France 2012 - Provence and the Cote d'Azur

Dear Family and Friends

What an awesome three weeks and what a change from the Day from Hell!

                                                               Last day on the Rhone

We arrived in Avignon in sunshine after good cruising and moored up right near the centre of town. As it happens they were in the middle of the French version of Fringe Days, apparently second in size only to the Edinbourough Festival. They hold 1200 events per DAY!!! I’m not sure how many Edmonton holds per day but I suspect it’s not that many.

     Sing along with me – Sur le Pont d’Avignon.....

                                          First day of Fringe – before the streets were totally littered

Avignon is a walled city with the Palais des Papes as the central edifice – huge. Sadly the Palais is just empty rooms with boards that explain the room’s original purpose. I wish the French Tourism Board would take a page out of the UK’s National Trust book and decorate the rooms as it would have been back in the day. Even if it had to be reproductions, it would at least give a sense of what it looked like during the time it was occupied.  The downside to being in Avignon for those two weeks is that the city was filled with tourists and actors and the streets littered with handouts and billboards advertising the various performances. It looked really dirty and unattractive. We were constantly accosted by card carrying actors – most in performance dress – handing out their pamphlets. Really neat the first few days and then really annoying the rest of the time. It was also seriously hot – one day it reached 41°C – thought I would melt away!!

      Palais des Papes from the Rhone

                                                                 Golden St Michael

But we took advantage of Avignon’s location to visit other interesting sites. We took a guided tour to Arles and did the Van Gogh walk (the harbour there was not good mooring so we didn’t want to go by boat). As the only people on the tour we could ask as many questions as we wanted and even got to stop for coffee – not usually part of the tour! Our guide, Annie, was terrific.  We saw all the places in Arles that Van Gogh painted, went out of town to the drawbridge that he frequently drew then drove to St-Rémy-de-Provence where he was hospitalized after cutting off his ear.  St Remy itself was picture perfect with a wonderful Provence market – lavender, herbs, Provence fabric made into clothes as well as table cloths, wine, cheese, meat – a gourmand’s delight. Then she took us to Les Baux-de-Provence (where bauxite was first found) to a disused quarry that has been turned into an amazing light show – Cathédrale d’Images – where the images of Gaugin and Van Gogh paintings were projected not only on the walls but the floor and ceiling as well. Truly spectacular! You felt like you were inside and part of the paintings.

      Van Gogh’s Starry Night café

                                                         VG’s olive garden at St Remy

                                                                                                           VG’s bridge near Arles

The next tour was the Luberon and Lavender tour. We had to share our guide with two young Korean girls but they were good travelling companions. We stopped at Abbaye de Sénanque – a 10^th century Cistercian abbey whose monks still grow and sell lavender. The picture of the abbey with the lavender fields is pretty much the poster child for the Provence and the Luberon and one that you will have seen many times. Gordes has an impressive location at the top of a hill (Yes, Garry – another hilltop village!!) With beautiful limestone buildings, it has vaulted, arcaded medieval lanes and was home to several artists. Nearby are The Bories – dating from 2000 BC they are domed dry stone houses and barns constructed from limestone as well. They were rebuilt and in constant use until quite recently. Roussillon is similar to Gordes but built with slabs of red ochre  - quite stunning. We thoroughly enjoyed our two tours.

      Abbaye de Sénanque

                                              The Bories – Phil, wasn't this our first apartment?

                                                                                            Gordes -  gorgeous hilltop village

      Roussillon - beautiful red ochre

                                                                                           Provence market – heavenly smells

      If I squeeze them now – do I get wine??

We then rented a car and headed off to the Côte d’Azur intending to visit Cannes, Nice and Monaco. It was so darn hot in Avignon we actually called to change the reservation so we could pick up the car a day earlier and spent the first night in Aix-en-Provence (Aix rhymes with sex – Ex) – what a delightful unplanned surprise. Not only a great little hotel right by the main square but filled with good restaurants, grand boulevards and fountains. In fact it has so many fountains it is known as the City of Water. Even though it was ridiculously hot, we hiked up to the north end of town and visited the Atelier Paul Cézanne – saw his house and garden and his studio where he painted for a number of years. The artist in Phil came alive – he has vowed to do more painting when we get back. The garden is really all overgrown shrubs and trees but with a multitude of paths leading off in all directions. Well worth the hike!

