Plans ?

Saint Jean de Losne

Terry and Rosie are here and all is good, the bits of the boat are working, cleaning is progressing and even the weather has improved; time to make cruising plans. The key to planning is flexibility as anything can change, including our minds. 

Our rough plan is to set off south on the river Saone about mid week in with the end goal of Lyon. Along the way are the interesting towns of Chalon sur Saone, Tournus and Macon.  It will probably take us about 10 days to get there. Lyon will be our big city experience for this year as we are unlikely to get to Paris.  After an unspecified time there we will turn around and head back up the Saone and keep going north into the Canal de Vosges which goes all the way to Nancy and is supposed to be a lovely rural Canal.  And that is as far as we have got in planning. We will see how far north we get before we have to return to Saint Jean de Losne in order to fly home in mid-September. 

Some time in there we hope to go to the UK for a week or two to catch up with old friends, if we can figure out how to deal  with the dogs and the hassles involved getting them across the channel.

Lilou has reviewed this post and given it approval to publish.  More pictures next time.

Feeling like a home

Saint Jean de Losne

When the major projects get ticked off and the mess begins to clear the boat starts to feel more like a home and less like a workshop.  Since going in the water things have progressed in fits and starts as I did the beginning of seasons things as well as some upgrades that have been on the list for a while, new fuel filter, main fuse holders, new and better toilet and miscellaneous other things.  Learning more of those new skills I hope never to have to use again..

As the season picks up more boaters begin to arrive and activity picks up, as well as the social scene.  Old friends are welcomed, some new ones are made and others missed.  Lilou is making lots of new friends of both human and canine species. I need to learn French doggie talk as she gets fussed over by locals and I have no more idea of what they are saying than she doe.

After a couple of days on the quay by the canal we moved around to the marina with the help of friends, Pete and  Allison, (and Brian in the background)  after doing a  test drive up the river – all good. 

That was during a short patch of good weather ( about 4 hours), otherwise it has been pretty gloomy  and grey, cool with a lot of rain.  I’m done with this stuff, where is summer, or even spring?  Some perspective thnough:  I had complained to English friends about the crummy weather here and they just laughed at me – spoiled Californian/Australian.

A little bit of sunshine does change the whole feeling of the place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something is happening in the water as the last couple of days have seen lots of fishermen (and their companions) floating around the marina.  I haven’t watched long enough to see them catch anything.

A couple more  days of projects and cleaning then Terry and Rosie will arrive and Armida will be much more than a home, she will be our home.

Armida Emerges

Saint Jean de Losne. France

She has been snugly tucked away under her cover in a forgotten corner of the boatyard for two and a half years now.. When Lilou and I got here after driving through the rain and hail from Charles de Gaul we were a bit foggy (well I was).We searched around the yard for a ladder to get up to the swim platform, unzipped the back of the cover then crawled across the deck to get to the door. Down the stairs and all was just as we left it.  The same comfortable salon and snug galley and banquette, not even dusty – except it was damn cold.  After rescuing the electric heater and coaxing it back to life (it is still reluctant) the eventual warmth returned cozy to the description. 

I don’t remember much of the first night other than having to crawl out for various bathroom duties and sleeping well. But the first item for the next day was to get the back section of the cover off so we could get in and out in a more civilized way.

The last week has been spent getting the systems back to life: electricity, gas water and hot water – all good.  And of course my favorite, laying on my back in the gravel scraping, sanding and antifouling the bottom and the bow thruster tube and motor. 

Life wouldn’t go on without the French bureaucracy.  “Yes we can get you a new code so you can access your account via the internet we will send you an SMS”, Guess I’d better get a SIM card for the phone first.  One Orange (Mobile Phone Co) store tells me they don’t have prepaid SIM cards, go to Dijon.  “On no we don’t sell prepaid SIM cards anymore  -you buy them from the Tabac”  Duh.  So buy a SIM card from the Tabac but they will cancel your number unless you fill out the detailed personal information form and send it with a copy of your identification via the mail!. An so it goes.  But now I do have one bank card (Terry’s of course), a phone that works but I can’t recharge on line, and our internet hot spot.  Progress the French way.

Yesterday was big day - we are in the water!  Armida was released from her hiding place after they removed the palette of batteries, the fuel drums and the other boat that were hemming her in.  Then she was towed out on the trailer with some very tight turns and lifted with millimetric precision into the water. 

I still have to get the engine going and lots of cleaning to do but it feels like we are on boat again.  Also we don’t need to clamber up and down two ladders to get on and off. 

