le Val d'Amour

This week's walk was a lot gentler - more rolling countryside than dramatic drops - amongst the vineyards of the Val d'Amour.
Lots of interesting fungi in the woods:

Arbois

We started this week's walk in the pretty town of Arbois. It involved quite a lot of climbing again, but it was more spread out and less steep than last week.
We had high hopes for more stunning panoramas from the top of the gorge, but we ended up looking down into a thick sea of fog.
However, much of our walk was through woodland and the mist made it very atmospheric. When we stopped crunching through the beech leaves, there was a kind of dense, comforting silence - interrupted only by the occassional birdsong. It was quite magical at times, especially as we came across a group of wild chamois cavorting amongst the ruins of an ancient chateau.
It was noticeably colder this week and, 16km later, we were more than ready for a vin chaud at a local hostelry!

Baume les Messieurs

Another great, long walk this week - 15km. Not as sunny as last week, as you can see from the pictures, but magnificent scenery again. I've included a screen shot from Google Earth to show the layout. (Guess I should be able to link it, any ideas?) If you're interested enough, open Google Earth and search for Baume les Messieurs. If you zoom in around the village and the southern end of the gorge, some little red squares should appear which are links to panoramic photos.

After parking beside the Abbey, we climbed up the escarpment. Carol's guide book classed the walk as difficult and described the climb as a ladder, so I was a little apprehensive. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as we'd feared and we were soon on the top, looking down at the tiny houses and cars. We walked all along the western edge, looped through a village or two and then came back down the southern end of the gorge, via the waterfall.

The boys had less stamina than us girls, so David and Bob stayed in the car while Carol, Jacquie and I went to explore the Abbey. It was undergoing some major renovation - the floor of the chancel had been lifted and an archaelogical dig was in progress. They had uncovered some 13th century burials and what they thought might be the remains of a Carolingian building under the Apse. A bit morbid, I know, but we took a few photos of the skeletons.

Keeping busy

What a busy social life we have at the moment! We've been to a quiz night which David did not find too thrilling (no, we didn't win but there were only 3 points in it), joined a French conversation class for both English and French speakers at all levels - so it suits both of us, walking in the Jura mountains and I've been to a women's coffee morning/debating club.
The walk has been a real highlight. We responded to a circular email from the St Jean de Losne boating community, asking if anyone was interested in exploring the foothills of the Jura and the Beaune region. Carol arranged to pick us up at 8:30 Thursday morning, along with another couple - Bob & Jacquie who we'd met at the French class. We packed a picnic and a flask of rum-laced hot chocolate; we thought it might be chilly up in the mountains!
With Borat on the GPS to guide us through the morning mist, we set off for the Cascades du Herisson. Driving up into the foothills, the mist disappeared to reveal the sunny slopes of the Jura. We left the car in the small village of Menetrux-en-Joux and started our ramble.
The sun shone all day and I soon started stripping off some of the many layers I'd worn 'just in case', although it was cooler in the shady, steep-sided gorge. The scenery was beautiful and as we climbed, we were privy to some stunning panoramas. There were still a few russet leaves clinging to the branches of the beech trees which, along with the pines, added some last-minute autumn colour to the landscape.

We stopped for lunch beside the Lac d'Ilay - not really warm enough for a paddle, but what a view.

We arrived back at the car with aching legs (not surprising after 14km) having really enjoyed the day. In fact, we had such a good time, we've arranged to go on another walk next week.

What do we do all day...? part 2

Shiny new chairs.

F-Escher

Home-made fly screen

New curtain pole

Shopping!

St Symphorien

After much deliberation, we have decided to stay at St Symphorien for the winter. We're booked into the dry dock near here to have the keel removed (attempt #2!) in April and the round trip to Nevers is about 400km. So, we thought we may as well stay here.
Although this is a small village and not many other people stay on board all winter, we're quite close to St Jean de Losne where there is a thriving boating community. I visited the 'book swap' at the local museum this morning and found out about various up-coming social events. I think there'll be plenty to do here if we want to join in.

What do we do all day...?

Engine stuff

New cupboards in the galley

Cutting up an old chain for ballast

The demise of the mast

Varnishing the saloon floor

Decorating a cupboard door for the bathroom

The best laid plans...

We turned back onto the Saône a few days ago and, after a couple of days in the woods, are now in Auxonne. We have discovered that our route back to Nevers is closed for the time being. The VNF have closed the Canal du Centre due to low water levels and cannot say when it will re-open! We had heard rumours that this might happen in August but, after all the rain we’ve experienced we thought things would be OK by now.