         Aix-en-Provence – main circle fountain

                                                                      Atelier Paul Cézanne

Next day we took off towards Nice. Our little adventure for the day involved getting on the auto route by mistake. Not really a problem unless of course you get into the wrong toll booth in a lane meant for frequent travellers who have a card they scan at the entrance. Not a problem if you are happy to spend the next years of your retirement going back and forth on the auto route. The problem comes when you want to get off, don’t have a ticket to present to pay the toll charge at the machine, which then means the gate won’t open to let you through – to the great annoyance of all the honking drivers behind who had the presence of mind to pick up their tickets like good citizens. We managed to pull over and call the authorities who told us to wait and someone would be along shortly. “Shortly” in France can be up to two weeks and we only had three days, so after about an hour of impatient waiting we pulled up into the lane again – spoke through the intercom – Phil gave them a cock and bull story about the machine eating our ticket - after which she told us to pay our 2.80 euros and off we went. Better than the 11.50 we would have had to pay had we waited for the arrival - eventually – of the authorities.

We arrived in Nice and it was packed. Impossible to find a parking spot anywhere near the Promenade – who’s the idiot that booked this trip for the July 14^th Bastille Day celebrations???? We found a little fast food place to eat and took off for the hotel in Villefranche-sur-Mer – a handy dandy little place from which to tour Monaco, etc. Small problem – no parking at the hotel itself so we went around in circles – literally - until we finally found one, got our suitcases out and left it for the next two days. No way were we giving up that parking spot to go anywhere. I’m sure Nice, Monaco and Cannes are lovely but so was Villefranche. Right on the Med – Nice to the right and Cap Ferrat on the left as you look out over the bay. Seriously gorgeous little town on a hillside stepped up from the water. The sea looked stunning and the beaches were crowded with bathers and sun worshippers. OK – who’s the idiot that didn’t pack the bathing suits??? Three guesses! But I did manage to get Phil to buy a new pair of shorts to replace the ones he bought in 1969 – you know the ones – the legs are a metre wide and have 3-4 pleats in the front?? Embarrassing really!

     Nice is nice – so they tell me!

                                                  View of Villefranche from our hotel

      Villefranche at night

                                                                       Beats a Stairmaster!

      Villefranche has quite an impressive port fort

After that lovely sojourn, we arrived back in Avignon to do the laundry and set off once again. We had one more day on the Rhone itself before heading off onto the Petite Rhone. We researched the weather report and left a day earlier than planned to catch favourable winds and current. Piece of cake this time!

But we have arrived – we are in the south of France and so close to the Canal du Midi that I can almost smell it. Oh yes, I forgot  – that’s the smell of the ancient sewers of Avignon which on hot days require a mask and lavender scented hankies!!  More adventures to come as we cross the Etang du Thau and encounter our first oval lock. Wish us luck!!!

Much love to all

Captain Gucci and his wine swilling Matelot

France 2012 - June

Dear Family and Friends

Well the month of June was a case of the good, the bad and the ugly – seriously ugly! The Canal lateral à la Loire and the Canal du Centre were good. We had heard so much about the beauty of the Nivernais and the Bourgogne canals that were totally unprepared for how lovely the other two canals were. Really attractive – more small villages canal side that were not only pretty but much more prosperous. The locks were attended by very helpful lockkeepers and each lock was a delight of gardens and flowers. It must be a prerequisite to be a gardener first and lockkeeper second.

                                               Bazolles

                                               Chalon-sur-Saône

                                               In the lock

Châtillon-en-Bazois was a beautiful town with a lovely chateau – now owned by a family from Paris. Their daughter happened to be married the afternoon we arrived so we were treated to the sight of the wedding party arriving in a little automobile train at the church. Sadly I didn’t have my camera with me so I missed it. We were on our way to get groceries. Later that night we were woken by a display of fireworks and the sound of very lively dance music until 2:00AM. But who cares – we also had supper at the Hotel de la France restaurant – a 1 star Michelin chef. The meal was absolutely delightful, the old hotel and dining room were suitably ancient – beams and a huge fireplace – and we had a very nice time. This was also the first day of downstream locks – piece of cake! We were able to stop at a lock near Mont and had omelets at the canal side pub – not great but then I didn’t have to cook!

