Thursday, August 24, 2006

U REVOIR TO CAMBRAI

It was with deep sadness that we left our Home Port of Cambrai, having said good bye to so many dear friends, whom we expect to see again. We left on a beautiful sunny day along with our friends Bertha and Paul King on Tarahumara, and their guest Sevi who had arrived from Barcelona the day before. We planned to meet in Vaucelles, 11 locks up the St. Quentin Canal and have dinner together on their boat. Bertha prepared a delicious lamb dish, and I, a salad and green beans. After tying up, it started to rain, and it did not stop until after we left their boat around midnight.

The next morning Bill did some work on the small generator we bought last year, with no success. After lunch we left to make sure we would make it to the Riqueval Tunnel where you are tied up to a tow that pulls you through a 6 Km. tunnel, a two hour passage. There was a large barge ahead of us, they tied up directly to the tow, we tied up to them and 2 hours later, out we were. At Km 41, we saw a place to moor the boat, tied up, had dinner and went to sleep. The next morning we were awaken by a knock on the door. It was a VNF employee (Voies Navigables de France), informing us that we were not allowed to stop there. He gave us a piece of paper that the tunnel people should have given us, informing us of the rules along that stretch of canal. I apologized and he told us not to worry, but to get ready to go. We set off, and just before the next tunnel 1 Km long, we tied up, had breakfast and continued on. This was the highest point in the canal, so the rest of the way we were locking down. It was a cool and rainy day until we got to Seracourt le Grand, where we had been on the way over and back from Champagne last year. Upon our arrival, we call Mr. Jean Champagne, in charge of the port to come and hook us up to power and electricity. He is a very friendly guy -- the Shreck type -- big and friendly. He told us it was his birthday and he was going to celebrate with his family. We had a lovely evening, I cooked a nice meal, did some reading and had a good night sleep.

It was very foggy when we left the next morning, but there is something very mystical about navigating in the fog. We had our running lights on, and we encountered no traffic. We were alone with nature and the sound of the water braking against the bow. We saw cranes, rabbits, albatros, martin fishers, and of course, a lot of ducks. We navigated 8 hours without stopping to make it to Pont L'Eveque, a tiny village on the Canal Lateral de L'Oise. The last 2 locks have a lock keeper who opens and closes the lock gates for all boats. Strangely enough, there were no lights at its entrance. As we came in, we saw a large barge on the other side, coming towards the lock. If there had been lights, he would had seen a red light indicating he could not yet approach the lock. The peniche was empty, its bow much higher than the wheelhouse, therefore, the captain had no view of what was in front of him. The lock keeper opened the gate for us to exit, and there was this enormous peniche coming at us as we were going out. We thought we were going to be hit. He saw us at the last second, Bill avoided him, I do not know how, and the peniche almost went straight into the wall of the lock. As we went past him, I yelled at him, but he ignored me. The guy was very old, and definitely shaken up. The one at fault, really was the lock keeper, who obviously was not paying attention. A lot of the time, these jobs are given to students while on vacation to replace the permanent lock keepers. We were VERY lucky this time.

After a long day of navigation, we arrived at Pont L'Eveque, tied up against the quay and waited for our friends Jim and Val, he a Kiwi, she a Brit, who were coming to have dinner with us on Biesbosch. While navigating I had prepared a beef bourguinone and rice. They arrived with a bottle of chilled champagne and baguettes for us. Needless to say, we ate and drank all evening. We had a lovely time with them. They stayed over for the night, had breakfast the next day, and they continued onto Paris in their car. They have a gorgeous converted tug boat, Titan, which they will be putting up for sale when they get to St. Jean de Losne.

From Pont l'Eveque we continued on a nice sunny day, and soon passed the confluence of the Oise and the Aisne rivers. The run to Compiegne is beautiful, and the river, wide. At this point, we started to see a lot of commercial traffic. We wanted to top off our fuel tank, so on the upstream side of the river, there was the fuel barge, to which we tied up and filled up. There is a fabulous ship's store there, so Bill went in and bought a few things. We left Compiegne, a city where we had been by car, and one that has beautiful architecture, palaces and chateaux, and an incredibly beautiful forest. We continued down the river for another few hours to Pont St. Maxmence, during which time, I did a load of laundry, and took advantage of the sun to put things out to dry. We moored at Km 72 at a little island before the lock and decided to go into town to explore. As we walked to the lock, the lady lock keeper was leaving and told us we were fenced in on the island, but gave us her phone number so she would open the gate for us to be able to get back in when we came back. She was a lovely girl, a student of Business, who was replacing the permanent lock keeper for the month of August. The town was charming and small, most businesses and restaurants closed, but we found a lovely Italian restaurant where we had a great meal. By the time we got back, we realized how tired we were, so we went immediately to bed and had a good night sleep. Today, Thursday, August, 24, as I write, we are still on the Oise, it is rainy and cold, but we feel like we are in heaven.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