So, what to do? We have decided to go to St Symphorien for the time being. David enjoyed his stay there in May when I came home to mark SATs and we’re wondering whether to winter there even if we do get the chance to head back to Nevers. It’s a lovely mooring but very rural – 4km to the nearest shop – and we were both looking forward to seeing our friends in Nevers again. Whatever happens, we’ll have a few weeks there to see how it feels and research some other possibilities.

Aval

After Langres we reached the summit of the Canal and started heading downhill (aval) after another tunnel of approx 5km. I steered almost the whole length – my glasses steamed up as we entered and David had to take over for a bit. Locks seem easier to manage when you’re going downhill – mooring is easier as the bollards are visible and reachable. In a deep lock going uphill, it’s much harder to lasso the bollards – or perhaps that’s just me. I’ve come to realise that rope throwing is never going to be one of my top 10 skills!

There are no big towns along this stretch of the canal and the countryside is, as has been the case on most of our journey, beautiful and peaceful.

Langres

We found some really good places to stop on the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne and met some interesting people. We spent a few days at Langres, a hilltop medieval town with Roman origins and most of its ramparts still intact. The hill up from the port is quite steep. We took our bikes up once but ended up pushing them much of the way. (Coming back down was fun, though.) We walked the 3.5km around the ramparts which gave us some fantastic views across the countryside. I visited the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire and was surprised to find the archaeological section much more interesting than the art. They clearly have a lot of well-preserved Roman remains here. In fact, the mosaic was discovered on the site where they built the museum.

Joinville

A Quiet Night?

We are always in search of a peaceful spot to spend the night. The other day we were passing through a lock mid-afternoon and the lock-keeper asked us where we were going to stop for the night. We asked if he could recommend anywhere. He told us there was a nice place 2 bridges further on – a quiet place with little road traffic. We left the lock and saw what we thought looked like an excellent place, just 1 bridge further on, and so we stopped. There was a wide greensward separating the canal from the road with some attractive houses facing the water. There was also a windowless, factory-type building entitled ‘Millenium’ with a large car park. I wondered if it might be a ‘LaserQuest’ type place.

We had a quiet evening, a glass of wine watching the sunset, and went to bed. We were awoken a short while later to the sound of shouting and whooping and the steady beat of dance music. So, not a ‘LaserQuest’ type place but a very noisy nightclub. The sound of the beat wasn’t too loud and easy to tune out, but every so often revellers would come outside seemingly in order to shout and scream – not so easy to tune out. And then, when the music finally stopped, around 4am, there was a competition in the car park to see who had the loudest horn. Not a very quiet night! Perhaps we should have just got up and joined in.

Village Shops

We recently moored near a typical French village/small town which was yet another victim of the rise of out-of-town shopping – something we’re seeing throughout our travels. The village had 5 or 6 shops, but the only one still trading was the Boulangerie. Even the bar/restaurant had closed down and was up for sale. I understand that people want more choice and lower prices but, when every town offers the same chain stores, does that really equal choice?

As fossil fuels become more scarce and more expensive, I wonder if we will all be so willing to jump in the car and drive to an out-of-town shopping centre at the weekend. Perhaps there will be some sort of reversal? Or, perhaps the roads will just be full of delivery vans bringing our on-line purchases to our doors…

Cruising Again

After what seems like an age (about a month) in and around Toul, we’re both really enjoying being on the move again. We completed our journey on the Canal de la Marne au Rhin and are now heading South on the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne. The weather has been very mixed – some very hot, sunny days and others much cooler with lots of rain.

Our friends from Toul drove over to meet us along the way - 6 days cruising for us took them about 45 mins in their camper van! That was a sunny day and we spent a great afternoon/evening together.

We made it through the Mauvages Tunnel – our longest so far at nearly 5km – without too many scrapes along the side. It’s really difficult to steer in a straight line when you’re in a narrow channel.

Bar-le-Duc was an interesting stopover. The old town is full of renaissance architecture – very ornate building facades, seemingly unchanged since the 16^th century.

The church of Saint-Étienne has a skeletal statue of the Prince of Orange. Apparently, his widow wanted to see what he would look like 3 years after his death in 1544.

Orconte was our home for a couple of days - we met some interesting people there. A Swedish/Dutch couple on a sailing yacht moored behind us and we spent the evening together. They are on their way to the Mediterranean and then maybe further South and West. David told them all about crossing the Atlantic and his adventures in the Caribbean.

Winter work

I'm trying to find some work for the winter (November - March). So, if anyone out there hears of anything, let me know - it doesn't have to be teaching.

Liverdun