the Vosges mountains and into Saverne where we moored right opposite the Chateau de Rohan.  This put us in Alsace which is the most German of the French provinces, having been fought over by both countries for hundreds of years and only reverting to France after WWI.  And it looks very German with half timbered houses and bright colour.  Unfortunately the food starts getting very German too with lots of meats and sausages.

On the Updegroves last day we rented a car and drove down part of the “Route de Vins” to Colmar where we said goodbye.  The county was beautiful with Vineyards seemingly everywhere and absolutely gorgeous villages and huge ruined castles on the hilltops.

It was fun being in a car after two and a half months and seeing things you cant get to by boat but it also felt like we had left our little water world for the other bigger, faster world where there is traffic, big box stores and lots more people.

Now it is nice being back on Armida retracing our steps to Nancy.

We had our first “dog overboard” incident when Rosie stepped backwards off the dock trying to get on the ladder.  Fortunately is was a low floating dock and Terry was there to fish her out. But as we had no hot water they both had a very cold shower to clean off the canal water. 

The weather is still lovely but getting colder fast and with rain predicted for Friday evening and below freezing temperature by Sunday night.  The forecasts here are not reliable but it is feeling like it is time to start tucking Armida in for the winter and preparing to head home to head home to California.  We should be back in Nancy in a few days to start doing that.  So now the blog is back but it won’t be for much longer as we head home on November 3rd.

Some boring (for some) technical stuff

Now that we have left the Meuse/Maas river it is interesting to look back on how far we have come and what has changed.  According to our GPS we have travelled over 522 km since leaving Roermond in August.  I don’t know how many locks that has been but I think we climbed over 650 feet before we left the Meuse and came downhill into the Moselle valley.  Coming into Toul we went through 11 locks in 2 hours. In contrast,  our first trip in May from Sloten to Roermond was about 550km and we probably went through 5 locks in total for a net gain of maybe 50 feet.

The locks have been in all shapes and sizes, from the giant ones on the Meuse that were 14 x 146m to the “Freycinet” standard in France of 38.5 x 5m and level changes from 6 inches to 50 feet in one lock.  The big ones, while daunting being in there with the very big boats, are are often the smoothest as the little boats (us) are in the back and don’t get the wash.  The smaller French locks can be the roughest as the water can come in quite quickly and move the boat around a bit.  Then there are the bollards.  Having a firm place to tie to is important and when going up it is not always easy to obtain.  Sometimes there are bollards set into the walls of the deeper locks and in some of the big ones bollards that float up with you.  In others the lock keeper will drop a hook over the side and take your ropes up -  better make sure they are long enough - while many involve scrambling up a ladder, rope in hand to drop around a bollard up high.  Most of the time the it has been possible to loop them on from the boat.  The trouble is that just when you think you have it figured out and you think you know where the bollards will be they change it on you – got to keep on your toes.  Going down is a lot easier than going up as you just motor in and drop your ropes over the bollards but … you have to make sure the ropes are long enough and they don’t get caught, otherwise you have have your boat hanging on its side in the lock as the water goes down and it doesn’t.

Armida’s engine is cooled from river water that comes in under the hull through a filter and a heat exchanger that takes the heat out of the closed cooling system that goes through the engine.  The water from the heat exchanger then get’s mixed with the exhaust gases and goes out through the pipe in an arrangement called a “wet exhaust”.  This helps keep the fumes down and means that you can tell if the cooling system in clear by looking over the stern at the exhaust.  In Holland I would check the water filter once a week when I checked the oil and coolant and would occasionally find a small stick or a leaf.  Since entering France with the smaller canals and locks there is a lot more debris and I have been removing the equivalent of a  nice house plant every day.  One more thing to do.

There goes the sun.

From Saint Mihiel the weather stayed warm and sunny and the cruising was lovely and relaxed and we said to ourselves, “Does it get any better than this”?   And the answer was no!   We stayed at the surprisingly nice town of Commercy, an overnight in a small village and then left the Meuse valley via an 800m tunnel and dropped 50m through 12 locks into Toul.  This was surprisingly relaxed and our first downhill since leaving Holland.  Toul was a pleasant enough, fully fortified town with a nice mooring but after one night we were ready to move on to Nancy so I walked over to let the lock keeper know we were leaving the harbour.  Mais Monsieur c’est une grieve.  Another general strike and the two big locks on the Moselle were closed.  Oh well, the weather was still nice and we spent another day in Toul.