Terry and Rosie arrive in 10 days and I am saving some cleaning and organizing task for them – don’t want them to miss out on all the fun.  They were smart to come later as we have had some pretty crummy days, cold windy and rainy.  Now it is sunny, I am wearing shorts and all is forgiven.

Armida Tavels Again

Our two year hiatus is over and soon we will be back.  We did get a good offer for Armida but we weren’t ready to give up this life just yet.  Lilou and I will return to Saint Jean de Losne on April 26th to get everything shipshape with Rosie and Terry coming on the 17th of May. No firm cruising plans yet but we don’t return until mid-September.

Hopefully there won’t be too much to do but it being and boat and being in France anything could happen.  (See post from a couple of years ago re Unknown Unknowns).

We often get asked where is Armida and how is she stored.  Thanks to Le Tabatha who maintains a great website about the canals there is now a drone video of the marina and area.You can watch it here:

At 1:29 you will see two orange roofs on the lower right.  Armida under her cover is the long white shape to the left of the far roof.

We have been inoculated to French bureaucracy with our recent application for our long stay visa so we are ready.  What could go wrong?

Stay tuned.
Rob

The Last Month with Armida

Now we are home in dry and brown (officially Golden) California after a very pleasant and relaxed August in France. Armida is out of the water in Saint-Jean-de-Losne and prepped for a long stay.

August started with the warmth of July continuing as we came out onto the Saone, and plopped down in Auxonne where we could sit under trees in the warm afternoon.  I revarnished the wood rails and Terry organized herself as a Seller at the local Vide Grenier in an attempt to lighten the boat.

Our fears of a hot August were unfounded as the French weather continued to be abnormal with lovely mild days for the rest of the month.

For our last cruise of the season we decided to head up the dead straight stretch of the Canal de Bourgogne to Dijon for a few days. Expecting a boring trip we were reminded of why we love this life with a couple of lovely villages, a verdant garden complete with Giant Sequoia and a tranquil rural stop, not to mention a very nice lunch.

We have been to Dijon a few times before and you may remember it was torn up while they installed a new Tram system.  That chaos has now moved on to Besancon and Dijon looks fantastic – clean, bright and both modern and ancient.  The Tram stops 100m from the boat and whisks you into the city center where the museums, galleries and buildings are fabulous.

It was back down the canal for two days to Saint Jean de Losne and the festivities.   By the time we got there the Quay was full so we rafted next to Peter and Margaret’s big barge Matilda on Friday, which also had music. French Celtic which was really great fun.  Our friend Glen (of Glen and Trish) was celebrating his birthday on the Quay. The town was celebrating with a fair, band and fireworks.  Saturday was the celebrations and a good time was had by all.

After that highlight it was back into the yard to clean, pack, tidy, winterize haul out and go. As we got closer to the end of the season we both realized that we are not finished with this life yet – we enjoy it too much and we have the boat just the way we want it now (OK an oven and washing machine would be nice).  So she is still for sale but unless someone makes us an offer we can’t refuse we will be back, maybe not next year but soon after.

So Armida’s travels may continue – we will let you know.

Boys and their Toys

Saint Jean de Losne
This afternoon, as we sat cooling off at the rural mooring by the campground here, the Gendarmes provided the entertainment.
The speedboat and helicopter zoomed up and down the river exchanging crew.  The helicopter hovered over the moving speedboat and lifted one of the crew out and zoomed off.  I think they tried a few times to put him back but in the end they just hovered low over the river and he jumped in for the boat to pick him up.  They did this about ten times up and back and then went home.  I suppose the skills will come in handy sometime but it looked like a fun way to spend a hot afternoon.

July Stories

Auxonne

There’ve been no blog posts for July. We have been busy with guests and not covered any new territory.   Instead of cruising to new locations as  as we have done for the  past three summers we’re now local favourite stretches  with friends and family while staying close to our home base.  Guests have rewards of their own, not new locations. 

John and Alice, friends and neighbours,came for three short days.   We did short cruises from Dole.  Highlights were the fireworks, conversation and nice wines.  Unfortunately when the boat wasn’t moving it was quite warm with high humidity so walks and sightseeing we not to be on the cards. 

Then Tess and Tony came for four days.  We cruised from Dole to Besancon.  They loved Dole, the market and music at the local bar.  Besancon was stinking hot.  They walked up to the Citadel the first morning and returned to the boat where Tony dove into the river for a swim to cool off.  it was so hot that Terry, the dogs and I all did the same.  They met people their age who worked on a large hotel boat in port with no visitors at the time.  The were invited on board, shown around, served drinks and champagne while they all conversed and learned about each other and their countries – a nice thing.

