Adieu Paris

Getting Terry to write a blog post is like pulling teeth – but for those of you who didn’t get her latest email here is an extract:

“It’s been a long time since I’ve sat down to write.  Bout time.  We left my lovely Paris yesterday and already I am reflecting on how nice it would be to live there, on the boat, for a few months.  Before we left I went to the Bastille open market that is just one block away from the Arsenal.  It’s held every Thursday and Sunday from 8AM-1PM and quite popular with locals and tourists alike.  There are all kinds of stalls, but most importantly a place where you can buy great meats, fish, fruit, vegetables, cheese, bread and an array of different prepared foods.  I stocked up as we will be traveling the River Seine for two days before we get back into the canal system and shops.  I bought enough meats for five meals that fit nicely in our shoebox size freezer, fruit and veg for three days and some baked goods.  Cheesy bread, brownies (rare) and cookies.  Such fun to do it all in the stammering little French I know.  I don’t get much of a chance to try as Rob speaks well and does all of the “French” talking. 

The last few days in Paris gave us beautiful mild weather after the debilitating heat wave of 100F.  We’d hoped to find a good movie playing as we haven’t seen one in months.  All that was showing in English was summer time garbage.  Rob and I took turns staying on the boat with the dogs.  He did the things he wanted, The Pantheon, Paris City Museum and walking.  I did Gallery Lafayette, little shops, bought Rob a couple new shirts for the boat, a cold drink (a Diabolo which is a slightly sweet soda and Grenadine) in a café to people watch and read some of my book, “The Angel Games”, an odd good well written Gothic novel.  The prequel to one of my favorite books, “Shadow in the Wind” by Carlos Ruis Zafon.  The dogs had plenty  of walks too and got to go out to a fine old café where we met Nigel and Anna that we met last year while in Paris and who took the train from Meaux to meet up with us.  The evening was long with good conversation and three very nice French bottles of wine.

Rob is up top driving, I’m down below writing and the dogs are napping on the sofa.  I look out the window every minute or so to see miles of absolutely amazing country houses with big yards full of mature trees (many with boats moored in front) owned by the rich who can afford such a place on the Seine 30 minutes or less by train to Paris.  This is after passing through the industrial outskirts just outside the city and a couple boring towns with the not so pretty old area on the water and blocks of apartment buildings behind them.”

We are now in Samois sur Seine, a favorite mooring from last year, behind an island on the Seine backing onto the forest of Fontainebleau.  There are not many mooring on the Seine so if we can get one of the two spots here we are lucky. This is the town where Django Reinhardt lived out his last years.    The mooring is right by the narrow road with houses and a couple of restaurants.  In front of the house opposite us a couple are sitting playing a double base and guitar and singing soulful tunes.  They are American but they still sound good and we are loving it.

Fine times with friends

Paris

Our friend Sharon joined us for ten days and they were delightful.  This morning she left the Gare de Lyon on the Air France bus for Charles de Gaul airport.  She is winging her way home as I write. Sharon took to life on a boat and had a great attitude for whatever we threw her way.  Unfortunately Paris in August delivered on it’s sizzle in the summer with three days of  38C/100F.  It was our worst nightmare come true and was no fun but Sharon said she felt like she had summer at last.  It slowed things down and kept us from the pleasure off just walking around the streets of Paris.  But we trust she is taking some good memories back with her.  Rosie and Lilou weren’t the only ones sad to see her leave. Followers of Sharon will find more pictures here.

Fortunately the temperature dropped a few degrees, 85F, yesterday for the visit of our long time friends, Richard and Audrey Hope from the UK who came over by train for one night.  Audrey was my father’s “script assistant” in the nascent days of television in Australia and we got to know the whole family when we lived in London those many years ago.  In fact we have Richard and Audrey to thank for what we are doing now.  30+ years ago they shared stories from their family canal holidays that sounded so lovely that we wanted to try it. We too caught the bug and are here today.  Blog followers will remember that their daughter Caroline and family visited us last year.  In fact it was their children along with young cousins (and maybe a little help from their parents) who gave Audrey and Richard the 50th Wedding anniversary gift of a trip to Paris and lunch at the famed “Le Train Bleu”, the very grand and classy restaurant at the Gare de Lyon.  Audrey and Richard were extraordinarily generous and invited us along which  was a real treat for Terry and me.  An inspirational couple to us with their interests, experiences, continuing extensive world travels and humorous outlook on life. The Hope family can find more pictures or our day here.