That night the clouds came in and we were treated to a thunder storm and the next day was cold and rainy.  We left anyway and spent the day on the Moselle and then into the Canal de la Marne au Rhine to Nancy and doing locks in the rain.  With the bimmini on the back it wasn’t too bad but one of us did get pretty wet. 

Since then it has been cold and grey but the rain is easing.  We  are hoping that this is not the end of the autumn and that we will see some more sun.  Nancy is a lovely town with a pleasant harbour and we will write more about it soon.  We will either leave the boat here for the winter or in a little town called Lagarde a couple of days away that we will check out soon.

Here comes the sun

After weeks of cold and grey we have been blessed with four days of glorious Indian Summer. I’ve got washing on the line, Rob needed the dry weather to get some work done on the teak deck, even the dogs are happy not to have to walk in wet grass.

We’ve just spent two nights moored in a little town called St. Mihiel. They call themselves “The City of Flowers” and we saw some beautiful gardens scattered throughout, flowers line both sides of the bridge over the river and the outlook off our boat was stunning along the path in both directions.

This weekend they held the regional Petanque finals, similar to the Italians Bocci Ball but with metal balls, just next to the Town Hall. We visited the Benedictine museum with its collection of religious art. Next door, behind glass, we were able to look into the very long room that has France’s best collection of old books, collected by the monks over the centuries. For me the most impressive part of the library was the ornate Rococo ceiling depicting lush scenes from garden to jungle. Later that evening we attended a concert at a 16^th Century church performed by the students of the local school of music. The “students” ranged from 12 – 70 years of age. All have been playing less than two years. They tackled six pieces some better than others. A Tchaikovsky number was actually quite good and the audience gave them a well deserved long applause. Some of the other pieces didn’t sound any better than Skye’s middle school band. The second half was a quartet of the better players. It was fun.

A Danish couple that we met at a mooring a few days back also attended. They are in their 70’s and have been on the canals for 13 years. In winter they have a small apartment in Malaga, Spain. Spring and autumn on their boat, July, August in Demark where they have two married children and one grandchild. They tell us it’s too hot and crowded on the canals in the summer. They are the first to say that, but I think it might be true.

As Rob mentioned there was horrific fighting, particularly during WWI, in the valley of the Muse River. In the 1920 there where whole towns to repair and build. Few have the former charm of the lost 17^th and 18^th architecture. But in this town, one or more architects had a say as to what style should be used and they chose Art Noveau. The structures run from grand homes to small businesses that are just so lovely I wanted them all. Sadly many of them are now vacant going to ruin. The pigeons are moving in.

Just as the state of Michigan has such high employment that people have walked away from homes, so it is here. And by the looks of it, it started here many years ago.

Real estate is not very expensive here. You can buy an apartment for 35K Eros, a three bedroom house for 160K and for 495K you can buy a beautiful three story 14 fireplace home on an acre river front. We walked past the house. Manicured garden with large old trees, a pond and the house itself so pretty and in nice condition. It’s sad that no one will probably buy it.

Still on the Meuse – but not for long

Today we realized that it has been a week since our last post and this isn’t because there’s been nothing to report – quite the opposite, we are having a lovely time.  But with no free Wi-Fi we are using the “stick” for email only and not spending much time on the computer.  Since the last post we have had a quiet rural night in secluded mooring, spent 3 days in Verdun, and two days in this nice little town of St. Mihiel.  And you can’t spend any time here without being educated on the WWI as this is where is all happened.

Verdun was a nice city of 21,000 people with moorings (free) right in the middle of town and some very nice buildings.  We had the best meal so far in a little restaurant near the quay, thank you again Trip Advisor.

 

The next day we bought tickets for the “hop on hop off” bus tour to the battlegrounds.  My impressions of the WWI battlegrounds were of pitched battles on flat fields, but the land around Verdun is hilly, wooded and very pretty. The first stop was an excellent museum that lead you through the war and the particular battle of Verdun that lasted 300 days and took ½ million lives. We had 50 minutes before the next bus so we followed the signs to the village of Fleury  which was the most moving of all the monuments.  Imagine one of the prettiest forested landscapes you have seen, with the light sifting through the trees on a gentle slope and lush ground cover with occaisional flowers.  Then you notice that the ground is not really smooth but is many hillocks and hollows and in some of the hollows there is the odd brick or concrete rubble.  In amongst the forest along side of the path are small concrete posts with a plaque on top -  Boulanger,  Farm, Boucherie and, near a small monument, Hotel de Ville, other than that there is nothing there.   The forest is all that remains of the village that was unfortunate to be in a key strategic position and changed hands about 16 times during the battle, by the end of which it was completely destroyed.  There are 12 others like it in the area.  The land was so devastated after the war with so much explosive buried (over 60 million shells fired) that it was all turned over to the forestry department. Now it is a tranquil beautiful landscape covering reminders of unspeakable horrors.

