Boat Time + French Time

As of May 24 we have been in Europe for a month. One might think, given that we came here to cruise rivers and canals, that it's taking us a lot of time to get going on that aspect of things. Actually, our plan always has been that it would take until the end of May or the first part of June to accomplish the boat projects and "life activities" that absolutely needed to be done before cruising could start. Our two week trip to Italy and Switzerland also had an impact on the time frame.

The second week of June is our new estimate for starting the cruising. Blame "boat time" and "French time" for the delay. "Boat time" in this case encompasses a variety of factors: a "new to us" boat on which we are discovering a number of items we need to fix as well as equipment or furnishings we need to acquire (e.g., bicycles, a sewing machine, an area rug for the salon); and the general truism that any boat project ends up taking 3 times longer than you'd think it should (things don't work right the first time, needing to make multiple trips to boat stores or do-it-yourself stores--bricolage--for random parts that you didn't anticipate needing). "French time" is the increased time it takes us to do things, in part due to the way French society operates, but mostly because of our learning curve regarding all things French. Many small stores are closed over the lunch hour--if you realize at 12:30 p.m. that you need a part from the local hardware store you may as well relax, because the store won't open again until 2 p.m. A big challenge for us--probably the biggest--is simply dealing with the French language and the need for translation to get things done. Translation takes a LOT of time. Reading is actually going fairly well and our vocabulary increases daily, but it still takes me quite a while to work through an understanding of some of the labels in the grocery store, for example. Hearing and speaking French is a higher level of difficulty and a whole other issue, and activities that require personal interaction, e.g. banking, take a lot of time to get through and sometimes a lack of clarity causes us to miss important details that then result in needing "do overs." We are still trying to make arrangements for our French phone plan because--surprise!--the mobile phone company doesn't accept our U.S. Visa card as payment (so back to the bank to arrange for a carte bancaire--bank card--to go along with our checking account.) Despite the frustrations with the language, the people that we have met have been invariably kind and eager to assist us. One of the best pieces of advice we received came from the book "French for Cruisers." The authors say not to take oneself too seriously when trying to communicate in French. Just get out there and TRY, and realize that " . . . your mission is to amuse the locals with your attempts to speak French." Based on our experiences here to date--Mission Accomplished!

In any event, the combination of "boat time" and "French time" is the perfect recipe to blowing a schedule to smithereens. So it's a good thing we're not really on a schedule.

The photographs that follow give more glimpses into what we are experiencing in our little corner of Burgundy.