All Quiet

Besancon
It is quiet on Armida this morning.  Terry is in bed, the dogs are curled up on the sofa and there is a gentle rain outside. There is no more gurgling and laughing from the suitcase, no more baby noises from adults and no more silly grins and laughing all around.
Sean and Skye left the boat yesterday for Paris and will begin their grueling 22 hour flight to Sydney this afternoon – we hope all goes well.  Adam had to leave to go back to work last week. We have had a wonderful time with them all here and feel so lucky.  Mind you we probably would have had a great time locked in a room for two weeks just watching grandson Sean.  I won’t go on about what a great little boy he is because that will be grandparent bias and to avoid cluttering the blog I have uploaded a bunch of pictures here.
They spent a few days recovering in Paris and took the train to Chagny on the Canal du Centre where we met them with Armida and cruised up to Santenay where we could sit under the trees in the warm weather and enjoy the charms of the village in the evening. The next day we cruised down the canal to Chalon-sur-Saone briefly losing Skye, Terry and Sean after they got off for a walk and ended up on the wrong side of the canal where the road took them off in the wrong direction.
A coupe of nights in Chalon enabled them to enjoy the great street market, stock up on some great wines, have a lovely dinner at Aromatique and experience the festival of music in the town with what appeared to be most of the population of the region. Two easy days up the river got us back to the old hunting ground of St. Jean de Losne where Skye and Adams’ friends Chantal and Sean met us after driving over from Wales for the weekend! They got to experience a short cruise as we headed into the Canal a Rhone au Rhin where we let them off for their long drive home and we continued up to our favorite town of Dole. 
This was the route of our first canal trip in 2001 and I had forgotten what a pretty trip it is.  After Dole the cruising alternates between canal and stretches of the River Doubs, often below limestone cliffs and forests.  There aren’t many villages but the natural scenery is lovely and the weather was mild.  It climaxes with the approach to Besancon as the massive fortress of Vauban’s Citadel appears on the top of the hill protecting the town.
After visiting the Citadel and its museums and Zoo (Sean got to see his first Kangaroo  - in France!)  Adam left and we spent a lovely restful five days with Skye and Sean all to ourselves.
And now they are gone and all is quiet.

The Season of Sitting

Fragnes

This season Armida has done a lot of sitting in one place. She spent the month of May sitting in Saint Jean de Losne waiting for the weather to clear.  She sat in Chalon sur Saone for a few days waiting for Stephen and Jeanne to arrive and now she is sitting in Fragnes waiting for Skye, Adam and Grandson Sean.  Now we have electric hot water and don’t have to run the engine every two days sitting is pleasant, particularly when the weather is now gorgeous and the scenery lovely. 

The weather turned with the arrival of the Secrests;  the extra two Californians were enough to tip the balance, and with the Australians now in France it is going to get hot.  We had a fine time with Stephen and Jeannie as we cruised up the Canal du Centre  and into the gap between the premier wine regions of the Cote du Beaune and the Cote du Chalonaise  to Santenay. After leaving them in Chagny we went back and sat in Santenay with friends Jilll and Frank and then ambled back down here to Fragne to sit  some more.

 

There is nothing much here except a lovely mooring with a grassy bank, a nice park, a view  over the fields, a charming helpful young Capitaine, an airport nearby that launches and accepts parachutists and stunt planes and a very peaceful atmosphere.

In our push to convert Armida to a domestic service vehicle we did take her half an hour down the canal to the big E. Lecerc supermarket for supplies, along with Bill and Winnie from San Francisco, and then back to Fragnes where we had drinks on our boat and dinner on theirs.

While Armida sits we still get plenty of exercise walking to the Boulangerie, the market and just exploring.  While in Chalon we took Lilou and Rosie to the Toilettage (Groomer) to be shawn in honor of Sean’s arrival on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile we will sit some more.

And We’re Off

Verdun sur Doubs
At last we are on our way.  Nearly a month here and we have taken  the  out boat twice – to do laundry! Summer is not here by a long shot but at least it isn’t raining all day and there are signs of improvement, so we set off down the River Saone.  River cruising is not our favorite but in unsettled weather like this it is the better choice as there are few locks where you need to be outside. Steering from inside the bubble is quite comfortable and steering from inside the boat is even better. The rain has not gone and the clouds are moving quickly over the sky bringing short bursts – and in between splashes of glorious sunshine.


Previous posts may have given the impression that we were miserable and depressed with the rain; no, just frustrated.  The frustration was mitigated by our first long term immersion in the boating community.  The marina at Blanquarts is a particularly friendly one and our pontoon may have had the highest concentration of US flagged boats on the French canals, along with Australians, New Zealanders, Brits, Germans and others.

Our days were made up with chats on the pontoon (in between the rain) drinks on peoples boats, including ours, meals out with friends and other social activities. Some in our little circle were, Pete and Allison from the UK, Pete and Lil from Florida, Tony and Kay from New Zealand and Al and Gail from Canada. We miss them already.  When we left there was a contingent on  shore waving and hollering - we felt like we were leaving on a cruise.  Wait a minute - we were!