The day continued with more formal and dramatic monuments.

The next stretch of the river is still uses manual locks so we had to call the day before and tell them when we were leaving so there were people on hand.  I think I told them the right thing as it worked OK.
We got our own personal lock keeper who travelled with us through several locks and then passed us off to the next guy. Our last keeper gave Terry a pink rose and a “madeleine” cake. As we did 10 locks between Verdun and St. Mihiel this was helpful.  Our first lock keeper was very helpful and even delivered us apples from his tree after Terry admired them, not knowing they were his.

St. Mihiel was the one town on the Meuse held by the Germans throughout most of the war until liberated by US and French troops.

Today the weather was perfect and there were lots of activities in town including the Petanque championship, and a concert by the music school in the local church.

In a couple of days we will leave the valley of the Meuse for that of the Moselle.  We first encountered the river as the Maas at Heusden in Holland back in June.  Since returning we have been on it,and it’s canals, continuously climbing over 600 feet. It is a lovely river and we have learned about it’s historical importance from before the Roman times.  It will be like saying goodbye to an old friend.

 

Mouzon

Toinight we are moored in the little village of Mouzon that doesn’t even rate a Wikipedia entry.  We are the only boat here – for that matter we haven’t seen another boat all day – not that we are complaining.
I got a mobile internet subscription in Charleville that came with the first two days free – after that it’s expensive so be prepared for some terse posts – so we have been indulging, to the point of chatting with Skye in Sydney while motoring along the canal.  Gotta love technology.
Last night we were going to stay in Sedan, which has the largest fortified site in Europe but when we pulled into the marina (which was empty) they were setting up the music stage opposite, and the loudspeaker was blaring behind us – we left.  We found a mooring off  the main river at a hotel.  Very private and peaceful and we walked up the gangplank for dinner – lovely.
Today the weather was fine in the morning and the river is beginning to peter out so there is more canal, but rural canal, up higher with lovely views and very peaceful, just as we had hoped for in the beginning.
I figure the average is about 1 great day of weather in 10 and our quota was up so it got black and cool so we decided to stop here in Mouzon.  It rained some but then cleared for the evening.  This town has a lovely Gothic Church, nothing spectacular just excellent proportions and beautiful stones, some nice houses and a patisserie that is open on Sunday, now THAT, and the four fruit tart we bought is worth something.
Terry has started the “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and we have all three so I may not hear from her until Christmas.
General plans are to head south through Verdun to Toul and Nancy,  and then maybe to Strasbourg and back to Nancy where we hope to leave Armida for the winter..

Frizzy Hair

There is no doubt about it, summer is long gone. Weather is humid, intermittent rain, with an occasional gift of sun and mild temperatures.  Today I bought wool gloves without fingers so I can still do needlework and a new warm sweater for under my jacket. Bring on the cold.  We heard from PJ who had wonderful weather in Austria and Slovenia at the same time we were getting rained upon with chilly winds. 

We arrived in France over a week ago.  Until now we have traveled through small provincial villages that seem to be stuck in time and offers unassuming charms.  We just spent our fourth night in Charleville, a once grand city with a huge square surrounded by buildings of identical architecture from the 17th century.  We’ve been to three museums that offer information in French only.  We decided that their Regional History Museums (Musee de l’Ardennes) is one of the best we’d been to.  The content was interesting enough but the transformation of a 400 year old sandstone tannery into a modern museum was awesome.  The exterior was absolutely unchanged.  It was a three sided building surrounding an inner courtyard you enter through large gates.  The handsome three story structure with a high roof full of gables was untouched.  Once you entered you see that the outer walls remain the exposed lovely warm golden stone, yet parts of the interior feel as if you are in an Escher drawing with levels leading you in one direction on through displays.  All the interior beams remain intact, yet the rest is modern in a tasteful and pleasing way.  We began with the prehistoric bones of a Wooly Mammoth and ended up in the gables stepping into two rooms that made us feel like we’d just stepped into the home on a family living in the 18th century.  No book about the work was available at the gift shop.