     Chateau in Châtillon-en-Bazois

                                               Another great meal

                                                                                         Canal side pub

Paray le Monial was absolutely gorgeous. Lots of religious significance –worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus began here. It’s an important site for modern day pilgrimages. The town itself was the first we’ve seen in a long time with seriously awesome shops with very French clothing and accessories. Quite delightful. At the end of the Canal du Centre and the beginning of the Saône River is Chalon-sur-Saône another very pretty town with pedestrian streets lined with various shops and services. The Saône River was wide but quite benign and easy cruising. Maybe we are getting the hang of this cruising thing!!

    Paray le Monial

                                               Cathedral of the Sacred Heart

                                                                                         Imagine this fish story!!

So now for the bad. People, it’s the silly season out there – or as we know it – hire boat season is upon us. And I mean ‘upon’ us. We’ve now been hit twice by idiot boaters who assume that driving a boat is the same as driving a car – big NO there. They go way too fast and are a real danger at times. The first hit was by a boat rented by four women (no jokes about women drivers allowed as the men are even worse) – two Brits and two Aussies who met travelling on a tour of the Silk Route and get together every second year for a new adventure together. The captain was coming in way too fast and cranged into both us and the quay. Phil, bless his little heart, talked her in and then spent some time giving her advice on handling the boat. She was very appreciative – I just drank their wine! The second was a big boat with 3 Yorkshire couples on board. He hit us hard enough to damage one of our fenders – 20 euros to replace. To give him his due there was a very wicked current but he should have taken this into account as he approached. He wasn’t new to cruising so you’d think he would have adjusted accordingly. Quelle domage! But I guess that should be ‘Quelle damage!’

                                               View from the aqueduct over a small river below

                                       Our second aqueduct – much bigger - over the Loire River

                                                                 Which one is the saint??

The ‘ugly’ was the day I thought I was going to die on the Rhone River. I was very very scared and have a brown stain at the back of my shorts to prove it!!! We left Lyon – a very nice port still on the Saône and after about a kilometre we hit the Rhone River. OMG. There was a wicked wind coming from the south which meant that it whipped the river up and we were headed directly into it. There were whitecaps and 4 foot short chop swells. Spray came over the bow and soaked the kitchen dinette cushions. Whose the idiot that forgot to close the windows? The bow is about 5 feet above the water line so you can picture how high the spray was. I hung on for dear life and tried not to scream too loudly. We lost anything that wasn’t tied down – including my plant box and plants – the bikes were bounced around and all our bits and pieces in the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen were tossed to the floor. We couldn’t even pull over as all the moorings were alongside the river and would have been just as bad as the river itself so we kept going to Les Roches de Condrieu where at least there was a protected harbour. Phil was amazing and not only kept us from harm (I kept thinking of George Clooney and the ‘Perfect Storm’ movie) but handled the boat really well. His sailing experience on the coast sure helped. Our next day on the Rhone was great – rain but no swells and the locks were a piece of cake. Being in the lock behind a huge river hotel boat was an amazing experience. Honestly – the difference between the two days was surreal!

      The day from Hell

                                               Next day – what a difference

                                                                                 Sharing the lock with a hotel boat – no room to spare

Three more cruising days and we are in Avignon – and almost off the Rhone!! Lavender fields, Van Gogh country and the Riviera await. It will be très jolie!!!!

Much love to all

Captain Incredible and Crew (now with clean shorts!)

Start of the Cruising Season - May 2012

Dear Family and Friends

Our first two weeks in France were anything but auspicious. It had rained almost non-stop day after day. Last year it was so dry that canals were closed because there wasn’t enough water and now they were closed because there’s too much! Quelle domage!

