One More Time

Our bags are packed, we’re ready to go…well not quite, but we still have five days before we drive down to Ojai to stay with Tess and Tony before we fly out of LAX next Saturday.

This is probably our last season for a while as we get ready to put Armida up for sale and plan for all the visitors who have suddenly realized this is their last chance to visit us on the canals of France. Consequently we are not planning a long voyage, more likely a “greatest hits” of Burgundy, which we will decide on when we get there. It will be a shorter season as we are booked to return at the end of August to start working on our next adventure.  That has a lot to do with this little guy – Sean Spencer Wallace – born on January 18th in Sydney.

It’s a Wrap

Giverny

This year it feels like we stayed too long.  After we came out of the Canal du Centre at the end of September we went to Saint Jean de Losne to consider our options for selling. When, after considering, we decided to wait until next year, we felt like our season was over but we still had three weeks. And the weather was looking bad.  At that point we were ready to be home in our comfortable house with good showers and machines for washing things.

So we puttered around, caught up with some friends who soon left and went home, did more laundry did a short cruise up to Auxonne, did some more laundry, fashioned a cover for the boat for the winter, and finally packed up an left.  After a false start when one of us forgot the extra bag we had packed and had to return to the boat and then another false start when another of us left a purse in a restaurant we finally escaped the clutches of Saint Jean de Losne and said goodbye to Armida for the winter – stay warm, or at least don’t freeze too much.

The Statistics for this year are:

Engine hours:                   303

Kilometres Travelled:     1401

Number of Locks:             416

We are now reclining in a lovely B&B above Giverny where Monet’s gardens are and looking forward to flying home on Thursday.

Our plans next year are to do short cruises for about 3-4 months and then sell Armida.  So for those of you who have been thinking of coming to visit – this will be your last chance for a long, long time.

Oh, and if you know anyone who wants to buy a boat…….

Winding Down

We are now at the mooring where we will leave the boat for the winter.  It’s a large marina and we are surrounded by many of the boats we met or passed over the last three years.  Tonight we will meet up with  two couples, 1 NZ and 1 UK, who we know and are also getting things done for winter. 

We still have a couple of weeks before we fly out on October 25^th.  We’ve have decided we are returning for another three months before we put the boat up for sale.  Rob has some work to do on the teak deck so he will come over in April.  I will come the first of May.  May, June and July we’ll stay in the area doing lots of little trips rather than doing the distances we’ve done before.  Just take it easy.  Then we’ll leave it neat and tidy, turn it over to a broker and hope it sells for a good price.  It is in perfect shape, but is 27 years old.  The interior is also very desirable as we have a walk around bed (unusual for a boat), good storage and teak custom interior which they don’t do much anymore.

Today the weather is warm and gorgeous.  We had lunch on the back deck and it felt just like summer.  Two days ago it was raining and cool.  We never know what we will wake to.  The leaves have started to change which is always so pleasing to the eye.  We are looking forward to going home before it turns cold.

We met a man the other day who walked up to the boat to chat with Rob.  He saw the Australian flag.  He’d been on a friend’s boat for the last two weeks.  We asked him how he liked it.  He said, “Not much.  I’m not used to doing nothing”.  My first thought was, he just doesn’t get it.  It does take a certain kind of person to enjoy this.  Then when I sit down to write you, his words come back to me, for I have nothing to write about.  The scenery is pretty, the food is good we visit with people, we read and walk with the dogs.  We like it.

Brief Update

Chalon-sur-Saone

Once we finished the Lateral de la Loire we were retracing our steps (or paddles) and not a lot new to report.   The Loire lateral is a lot of long straight stretches with occasional glimpses of the river and the surrounding hills, pretty  but not the best canal by a long shot.  Other than the lovely wine town of Sancerre that sits on top of a hill and the large town of Nevers there is not a lot to see.

The little port of Fleury has a little fast food place right at the port and on a Saturday night it was jumping, not least because a Steak Frites is only 5 Euros. We sat at a table with two English boating couples  (including Maurice and Mary) and a young couple from Perth off a rental boat who didn’t know what they had stumbled into.  The prices  of the wine were commensurate and a good time was had by all.

Once the committee that runs it had confirmed that the Canal du Centre would definitely close on Sept 30th due to lack of water the weather changed and we have had a lot of rain.  Doesn’t matter as we are through it now and on the Saone river.

Shortly we will head back up to St. Jean de Losne and decide whether to put Armida up for sale now or store her for the winter and wait until the new season.

Bye Briare and back to Burgundy

Somewhere on the Canal Lateral a la Loire.

Summer is over! You may not think so as today was hot with a warm breeze where little white dogs sought shade and we stopped early under some shady trees on a quiet bend in the canal, but come 9pm (21:00 French Time) and the chill is definitely in the air.  This makes for good sleeping and cool, clear mornings and the sad thought of the impending end of the season.  If only we could squeeze a  few more months out of this time.

 

Having made good time along these canals we sat in the lovely port of Briare on the Loire for an extravagant six days and enjoyed every minute. The town of Briare has nothing in particular of note except for the lovely 600m bridge that carries the canal over the Loire (designed with help from Monsieur Eiffel) and a disproportionally good market but the port is well set up and surrounded by flowers and just a nice place to be.  We connected with Greg and Cecilia from Sydney and Tony and Lorraine from the Gold Coast and had a movable feast around the boats.  Then our friends and neighbours Randy and Judy arrived on their way to Paris and the weather was perfect the whole time.

Today we set off over the long bridge on the lateral canal that parallels the Loire where we left the Loiret region and returned to our old hangout – Burgundy. This is open river valley with long straight stretches and only a few places of interest so we hope to make some more good time in the next week.

Over the top

Canal de Briare

We are now at the top of the Canal de Briare, the first “summit level” canal in Europe when it was finished in 1642. It joins the valley of the Loing with that of the Loire. The top doesn’t really feel like a “summit” with lovely lakes to provide water for the canal .  This is part of four canals from the Seine to the Saone that are really one canal. As they were built at different times, when the rivers they linked were navigable, they still have separate names and personalities for that matter.
We started on the Canal du Loing which parallels the river of the same name. It didn’t make us feel like we had been missing the canals; the best that can be said of it is that it gets you to the Canal de Briare quickly.  This canal has the charms that make us love this life – some lovely rural moorings, the delightful town of Montargis and locks with lots of flowers and friendly lock keepers.


Today is Sunday when the French go out for their excursions. The weather was nice so many of them headed for Rogny-les-Sept-Ecluses where they could watch Terry expertly handle the ropes in the first lock of the six lock staircase. 
Tomorrow we will drop down to the Loire and the town of Briare which is our only downhill for a long time. After that we have the long flat runs with few locks as we parallel the Loire for 200km.
You may remember that at the beginning of the season we didn’t know if we could come this way as the Canal du Centre was going to close at the beginning of May due to lack of water – well now we need it to stay open now so we can get back to St. Jean de Losne for the winter. They are threatening to close it on September 30th if there is no more rain.  At the current rate of travel we should have no problem but we hate being rushed.
Normally we would consider finding a place to winter Armida closer but as some of you know, our daughter Skye is expecting our first grandchild in January.  Our plans were to cruise until this eventuality so we are considering putting Armida up for sale and St. Jean de Losne is the place to do that. But we are still debating whether to come back for one more season – so stay tuned.

A great big Happy Birthday wish to Tess on her 30th!

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.