Once we entered Belgium our culinary experience went from disappointing to yum.  After rarely eating bread, butter or cream, we eat it everyday with different pates, cheeses and fresh fruit.  Even though we are on a budget and spend about 5 Euros on wine we’re happy.  I’ve made myself sick with all this AND the pastries.  In the beginning we had croissants with our morning coffee,  Then we switched to pain au chocolate.  Then in this town we discovered the almond, chocolate croissant.  For dessert we have fresh plum, cherry or apricot tarts.

Although we’ve lunched a couple times at cafes (Noodle and Rosie too) last night was our first night out to dinner.  A couple of Englishmen who run a hotel barge, with two couples from Ohio abroad, gave us a recommendation when asked.  In the afternoon we walked over to look at it and saw that it was a Michelin listed establishment with prices to match.  When we returned to the boat later we thanked them, but said it was out of our budget.  In that case they sent us, not where they send their clients, but where they like to go. “ The Slanted Pig” a hidden bistro that was nearly full.  We did not order off the menu, but made our selection from the items offered on the 19 Euros prefix three course meal.  Nice starter, tender lamb stew with Moroccan spices and dessert.  Loved it.

I’ve finished two little needlework projects and will now begin a a more difficult miniature kit that was designed by neighbor, Marny.  I love the release and relaxation these afford me.  Rob and I have both read many books and look for English speaking material everywhere we go.  I bought Rob a quarterly magazine published by his beloved Economist.  It’s kind of like a cross between the weekly and People.  I’m loving it myself.  Please set a side any good books that you know you will never see again for us to take next year on our trip.  Listening to music and reading is how we spend most evenings.    

A typical Rob story that more than anyone our girls will enjoy:

Rob says to me that he’s going to take apart the electric toilet to see if he can make it quieter.  I say that he really doesn’t know anything about it.  He barks back that I have no faith is his abilities and how can he learn about the boat if he doesn’t do these things.  A typical Rob and Terry exchange.  I’m happy to say that It’s now twice as noisy.  And I love him more for being himself. 

Rosie and Noodle went to the groomers today for a bath and trim.  She did a nice job, made it personal for the dogs, they had full run of the little shop with treats, water and a free French lesson.  In at 2:30 and out at 5PM. 

The dogs have adjusted amazingly to being on a boat and the constant changes.  One would think they preferred it to being home the way they get excited with each new outing.  They’re fine with staying on the boat while we do no dog type things, they are well behaved on the street amongst people and show good manners when passing other dogs of which there are many.  Except for a very large German Sheppard that has been walked in the park just outside our boat these last few evenings where they go crackers when they see him.  It’s great having them with us.

We have zero news from friends and would love to  hear from you. What’s happening there and with you? 

Our best to Jeanne who is convalescing from surgery this week and Stephen who will be at her call.  Hope all goes well. 

Toodles, Terry

Taking it Slow

We are spending a couple of days here is Charleville-Meziers as the dogs have a grooming appointment tomorrow –  they have to look their best for the French dogs.  It is a very pleasant town with the prettiest town square we have seen yet.
Taking advantage of the Wi-Fi to get some pictures posted.
There are some of Belgium here and some of France here  (now with the right link)

Connected again.

Charleville-Meziers  7 September

Apparently there’s a general strike in France today but the locks were working and so is the Wi-Fi at last.  So there are two more posts below to check out.

Lost on the Meuse – 6 September

It feels now like we are in another place.  There does not seem to be Wi-Fi to be had in this part of France so we don’t know what is going on in the world – nor do we care for that matter.   We have had a few days of lovely weather and our best mooring, so far, in the little town of Revin.  On a secluded backwater of the river with lovely flowers and grass and quiet – yet 2 minutes walk to the supermarket.  It is popular with the season’s cruisers returning home – mainly Dutch and Belgian – and very friendly and helpful.  Even a washing machine.  What more could we want?

It seems that diesel fuel on the river is very rare in France and when you can get it, quite expensive, so today I invested in two 20L jerry cans and trekked back and forward to the supermarket gas station with by little hand trolley four times.  Here you fill up and the drive to the little kiosk to pay – it was weird to be standing in line with my trolley in a line of cars, and then I had to crouch down to see the cashiers hand to pay.  We didn’t need the fuel now as we have a good sized tank but you never know when it will be as easy to get or a reasonable price.

