Compared to the last week and weekend this week has been like watching paint dry. In fact I have actually been doing that. I am taking the opportunity of a slow week here to paint around Armida’s cockpit which needed attention. Being a boat means that: 1) Everything is more expensive and 2) It takes longer. There are a few little places where rust has appeared; this means scraping and removing as much of the rust as possible.
Treat the rust with a rust converter and wait 12 hours. Prime the treated area with two part epoxy primer and wait 24 hours. You get the idea. I hope to have two top coats on before Caroline and Phil arrive on Friday. In between coats we have been wandering around this little town at the top of the canal. The port is on the outskirts, about 1km from the centre back down the canal to where the 3.3km tunnel emerges from under the hill.
I had hoped to watch the World Cup final in a French bar as there is one right by the port but it was closed up tight. Rain was threatening so I watched on TV on the boat and enjoyed all the cars out with their flags and horns afterward. Everyone is still smiling. Symbolically it was also Bastille Day weekend complete with a Parade and a Band (right past the boat) and Fireworks in the Port on Friday Night. Lilou was not happy and was looking over her shoulder for a couple of days. Saturday had a fishing competition for the kids, Vide Grenier in the town (where I managed not to buy anything) more music and free aperitifs.
The week before, I left the little Port of Pont d’Ouche after a pleasant day of rain, and another watching the Friday night concert in the port restaurant. The “Hillbillies” did not really play hillbilly music but quite good ‘Ol 50’s rock and roll. They attracted the bikies on their Harleys and a ‘57 Chevy (so I had one of those “Where am I” moments), but also families, and everyone had a good time and left in time for me to get a good nights sleep.
A half day brought Armida to a rural mooring at the foot of the hill with Chateauneuf on top, one of the iconic views on the canal. Anyone who has driven south from Paris on the Autoroute de Soleil to the south of France will remember this Chateau magically appearing on the left as you pass over the hills of the Cote d’Or. The mooring is far away from the autoroute noise and a delightful place to spend two nights and a walk up the hill for an afternoon glass of Rose (for me).
Two more locks up the hill squeezed in with a 14m cruiser and only 3 bollards expanded my solo experience. This is where the Hotel boats turn around and go back down to Dijon as most can’t get through the tunnel. Most had left so i had the port almost to myself. The other boat was a full sized Peniche beautifully fitted out as a home with all (and I mean ALL) amenities and occupied by Tom and Lisa from Thousand Oaks next to where Tess and Tony live. They had come up from Saint Jean de Losne and were thinking they might just sit there for the whole summer. I don’t blame them and hope to see them there again when I come back. We had lunch in what I call the “cheap and cheerful” restaurant by the lock. It looks like a tiny place but has a huge dining room and at 12 noon people magically appear in this otherwise deserted village and stream into the restaurant for the “menu du jour”. After that I think they all go home for a nap – I did.
It was a small village though and I wanted to be somewhere bigger for Bastille day and decided to leave Friday and told the VNF. They said there was a Hotel boat booked for the opening time of 9am so I should get there at 10 to. OK.
Sure enough we were off at 9am on a beautiful day. With my crack team of lock keepers and my improved locking skills we knocked off the 8 locks to the tunnel in an hour and 15 minute when the norm is 4 locks an hour. Less than an hour though the tunnel – just long enough for the complete album of Dark Side of the Moon (the BEST music for tunnels) and in Pouilly-en-Axois in plenty of time for lunch.
Last night on our after dinner walk Lilou and I passed a big barge with three couples from Melbourne and were invited on board. While I drank a glass of wine she circulated from lap to lap (Pass the Pup) and was a big hit. She is now officially promoted to Ambassador.
After the paint has finished drying by Friday I will do washing and cleaning in preparation for guests arrival in the afternoon. Then Saturday we are off downhill!
No comments:
Post a Comment