After they left we meandered back down to Saint-Jean-de-Losne to do laundry and stock up.  Next and now we are in the historic town of Auxonne where a young Napoleon spent three years in military school.  He  then decided he wanted to be emperor.

This year we have met many new cruisers the last two weeks as well as catching up with old friends, Alison, Pete, Frank and Jill. 

Now some stories:

A Sunday in Besancon

There is always something happening in France in the Summer.  On a Sunday afternoon Besancon offered three consecutive concerts at different locations.  Covering Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music –all free.  There was a fourth concert in the main theatre to finish it off, but we had a picnic to go to.

Not just any picnic.  “Le Grand Picnic”. The city filled the main pedestrian street with tables and chairs in one long row (with breaks), invited everyone to bring their own food and wine then get to know their neighbours.  Sort of like the experience you get in a cosy French bistro but on a grand scale.  We went with Kent and Heather from Maryland (who must be the youngest US cruisers on their own boat) and everyone had a grand time – even the dogs.

Journey to Dole and St J De L.

Summer Weather

We’ve had hot weather before – every year in fact, but the last three weeks were bad because there was no  break.  There’s a lot of water and moisture here so when it get’s hot the clouds build up and you usually a get a nice (or not so nice) storm to cool things down every few days. Somehow it has managed to stay just below the storm threshold and still be hot enough to be uncomfortable.  Cruising is often the coolest thing to do on these hot days, especially on the rivers where there is more chance of a breeze.  Stopping in the locks brings the heat right back.  After days of this the steel boat begins to hold the heat.  Nights bring some relief (late) and the DC fans I brought early on have more than proved their worth.  Terry uses her “chillo” to lay her head on.

We have spent a lot of  time on the Doubs which is a clean river so the swim platform and rescue rings have been used for the first time and even Terry has been in for a swim.  We took the dogs in too but they did not appreciate it until they were removed in a cooler state.

Finally we’ve had three days of cooler weather, one of which was solid rain all day as we motored up the Saone to Auxonne. Fortunately there was only one lock but that was enough to get us very wet. 

 

Weir(ed) and Wonderful

There are not many moorings between Dole and Besancon because a lot of it is river and the canal portions have very rocky banks that are OK to rub against in a rental boat but not your own shiny boat. On the trip with Tess and Tony our planned mooring place was full, as was the next one, so we kept going and were rewarded with a space between two other boats where the canal leaves the river right by the weir with an old factory on the opposite bank. Did I tell you it has been hot?

This was just the place to sit by the cool river, get a little breeze and listed to the rushing river.  Tony ventured out onto the weir and was not swept away.  He got to get close to the ducks that were walking up the weir and occasionally sliding down and the resident heron.  There are many of these weirs on the river but only two you can moor next to. Each weir seems to be owned by a single blue heron who sits in the middle of it all day presumably catching fish.  We think we saw a mate at one weir but otherwise there is only ever one.

Returning from Besancon on another hot day we got to the same weir for a late lunch and got nabbed the prime spot on the end.  A French family (grandparents and grandchildren) were already there sitting in the middle of the weir letting the water wash over them.  So guess how we spent our afternoon.  The evening with the Bimini down, the full moon and the peaceful water was sublime.

Fireworks

Fireworks are an essential part of summer in France and there are many excuses for them but the big one is Bastille day.  In Some towns they on the 13th and others on the 14th so you can have two days worth if you move around.  We opted to get our Fireworks fix in Dole with Alice and John as they were being set off in the sports field opposite the mooring.  We moored bow in so the stern got an unobstructed view. After a delightful dinner in town we repaired to the back deck, cracked open the bubbly and watched the show, including the tethered hot air balloons lit from below.  Very nice.

The next day we took John and Alice on a short cruise to a nice mooring in a little village at Choisey.  It was full so we rafted next to another boat and had lunch.   At that time the test of the sound system for their festivities began, very close and very loud.  Investigation found that their festivities started at 11:30 and went to 2am.  We old folks hightailed it back to the peace of Dole for the night.

Here is the front page of the local paper in Dole for Bastille day with a special feature on the international boating tourists.  They chose a good example don’t you think?

 

Rental Windows

Armida has broken two windows this year.  Not her own but those of rental boats that dared to mess with her.  The first was a big steel rental boat in Chalon-sur-Saone that misjudged the current and slammed her stern in close to Armida’s bow.  A well placed fender pushed the intruders off after collapsing the window on the receiving end. 

On the rural mooring in Rochefort-sur-Nenon a Locaboat didn’t get their ropes on soon enough to stop backing into Armida’s bow and shattering their back window.  Glass everywhere and a couple of  little scratches on our rail.  Anyone want to make it three?