French bureaucracy raises its silly little head as always when it comes to getting connections to the internet. You need either a French bank account or a French Visa card to buy a monthly contract and of course to get a French bank account you need a French address along with completing a multitude of forms and references. We’d been dealing with Bouygues, as we had their dongle from 2 years ago, but even they threw up their hands in frustration and sent us off to SFR, a competitor. So we now have a mobile connection – not as good as Wifi but better than nothing. We can reload by going to a store and buying more time like you do with a prepaid phone. It means access isn’t as reliable but it’s better than  waiting for free wifi cafés which are not usually available in small towns and villages. However parts of the Nivernais don’t even have mobile phone service so our communications will be spotty at best!

As always we enjoyed our brief stay in Auxerre – what a lovely city. We met a very nice couple from near Lewes, Sussex, where Phil was born. They are heading south to the Midi as well, so we hope that we’ll run into them on occasion. While in Auxerre we also reconnected with Wendy and Roger (our friend Helen’s brother and wife) and had a lovely visit over several glasses of wine! They live on a really awesome barge – all amenities and then some!  They are mostly permanently moored in Auxerre with summer cruises and visits off the barge to a second home in England.  I want to be adopted!!!

   Stuart and Angela Farrar from Lewes

Saying goodbye to Auxerre

They’ve closed a section of the Nivernais canal where it meets the Yonne river as the currents are so strong; it’s too dangerous to open them to pleasure boats. So instead of spending our 43^rd anniversary imbibing at Deux Pieces – a Michelin starred restaurant where we ate last year, we ate on the boat. The upside was not having to stagger back to the boat – I just had to crawl into bed while avoiding bumping my head on the door sill. We ended up sitting in Chatel Sensoir for 4 days but it is a pleasant little town with at least a cafe and food. No internet access however. That’s a bummer!

Chatel Sensoir – view from the moorage

When we finally were able to leave Chatel, we made our way to Clemecy and we did get to eat at our favourite restaurant. We had an absolutely lovely time – great food and only ½ bottle of wine this time!! The restaurant only seats 20 people and the chef is great. A delight for the eye as well as the stomach. The hostess is the chef’s wife and she is a real charmer. Two other Canadian couples from North Vancouver were there and the hostess regaled us with the history of the building – it used to be a bank and there is a tunnel in the basement leading to a vault.

   Deux Pieces

Amazing appetizer – 3 scrumptious sensations

   Charolais filet with Burgandy wine reduction – yum, yum!

Dessert – heaven!!!

As we left to head south, we enter a part of the Nivernais Canal that we haven’t travelled before. In my mind, it is prettier than the section from Auxerre to Clemecy - but that’s just me! The North Van couple were videoing the canal for a promotion for Le Boat rental company and were asked to do the northern section. Interesting! The added feature of this section – Clemecy to Baye – is that it is all uphill, or as we boaters like to call it – upstream with the emphasis on UP. Multitude of locks – really hard work.

  The entrance to the “new” part of the Nivernais

Charlolais country – boeuf on the hoof!

June 1, 2012 will remain indelibly etched in my memory forever. If you think 16 locks in 3 ½ kms looks scary on the navigation chart – you should experience it in person!! There was very little cruising between locks – few hundred metres at most so there was no break. It must be done in one day as a crew follows you to prepare the locks and there is absolutely no place to overnight. My arms now have muscles that it didn’t know where even there! The journey was compounded by the engine overheating so we had an unexpected stop in one of the locks while it cooled down. To top the day off – and who doesn’t relish the icing on a cake?? – we had 3 tunnels at the very end. But 2 were 212 and 268 metres long respectively and the last was 758 metres. They are so narrow that boats can only go in one direction so you have to wait for the tunnels to be clear before you are allowed to set off. There is no lighting so while Phil steered (only bumping the side once!) I was down below with a hand held spot light to light the way. We were never so glad to see the end of a day in our 3 years of cruising. Thank God we don’t ever have to do that again! The bad news – in Baye no restaurants or stores; the good news – it’s all downhill for the next few weeks!!!!! 

  One of the lock crew to help us - Phil keep your eyes on the canal!

Beautiful cruising

   Entrance to the first tunnel

End of the day at Baye!!!!

We are looking forward to the next and final part of the Nivernais and then both the Canal Latéral à Loire and the Canal du Centre as we head to Chalon-sur-Saône – a major milestone on this year’s cruising agenda. But that’s many weeks of cruising!