Oh Happy (laundry) Day!

Saint Jean de Losne (still)

Today the sun was shining when we woke.  I can’t remember the last time that happened. It is not supposed to continue but at least there are signs the weather is breaking.

We grasped the opportunity to cast off and motor around to the quay on the river to the very convenient Laundromat (laverie).  We couldn’t do this the last week as the river was two steps higher. I don’t know if it is considered “green” to take a 12 Tonne boat with a 6 litre engine half a kilometer to do laundry – but anything for a change in scenery.

Of course we had to have coffee, croissants and jam basking in the sun before work could begin.  Four loads of washing, one in a dryer and the rest on the lines to dry in the warm sun.  A great day.  Even the dogs loved getting back on the water.

So the weather has changed, the river has dropped and the Canal du Centre has opened and things seem to be getting to where they should have been two or three weeks ago. Maybe we can even do some cruising.

Our friends, Stephen and Jeanne, are coming next Saturday and it wasn’t clear where we could meet or take them; now it looks like our original plan of a short jaunt up the Canal du Centre may work after all.  Our fingers are crossed.

So we got to experience the coldest May on record in France.  And tons of rain.  Goodie.

Plans in France don’t seem to work as well as other places but at least today was a happy day.

I saw the Sun!

Saint Jean de Losne

I think I saw the sun this morning – it’s been such a long time I can’t be sure.  It wasn’t there for long but for about 30 seconds there was some color and cheer in the world. Maybe it will happen again today.  After nearly three weeks of this we have to hope.

A week since our last post and we are still here in the marina, along with everyone else, hoping that the weather system, that is stuck somewhere in the North Sea, will get a move on to let us have some decent weather.  The rain stopped yesterday but it is looking dark to the west and it is cold.  The rivers are still running high and the canals are still blocked.  We considered going up the Canal de Bourgogne to Dijon for a change of scene but the thought of 21 locks in the cold and rain outweighed the lures of the big city.

Friends Jill and Frank gave up on the Canal du Centre, which is not to open now for another two weeks and returned last week with the idea of doing their loop the other way around, but they are still here for the aforementioned reasons. One boat went out for a test run the other day; they went up river for 45 minutes, turned around and were back in 10!  Others friends are stuck in the Arsenal after the winter in Paris and can’t even get out onto the Seine because it’s too high and fast. At least they’re in Paris.

The dogs are stir crazy – they sit in the boat looking at us pleadingly to take them out and when we do they look at us accusingly – “Why did you bring us out into this cold and wet"?

The people on other boats all feel the same and will happily talk with anyone about anything just to break up the day.

We expect the weather is better wherever you are –  if it is please send us some.

Brrrr…..Bah…. Humbug

Saint-Jean-de-Losne
Today the high temperature is 12C (53F) with a cold breeze and rain – not a bad day for January – but it’s May for Pete’s sake.  Yesterday wasn’t much better and the next few day don’t look great.  Just as well we didn’t plan much for May as there aren’t many places to go.

Our friends Jill and Frank in Détente set off for the Canal du Centre a couple of days ago hoping it would open in the 15th when the authorities said repairs to the collapsed bank would be completed (the top pound of the canal is empty).  Now it looks like the end of next week! With more rain today and forecast, who knows. Fortunately our first set of visitors don’t arrive until the start of June.
Meanwhile we spend our day cooped up on the boat with occasional excursions outside between showers. Some dress appropriately.

And others don’t.

The only reminder that this is indeed spring are all the blossoms and the wildflowers.  If we ever see the sun again it will be delightful once more.  But not right now………

Clearing and Cleaning

Saint-Jean-de-Losne

Today we have been back for a week and it is nice to be in our cozy little home again.  It appears that Armida had a good winter as the covers were still on, she wasn’t too dirty and everything seems intact.  The engine started right up but we haven’t left the dock yet. Blanquarts have installed the immersion heater so we now have electric hot water -  a big improvement.

California saw us off with hot weather and fires in the hills and we managed to bring some of that sunshine with us to France for a pleasant drive from the airport.  The only fog was in my head.  It was bittersweet driving over waterways from past cruises:  the Marne, the Seine, the Yonne and the Canal du Bourgogne, all if which looked very full.  Last year we worried about the lack of water; this years is the opposite.  The rivers are very high and there are closures on many canals due to too much water.  It does mean that everything is very green,… and yellow.

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Rosie and Lilou have settled back into the boating life easily having already adjusted to the time and the routines, particularly meal times as Lilou reminds me every day. Our efforts to improve the weather by importing sunshine from California seem to have been overcome by the recent arrival of lots of English who have brought their rain and cold. Because of this and the high water we are in no hurry to leave, so we are taking it easy, cleaning slowly, catching up with some friends, and thinking about our busy year of visitors and where we will go.   The grey days still let the sun out occasionally.