The Meuse now is beautiful – steep wooded hillsides right down to the river which wends it’s way around hairpin bends.  We motor along at a stately 8.5 kph and just soak it all in.  A couple of days of this and then we get to the twin cities of Charleville-Meziers and maybe even internet.  The other cruisers have given us good tips on where we might leave the boat for the winter but we now need to get a full list of “chomages” (canal closures) to figure out where we can actually get to.  Seems that this time of year they like to close some of the canals to do maintenance for up to 3 weeks at a time so it helps a lot to know where they are – and sometimes they just have lock failures that can have an unknown effect. Two leading contenders are Nancy if we keep going straight up the Meuse or Sillery) near Reims if we turn right.  It is good to find a harbour that is isolated from the rivers by a lock in case of floods.

This morning was beautiful and we had our first lunch out, but while we were there the sky clouded over and now it has turned grey and windy, which is a shame because we are now in a lovely secluded mooring with free water and electricity and it would be so much prettier if the sun where out.  Oh well, it was great while it lasted.

In France

3 September 2010

Today was our first day in France  Well, technically we arrived yesterday but our mooring in Givet was mediocre and we were tired and had spaghetti for dinner, so we are counting from today.

So today we:  went to the town market, did grocery shopping, put all Armida’s covers down, went through our first tunnel (500m long – we probably didn’t need to take everything down but better safe than sorry), used the remote control they gave us to operate the locks, had the river virtually to ourselves, had good weather, had even better scenery, moored at the cute little town of Fumay, had bubbly and Paté on the back deck to celebrate being in France, watched the local band parade through town and listened to them play the Marseilles'  – and that’s it pretty much.  Can’t complain. 

Happy Birthday Tess.

Oh yes, had no Internet - seems to be the way in France so this may not get posted for a while – these towns are too small for even a McDonalds.  So if you need to contact us quickly you can call, or better, text our French mobile at +33 630 818 417.

Dinant

Dinant from our mooring – enough said.

It’s much nicer in Namur

Today the weather was much more promising as we motored up the Meuse without incident to Namur.  Not yet hot but very pleasant.  This town,  in the centre of Wallonia is overlooked by a huge citadel and we are fortunate to have a mooring next to the old town below. Frites with mayonnaise (definitely better in Belgium) on the back deck looking out on the Meuse and we can’t complain.

Dogs and Showers

Not the done thing in Belgium.

Leaving Liege, Ahoy to Huy

Actually, Huy is pronounced Oui so it should be say Oui to Huy as that is where we are today, after a short trip and two more locks from Liege.

 

The weather is awful, like winter in California: about 58F, low grey cloud, occasional showers and wind.  I hate the wind when we are motoring.  Fortunately the locks were sheltered and we didn’t have much trouble.  The sun is trying to stay out this afternoon so maybe tomorrow will be better.

As the hills close in on the Meuse river the steel mills and power stations are getting squeezed out and it is getting greener and feeling a little more rural.  After the main canal leaves the river at Namur tomorrow the river will take over and we will wind our way into the Ardennes forest.

Terry was happy to leave Liege as it was a grubby dirty city after Holland and dominated by, what someone described best as “brutalist”architecture from the 60’s and 70s’.  I actually quite liked it because it is the first French city we have been to with all that entails, it is set in amongst hills and it can still surprise with cozy hidden squares, exquisite buildings where you don’t expect them and quaint little shops.  It could certainly do with some sprucing up though – it is a little like Pittsburgh before they transformed it.

Because the province of Limburg in Holland reaches so far down into Belgium we have bypassed the Flemish (more Dutch) part of the country and come straight into the home of the Walloons, the French part of Belgium.  This means we can now indulge ourselves with good cheeses, pate, wine and fresh bread every hour – and we have.

Now if only the weather would improve.

It’s gloomy in Belgium

Friday morning.  In about five minutes we leave for the lock that takes us into Belgium. Noodle and Rosie are truly at home on the boat and are now taking their morning siesta on the large apple green doggie bed under the steps. That is a good sign.  They no longer feel any anxiety or follow our every step. This is home.

