As the title of this posting suggests, we are now the proud owners of a Dutch barge in France. The results of June's survey gave us the confidence to complete the purchase, and on July 7--our 39th wedding anniversary--we officially took ownership. As we are still in process to change the boat registration, our new-to-us "baby" will continue to be called Antares until the French registration changeover is complete and she officially becomes C.A.R.I.B. III (Chill and Relax It's Bargetime).
On August 21 Lon and I flew back to France for two weeks to take physical possession of the "bateau". She was still at the shipyard in St. Jean de Losne, after having some post-survey remedial work done in July, including a bow thruster repair and new bottom paint. The basic plan for our trip was boat cleaning, a two-day Saone River cruise back to the marina in Pont-de-Vaux, and whatever boat projects we felt needed to be done before winter (and could be accomplished in the time we had). The interior boat cleaning turned out to be a 3-day effort in St. Jean. The previous owner had cleaned out the bare minimum of "stuff" and left us with a bit of a mess--old/opened food in cabinets, old make-up in the head (bathroom), old you-name-it in the various storage areas below and above decks. Fortunately, we had booked into a B&B in St. Jean for the first couple of nights, which gave us time to get the living quarters in good shape for our move aboard on the 3rd night and prep for our cruise to our home port (for now) of Pont-de-Vaux.
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| A cleaned salon, ready for occupancy |
We departed shipyard Atelier Fluvial mid-morning on Sunday, August 26, after a delay due to fog. Lon did a masterful job of pivoting the boat out of our very tight mooring spot and into position to wait for our entry into the lock on the Bourgogne Canal that would take us down into the Saone River.
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| A foggy Bourgogne Canal |
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First lock on the Bourgogne Canal, our
entry point into the Saone River |
After the fog cleared we had absolutely beautiful weather for our cruise.
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| Captain Lon conquers the Saone River |
Pat enjoying the cruise
Our destination for the day was Chalon-sur-Saône. A Roman port city existed on the site in the 1st century A.D., but the current name is from the 6th century and derives from Saint Marcellus of Chalon, said to have been martyred there in 179 AD. Chalon is perhaps best known as the 19th century birthplace of photography, when Joseph Nicephore Niepce developed heliography, a technique he used in 1825 to create a print made from a photoengraved printing plate. We had stopped overnight in Chalon on our trip upriver in June, and had hoped to have more opportunity this time to explore the medieval city center. Alas, the late start from St. Jean de Losne and a 2-hour arrival delay due to Formula 1 boat races just upriver of our intended mooring spot for the evening kept our explorations to a minimum. Maybe next time . . .
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| Boat races on the river at Chalon-sur-Saone |
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| Town square of old Chalon, with Chalon Cathedral (8th-19th C.) |
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| Moored for the evening in Chalon-sur-Saône |
Monday, August 27, was also a wonderful cruising day. The weather was fine and the river traffic minimal. Because we were heading downriver our trip took just a few hours. We were through the lock onto the Pont-de-Vaux canal and at our mooring spot in the Port de Plaisance (marina) by mid-afternoon.
We worked very hard over the next several days. The primary work projects were a good exterior cleaning (Lon); exterior window caulking (Pat); washing curtains, bedding, and towels (Pat); and dealing with rust spots on the hull (Lon).
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| Pat addresses window leaks with fresh caulk |
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| Lon sands and paints to keep rust damage at bay |
At the risk of sounding like at 1950's housewife, let's take a moment to consider--laundry. Never thought I'd say it, but the one feature of the boat that has made it worth every euro spent is this little beauty--our Miele washing machine.
One of the things I missed most during the years that we lived on C.A.R.I.B. II was being able to do laundry on the boat. The boat had come with a combo washer-dryer, but the first attempted use resulted in a torrent of water through dried out seals and the sad realization that it was beyond repair. We became dependent upon laundromats for the duration of our time as liveaboards. I was concerned that I would have the same issues with the washer on C.A.R.I.B. III, or at the very least, the washer wouldn't be good for much more than cleaning socks and underwear. Laundromats--when you can find them--are very expensive in France, so I was thrilled to find out how wrong I was. The Miele took everything I could throw at it--bedding, curtains, towels, jeans and other clothing--and took a lot of it per load. It was quiet, easy on water consumption, and the spin cycle took out so much water that air drying most things took no time at all. I am in love!
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| Clothes drying goes low-tech |
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I haven't ironed since I stopped working, but
the curtains needed it after washing |
Despite all the work, we did manage to find some time for rest and relaxation in Pont-de-Vaux.
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Pont-de-Vaux hosts a lively Wednesday
morning market |
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| Walking around Pont-de-Vaux |
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| A Saturday visit by Dutch friends Yolanda and Joost (and Suze & Rosa) |
All good things must come to an end. We finished as many projects as we could and decided to hire the marina to complete the boat winterizing activities in the fall. On Monday morning, September 3, a marina neighbor drove us to Macon to catch our Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV, "high-speed train") to Paris. What an awesome, stress-free way to travel! Less than 2 hours after departure from Macon we arrived at Gare de Lyon in Paris, stored our luggage, and enjoyed a few hours reacquainting ourselves with the city.
We thought Paris would be overrun with tourists, but it seems that the summer holidays universally finished the last week in August. Unlike during previous trips to the city, we didn't encounter long lines at some major tourist attractions, and so were able to--finally--see the interior of Notre Dame Cathedral and the royal chapel of Sainte-Chapelle. Construction on the well-known Notre Dame Cathedral started in 1163 and continued off-and-on until the 19th Century. During the French Revolution, the cathedral was converted into a storage warehouse for food, and the heads of many statues were removed. The Sainte-Chapelle (Holy Chapel) was constructed between 1242 and 1248 within the medieval Palais de la Cite. It was also damaged during the French Revolution, but restored in the 19th century. Its extensive 13th-century stained glass collection (over 1100 panels) depicts stories from the Old and New Testaments.
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Lunch at a sidewalk cafe near
the Seine |
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Cathedral of Notre Dame provides a backdrop
for a tourist boat on the Seine |
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| Interior of Notre Dame Cathedral |
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Close-up of stained glass in
Sainte-Chapelle |
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| Interior of Sainte-Chapelle |
Near the Louvre Museum
The next months will be spent planning next year's travels in France. Because our 20-year old cat Zipper is still with us, and we don't know for how long, we will have to create alternate plans: ZP-Zipper Plan and NZP-No Zipper Plan. We will also try to improve our French. Google Translate was a wonderful communication tool for us this time around, but it's not perfect, and we would prefer to be able to communicate without depending upon GT too much. We'll do a posting in mid-spring 2019 with a broad outline of our plans.