We had a great time catching up over a lovely meal and, after a nap (for me) we all, Sharon too, went out on the boat for an evening cruise where the weather was perfect, the scenery fantastic and the making of a another memory for all of us. 

Paris in August

Yes it’s hot, a lot of the stores and bakeries are closed, the Bastille market was a shadow of last years’ – but it is still Paris.  We read  somewhere that about 50% of Parisians leave in August but that means that there is less traffic, things are more relaxed and even the air is cleaner.  It would be nice if it were a bit cooler though.

We rented a car for a few days so we could pick Sharon up at the airport and see a few sights before motoring into Paris. Our base was the lovely mooring at Moret-sur-Loing where Sisley, the impressionist painter used to live. Sharon arrived with no troubles and raring to go – no Jet-Lag for her. We incorporated a Vide-Grenier which is like a huge garage sale which the ladies loved while the dogs and I relaxed in the beer garden, a visit to the Medieval town of Provins and the magical palace of Fontainebleau which still knocks my socks off.

A long day of cruising with the big boys in the big locks got us within striking distance of Paris and allowed a gentle morning cruise into the city and a float past the sights before returning to the port of the Arsenal which feels a little like home as we spent a month here last year.

Terry took Sharon out today to the Orangerie and the Louvre where she left her with a map and a phone.  So far she hasn’t returned but we hope she can find her way out and get home.

Wandering the Yonne out of Burgundy

Montereau fault Yonne
We are moored in this town where the Yonne falls (fault) into the Seine.  For some reason the Yonne, the bigger river, ends here where it joins the Petite Seine which is much smaller.  We asked a Frenchman why the Yonne is not called the Seine and he shrugged and answered “tradition” – well that was helpful!
For the last few weeks our occasional travelling companions have been Bruce and Yerda from Washington state on their converted Dutch mail boat “Rival” (pron, Reeval) and they have been great fun and a wealth of knowledge. Last year we did this same stretch upstream and surmounted the dreaded slope sided locks so we weren’t as fearful this time around but it can actually be worse going down if you get “hung up” on the rough side of the lock and the water recedes.   We rafted the two boats together and had three of us manning ropes and boathooks to keep away from the sides while Terry used the engine to keep us straight and all went smoothly,  despite the Belgians.

The Yonne is a pretty river but there are not many moorings so we did the same stops as last year in reverse and it was interesting to revisit places, some of which were a let down and others were even better, particularly the town of Sens.  It was the seat of the Popes in the 11th century and has the first of the great Gothic Cathedrals, a fascinating museum with a huge collection of Roman artifacts, many medieval houses and lots of civic pride, not to mention a lovely free mooring with the all important electricity and water, and a great restaurant “La Madelaine” where we had the best meal so far this year.  Our musical journey continued on a Saturday night in front of the Cathedral where the “Wild Socks” entertained us with Rock and Roll classics from the 50s to the 70s, all in French!


At Pont sur Yonne there are two long pontoons and we moored with 5 other boats spread across them until a giant hotel boat  showed up, with no reservation and 50 elderly guests they had to get off to a bus the next day.  We all offered to regroup to one pontoon for which they rewarded each boat with a bottle of Champagne and some of us a tour of the boat. Their maneuvering seemed as good as their planning so it was all entertaining.
We have now left Burgundy and it seems strange we have spent all this time in the same province but is certainly one of the richest and most fascinating in France.  If it hadn’t been for short sighted inheritance practices the whole country, and perhaps beyond could have been all Burgundy.  Now we are in the tellingly named region of Ille de France waiting for our friend Sharon to arrive and we will slide on down the Seine next week into Paris.