Last night we left them alone for the first time while we went out to dinner. Trip Advisor rated a nearby Thai restaurant number one  over an expensive two star Michelin.  Finally an excellent meal! The food was amazingly good and we ordered additional dishes for lunch and dinner today. I kid you not, it was the best Thai food we’ve had outside Thailand.  Only 56 Euros for wine, beer and generous helpings for two days!  Small things make us happy.

We’ve loved Maastricht  anyway.  It’s our second visit and a total of six days.  I call it little Paris.  Being within eight miles of both the German and Belgian borders it has a real European flavor different to the other cities in The Netherlands.  It’s known for its arts, music, history (oldest city in the country), fine food and little specialty $$$ shops of clothing, hats, shoes, pastries, cheeses and a  world famous chocolate maker who has served both The Regans and The Clintons while in office.  They proudly display photos of their visits in the window.  

We’re rather sad to leave after more than three months in The Netherlands. It’s been such a positive experience being new boat owners. Any questions, supplies or services have been done or answered by experts and in perfect English. France may have all the charm, good food and wine, but efficiency is not one of their attributes.  OH, we are off…….

Liege, Belgium – Later that evening.

With English speakers behind us we approached the border.  Rob contacted the authorities on our radio and replied in what sounded to me, fine French.  I asked him what he said.  He said, “I don’t know but they seemed to understand me.”  He’s cute.  They instructed us to tie up and report to the office with the boat paperwork.  Rob walked across the bridge, up three long flights of stairs to the top of the huge locks.  We got our permit for boating in Belgium, no charge.  We were in high spirits and Rob replaced the Dutch flag on the mast with the Belgian flag.  Then the six story high doors opened and we see that we are at the bottom of a lock that seemed at least 100 feet deep. We were in the narrow lock for “pleasure boats”, not big barges, and felt that we were in a deep crevasse with the high stone walls that were covered in thick muddy slime.  Very spooky.  By the time we’d risen to the top we’d had to move the ropes six times to the dirty bollards embedded in the walls, collected slime all over the boat, the bumpers, ropes and our clothes.  It was the lock from Hell – here’s what my lovely leather boat gloves look like afterwards.

Once out and on our way, we were hit by a huge storm with black skies, heavy rain and wind.   An hour an a half later we were finally safely moored in Liege.  We took a deep breath, cleaned the boat, stripped off our clothes, showered and ate our nice Thai lunch.

All is well again although with the storm came a cold change.  We have to dig under the V-birth for our winter clothing again.  At least for the next two days they forecast temperatures around 60F and rain.  Great.  At least we have power and can run the electric heater and stay nice and cozy. Let’s hope we haven’t missed the summer.

The Holidays are Over

Fortunately our holidays aren’t over, but the Dutch ones are.  This means that the waterways are back to “normal” and moorings are easy to find.  It helps that the weather is not that great either.  We have had thunder and lightning, heavy rain and strong winds,  as well as just some sun and grey skies.  Not to cold but not hot either. Yesterday we finally left Roermond, it was beginning to feel like home – the birds were starting to get names. 

This family was a regular visitor and yes, they are black swans.  Apparently one pair showed up about 5 years ago (someone brought them from Australia) and now there are about 50 pairs in the Roermond area. 

Our trip to Maastricht was somewhat dull, along the Julianakanal that bypasses the Maas and is full of big barges and includes two large locks.  It was very windy which always makes me nervous but we had no mishaps. We chose to stay in the marina in town instead of the free moorings between the bridges as it’s easier for the dogs and nice for us looking out at the cafes and old warehouses. Terry just got back from shopping saying it is like a little Paris, and it is…. and a lot easier to get around.

  The Driessens drove down from Roermond and we had a fun dinner together at an eclectic placed call Cafe Sjieke, all types of people and good food too. More strong wind forecast for tomorrow so we may head off Friday for Liege.

Still in Roermond

We have been enjoying settling in to the boat and getting the dogs adjusted, so we're still here.  Yesterday we motored down to Maasbracht to get fuel where we confirmed that the fuel guage is not accurate and we really didn't get here on 1/8 of a tank, unless the tank holds 8x465L - I don't think so.  The weather is beautiful, which means that the waterways are looney-tunes so we will wait until Monday to leave for Maastrich.  In the mean time we will enjoy sitting on our back deck in the shade of our new bimini and watching everyone else avoid each other on the water.