Until then – love to all 

The Captain and the ‘much skinnier but hard working’ Crew

2012 First Blog from Holland

Dear Family and Friends

I bet you never expected to hear me say that it is good to be back in Holland!! But it is! We have been staying with Marian and John Berg in their lovely home in Driebergen and having a wonderful time. They have driven us around, showing us the sights and treating us royally to wonderful home cooked meals. I’ve discovered that the secret to eating well in Holland is to stay with good cooks – both Marian and John share cooking duties – and to have them take you to the good restaurants. We had a great lunch in a Utrecht bakery that also served meals down in a cave at canal level with wonderful very old brick arched ceilings and even better food. Had the best quiche EVER!

We had a bright sunny day while they toured us around the countryside including a really fun trip to Zaanse Schans, an outdoor museum with typical Dutch houses that are actually occupied, several windmills all producing different products – ground spices, peanut butter, lumber – and a few businesses from more than a century ago. Even had a wooden shoe making shop! Phil and Marian chased each other on stilts and challenged each other at several other children’s games. Too funny!

Marian and John Berg                           

                               Phil and Marian chasing each other

   Dutch House - part of living museum    

                              Working windmills

Grinding spices

Marian also took us to the lovely Keukenhof Gardens to see the tulips and all the other spring flowers. It was everything I had expected from researching it and more. Took 200 pictures on my fabulous new SLR digital Nikon that I got for my birthday last year. It was so good to spend time with them again – Marian absolutely loves to take the mickey out of Phil – he has met his match!

   Keukenhof Gardens                              

                             Keukenhof Gardens

We also met up with Arthur and Diana Dixon – our Australian friends who we met in Holland the first year we were there. Was really nice to see them again there and then had a meal with them later in Rotterdam where they keep their boat. Arthur and Diana were so helpful that first year when we didn’t know our a** from a tea kettle. Lots of good advice that we still use – except for the one to stay in Holland and not go south. Sorry guys but the Midi is the dream!!

Then we were off to Rotterdam to meet Robert and Christa Bouman who toured us around South Holland, Zeeland and Delta works that hold back the North Sea/Atlantic. Amazing, amazing engineering. When you think that much of Holland is man-made and under sea level, you get an appreciation for their accomplishments. Wow! The surprise of the day was Robert’s son Raymond, a KLM pilot, taking them up in a little 4-seater to get a view from the sky. Phil actually got to fly the plane for a short time – he loved it!! He also got a chance to see all the dams and dykes from the air. I stayed on the ground – thank you very much – and took pictures of the takeoff and landing.

    Flying Phil                                 

                             Delta works from the air

  Safely on the ground                             

                                       Robert and Christa

Robert also showed us his dental lab where he employs 11 other technicians. Beautiful well equipped lab - we were very impressed. We then went back to their lovely condo right on the Oude Maas where we could watch the barges making their way to and from the seaport. What a great view from their condo looking across to the skyline of Rotterdam. And another good home cooked meal!

We are very fortunate to have met and made such good Dutch and Australian friends that we love to spend time with. Our Dutch friends are so hospitable and generous – we can only hope that they visit us on Vancouver Island soon so that we can reciprocate.

It was hard to leave Holland but France beckoned and we took the Thalys fast train to Paris where we changed to the SNCF local to Migennes and the boat. While the weather hasn’t been great – I had to go out and buy a jacket – we look forward to better weather as we head south. I’m sure next month I’ll be complaining because it’s too hot.

And now for the Canadian news as I didn’t have time to get an email out before we left – busy, busy, busy. Phil was asked to go back and teach next year at NAIT and he agreed to one more year. They didn’t even care that he wouldn’t be back until almost the end of October. The students were ecstatic and we are really glad to be spending more time with the ‘kids’ and our Edmonton buddies. But next June – for sure!!! – we are heading home to Nanaimo.  The golf course and Island friends beckon.

So ends the first 2012 blog – we are really excited about all we’ll see and do this year. Hope you keep reading and do stay in touch. We love to hear from you. ( chutneycoss@gmail.com )

Love to all – The Master Mariner and the Galley Slave