OUR TRIP SOUTH

We left Cambrai via Paris during the heat wave, which lasted two weeks. We had planned to meet with friends from California who were there on vacation, so I made a reservation in a lovely restaurant in St. Germain and met them for dinner there. I think it was the hottest day of the year. We had a lovely time with them and their son Matt who goes to school at AGHS, and where Lisa, his mom is a Psychology teacher. We spent the night at Sylvia's niece's apartment, had lunch with her the next day and continued south to the town of Doussas, near The Nivernais Canal, where we had been invited by our friend Rosemary. She is the owner of Anfra, the boat on which we lived while we were outfitting Biesbosch. She and her husband John bought a lovely house there, where she spends part of the summer. She booked the local B&B for us, which was a very charming old farm owned by a Parisian couple and their two daughters. The area is one of the most beautiful in France, rolling hills, Chateaux, cattle fields, absolutely beautiful. Rosemary had invited the owner of the B&B, her neighbor, for cocktails in the yard. We had a lovely evening sitting among the apple trees, chatting and drinking some lovely champagne. After cocktails we had a lovely meal with Rosemary and her visiting friend, Hannah in the house. The next morning Rosemary had to leave early to take her friend to Dijon, so we said good bye and continued down towards Besancon, where we were to meet our friends Ronnie and Nigel, who were cruising on their boat, Blokzijl. The drive was beautiful, and we got there just before 7:00 PM. Their boat was moored below the fortification walls, in a most impressive setting. The fort is lit up at night, and from the canal the view is breathtaking. We sat on their deck to have some cocktails before going out to dinner in the old part of town. Blokzijl is a Dutch barge of 19 Mts. beautifully outfitted and extremely comfortable. We were so looking forward to spending the night on their boat and to spending time with them. They were the couple who found Biesbosch for us.

Bensancon is an old City with beautiful architecture, a lot of parks and incredible charm. It is there where Victor Hugo was born. We had dinner in a great restaurant on the Main Square/park which is laid out exactly like a Spanish City. We sat outside under these enormous plain trees and thoroughly enjoyed the dinner and this very special time with our friends. The next day we had a lovely breakfast on their boat and left in the direction of Annecy and continued south towards the Alps Maritimes where we were due to visit our friends Ana Ines and Jacques who spend their summers in La Doire. Their house is a wooden chalet, which Jacques has fixed up beautifully, all in pine, with a gorgeous garden that Ana Ines cherishes and which is located in one of the most beautiful settings one can imagine. It is a pretty isolated place where one can truly find peace.

They were having a party with 28 guests on Sunday, and everyone had to wear some kind of a hat, an original hat. Rosemary had lent us a couple that we could use and put anything on. I put a sunflower-like flower on Bill's and taped his ear. Since he looks like Van Gough, well, it was obvious. Mine was a type of fishing hat with loops, so I filled it with cosmetic items, and it turned out all right. There were some incredible hats, especially the one made by Ana Ines's niece made from origami birds. It was most artistic! On Sunday we did all the preparations for the party, such as setting the tables outside, They had already prepared the food, and their friend who is a caterer in Cannes was bringing the rest of the food. It was an unbelievable spread! It felt exactly like a French movie, with the family meal scene, in the most beautiful of settings. Copious amounts of drink and food were consumed that day, and after the meal, Jacques and two of his friends who have a music group, and who are quite accomplished musicians, played and sang for us. It was a beautiful ending to a special day. Monday morning we left their place down the Maritime Alps through some narrow roads along some incredible gorges, cascades, medieval towns, all and all, an incredible ride. We got to Monaco in the early afternoon, and decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. We stayed there for a week in Sylvia's nephew's apartment, truly relaxing and exploring around. We had the opportunity to go to a concert at the Palace Princier, given by the Monaco Philharmonic to celebrate Charlotte's birthday, and sat a few meters away from the Royal Family. We went to an art exhibit called New York, New York, on the last 50 years of New York art. It was incredibly well done. There was photography, painting, sculpture, video and film. It took us about three hours to see it all. The weather was warm and great our entire time in The South. One day we went to St. Tropez to meet our California friends Ken and Paca and their daughters, who were spending some time there while his paintings were being exhibited in a gallery. Being with them was a fabulous experience. We played petanque in the park and had a lovely meal right down from the gallery, sitting under the stars. The town is as beautiful as a Mediterranean town can be, and it is the playground of the rich and famous. The harbor is full of luxurious yachts, some with helicopters. It is a place where the men are as beautiful as the women. We left them at midnight and got back to Monaco after 2:00 AM. From Monaco we went to some tiny promontory towns such as Eze, La Turbie and Gorbio, each with its unique charm and beautiful architecture. The day before we left, we drove to Italy, and had a lovely experience eating on the beach at Bordighera. The ocean was so beautiful!

On the way back, we went through Burgundy, and south of Champagne, we went to visit our friend David, owner of Shenandoah, whom we had met in Cambrai, and who was stranded in an isolated spot with engine problems. His girlfriend had gone back to USA and he was there all alone literally in the middle of nowhere, a gorgeous bucolic spot, but very remote. He had prepared a great pasta meal for us, which we very much enjoyed, and he insisted we stay one more day with him. We did, and had a great time with Dave. The next day I cooked and we watched King Kong after dinner. We hated to leave Dave there, but Mary Ellen, his girlfriend will be back next week, and the 21st his new engine will be installed. It is going to be quite a project. They plan to go to Saint Jean de Losne for the winter.

We got back to Cambrai on Wednesday, and ever since it has been rainy and cool. Our friends Ronnie and Nigel stoped here for the night on their way to UK. They slept on Biesbosch, and gave us thumbs up on the recently completed "guests" accomodations. Today, Sunday, it is raining again. It is hard to believe that it is August, but that is the way the weather is in The North. Needless to say, our departure date has been postponed to next Friday the 18th of August. We are glad to start our cruising, but truly sad to be leaving such wonderful friends behind. It has been our third season here, so the friendships we have forged are very special. We will sure return from time to time to see all of them.


Hat party


A fabulous meal


View of La Doire from Jaques and Ana Ines' house


A typical town on the Maritime Alps


Beach at St. Maxime


Church tower in St. Tropez


Bill and Ken playing petanque


Group picture with Ken, Paca and girls


View from Monaco apartment


Town of Corbio


Evening view from Monaco apartment


Italian town of Ventimiglia


Shenandoah stranded at Marnay sur Marne


La Porte de Paris in Cambrai


La Turbie


La Turbie


View from the town of Eze