Back (Home?) again

We are back aboard Armida and it feels good now we have got to sleeping and waking up again at the right time. While we were gone Armida got a new look:

We now have a new bright blue bimini for the back deck to protect us from the hot sun.  It also means we can take down the white canopy in the warm weather and motor along “al fresco”.  It is on rails so it can slide forward to cover the steering position.  Along with the new small outdoor sofa we bought, the back deck now feels like an outdoor room.  It is especially good for our new crewmembers:

Rosie and Noodle are not yet sure what this boating life is all about and still give us that “are we going home yet” look but they are getting fed and walked so they will get used to it all pretty quick.
The Dreissens, who own the boatyard and marina where we have been staying very generously took us out to dinner to the best meal we have had in Holland, at a local Italian restaurant (Il Forno) with no menu!  You tell them how many courses you want, what you like and don't like and they do the rest – wonderful.  The owner came and sat with us afterwards and gave me the coolest bottle of wine ever.  The company was great too – a wonderful evening.
We are enjoying getting the boat reorganized and are not in a hurry to leave Roermond.  This is partly because the weather has been grey and raining and also because one of the big locks on the Maas/Meuse River in Belgium is closed until the 24th so we couldn’t get through any faster.  So we will probably leave in a couple of days and stop in Maastricht (again) and then on to Liege in Belgium.

Coming Back

We'll be back on board ARMIDA in Roemond on August 12th and then we will head south.  We can't wait.

Photos for Now

As we leave for home we have posted a few more select photos here:

We'll be back in mid-August with the doggies.

Roermond - packing again

It's been a while since we have had free fast internet and, unless we sit outside MacDonalds here in Roermond we have to use the expensive "stick". More more photos may have to wait until we get home. This is the end of the trail this time around as we fly back home in a week for the big family event we have coming up on July 17^th: Tess and Tony's wedding.

While in the charming city of Maastricht we caught up with an acquaintance from over 30 years ago, Marco who was a witness at our wedding in Ottawa. He is married 25 years to an American, Jill. Even though she is retiring Friday after 32 years with NATO, and they are dealing with sending a car and furniture to their condo in Naples, FL and the rest to Amsterdam once they find a three bedroom place with their 22 year old son who is finishing his Masters, they still found time to show us a very special Sunday. It started with an amazing brunch in the historic city of Aachen, Germany. You'll have to see the photos to believe the beautiful fresh food choices. Afterwards we walked around. The city was badly damaged in WWII and the older buildings have pieces missing from the stone façades. The Cathedral has four wings from different centuries, the oldest being the 800's. Those of you lucky enough to catch another of Rob's famous slide shows will see photos of the interior to see why we thought it to be so special.

All this was followed with a lovely drive through the beautiful hilly lush green countryside to see a place that moved me more than I ever thought it would, The American Cemetery. We saw thousands of marble crosses or Stars of David standing at each grave which held an American citizen killed in many battles fought in the surrounding region in WWII. May 5^th is Memorial Day here. We were in Sloten that day. Almost every home had a flag flying and there were services held at the churches, cemeteries and town squares, and 2 minutes silence at 8pm throughout the country. It's an event that is honored and not just treated as a day off work. At the American Cemetery on May 5^th there is also a memorial service and a Dutch school child stands at each grave to lay flowers. War continues to be such a waist of human lives. Will it never end?

We've had good times, good baked goods, exciting boating experiences and I am so glad to be here in The Netherlands. Currently we are on the back deck eating nuts, grapes, drinking wine, watching the boats go by, the hot air balloons above (which are so popular here) and waiting for the sun to set so we can go to bed. Yesterday was the longest day of the year. It starts getting light here at 4:10AM and finally gets dark about 11PM.

Maastricht

We are moored in the middle of the river here in Maastricht looking out our windows at the old city. The weather has turned grey and cool again, which is OK as we will be here for the weekend doing city stuff and catching up with our long lost Dutch friend Marco.
The recent travelling has been mainly on commercial canals which are interesting in their own way but not very picturesque. It is amazing how much gets moved around on the waterways in this country, although it seems that most of it is sand, rocks and dirt for construction, or demolished structures on their way to be converted back to sand, rocks and dirt. The barges are huge and often loaded down to the gunwales, or even over. Mostly they seem to be operated by Husband and Wife teams with their car on the back; usually he is driving and she is outside cleaning.

There are more locks here and they are BIG - Long enough for two or three of the big barges and up to 10m (30') deep. Fortunately they are well organized and have bollards built in to the side to tie up to, or even ones that float up with you. We will stay around this area until we leave it looks like we will leave the boat at a yard in Maasbracht where we can have a few things done that we have learnt we want as we have got used to ARMIDA. When we return in early August we will be well positioned to leave the crowded waters of Holland in the summer and head up the Maas/Meuse into Belgium and France.

Relaxing in Den Bosch

We have had a very nice day here in 's-Hertogenbosch (locally called and much easier to pronounce as Den Bosch) and we kept saying to each other, "We really like this town". Then Terry said "Why? it's not that much different than others". Well it does have a unique network of small canals under the city and a good little tour run by volunteers, a grand Cathedral (of course) but one of the first not made out of brick and more ornate as it stayed mainly Catholic, and a pretty intact set of walls as it was once an impregnable fortress town surrounded by marshes until the attackers diverted the river, built a long dike and drained the marshes – only the Dutch could do that. We were here on a Saturday which is market day and the weather was nice and everyone was out and about. All the cafes, and there are many, were packed with people sitting outside and meeting friends. It may have been our mood but it seemed that people were even more relaxed and easy going than other places in Holland, which is not to say the others aren't as the Dutch seem to be uniformly happy and friendly, it just felt good. We also had a very nice dinner in a modern restaurant, and we still got fries as a side. So we'll stay today (Sunday) get some washing done and relax some more.

Heusden, we have no problem

We were heading for 's Hertogenbosch today when I noticed that this little village where the River from the Merwede joins the Maas looked interesting and sure, enough it was mentioned in the guidebook. So after no problems on the big river and a very relaxing cruise on the smaller one we motored into the old harbor about 2:30, and they even kept the market going for us. Heusden is a very charming little village with enormous fortifications that have been restored, at least to the outlines, surrounded by moats. The houses are all in mint condition and very interesting. Armida is tucked into the old harbour that is entered through a deep and narrow opening under a rickety old bridge beside two unique windmills. A beer and some fries in the café on the square and there are no problems at all.

Gorinchem

Pronounced Hhorikum, or something like that, this is a very pleasant and interesting town on the banks of the Merwede River where we have stayed two nights. This has been a strategic town since the 1200s and you can still walk around the perimeter of the old town top of the remains of the old fortifications. We had a pleasant trip down from Gouda with another stop in Montfort. The weather has turned rainy and we had our first half a day of navigating in the rain; not a problem. The waterways are getting bigger with more commercial traffic so we had to dart out of the small canal at Vianen, dash across the Lek river and into the Merwede Canal where we entered a large lock with a commercial barge. It followed us down the Merwede Canal which turned out to be a good thing as they coordinated with the bridge controllers by VHF radio so all the bridges opened for them, and us, as we got there. We have been travelling with Bob and Lois from Perth who have been coming to Holland for three years and made the same decision in Gouda that we did – to head for France. It has been nice to have the company and share notes and charts.

From the town we can look out over the Merwede River which is one of the major exits of the Rhine. It looks like a peaceful scene with the green banks and fields on the other side, but not for long. The big barges come by every couple of minutes and they seem to be going fast. We have to travel up this river for a couple of km before turning off to s' Hertogenbosh so more fun is in store.

After many years we have managed to contact Marco, who was a witness at our wedding 30 years ago and who we had lost contact with about 15 years ago. He and his wife Jill live near Maastricht but are only there on weekends so we need to do some planning to we can be there on a weekend to catch up with them. This will probably mean that we will be leaving Armida in that area when we come back; probably somewhere between Roermond and Liege in Belgium. More research is needed.

Direction

After discussing it over the weekend we decided to head south and not back to Amsterdam. This should put us in the south of The Netherlands or even into Belgium by the end of the month when we come home for the wedding. Bye to free Wi-Fi for a while.

More Photos

1. It’s cold out there, and in here too.

2. Getting Water in Sneek

 

On the Street in Sneek

Now we know why the cover is that low

  Friesian Scene

Giethoorn

 

Prefab holiday homes with thatched roofs.

  

Holiday Scene

Big Barge on the Ijssel

Captain and Navigator

Elburg

Lane of Flowers - Elburg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windmills

 

 

 

 

Tight squeeze in

Spakenburg

 

 

 

 

Old Boats in Spakenburg

Close Neighbours in Spakenburg

The Launch!

Test post for Photos.