Trading Bases

It's official. We have changed our French "home port" from Pont-de-Vaux to Auxonne.  It's not that we disliked Pont-de-Vaux, but as part of our tentative planning for next year's cruising season we decided that it would be nice to be closer to the "jumping off points" for a variety of canal routes in the center, north, and east of France. Staying in Pont-de-Vaux would have meant having to repeat--fall and spring--the 100+ kilometer stretch of the Saone River between Pont-de-Vaux and St. Jean-de-Losne in order to access those canals. Not horrible, but as we've already done that 2-3 day cruise 3 times we are not sorry to not have to do it again (for a while, at least).  As well, Port Royal has a large contingent of English-speaking boaters (Brits, Aussies, New Zealanders, and the occasional American) and an Aussie port captain. Sometimes a break from wrestling with the French language is a beautiful thing.

One result of this change is that, for all practical purposes, we are done cruising for the season. The past week has been spent on a mixture of projects (both planning and execution),  touristic/recreational activities, and simply relaxing and exploring our new "home". That pattern will continue until our return to the U.S. on October 1.

On Monday, August 12, we set off on our bicycles for the town of St. Jean-de-Losne, about 10 miles downriver from Auxonne. St. Jean is the town where the survey of our barge was done last summer. It has some boat related businesses that we needed to visit. Google Maps routed us along the river, and this was fine for about half the distance as we were on a lovely bicycle trail. But the asphalt disappeared, and then the gravel, until we were left with a mostly unimproved car track between farm fields and the river.

Between corn field and river--for a time we were afraid we

were going to have a repeat of the "pasture ride" we experienced

 in late May. Fortunately, the track was kept mowed, probably

for the convenience of the fishermen and campers we 

encountered at the river's edge.

On our return to Auxonne we opted for a less rustic route that took us inland to a lovely paved road that passed through several villages. The route was a bit longer, but the road didn't have much traffic and we made better time on our return trip.

Friday was "road trip" day, via train, to the town of Beaune. Located about forty kilometers south of the city of Dijon, Beaune is a French Town of Art and History and the center of the Burgundy wine trade. In the 15th century it was the parliamentary capital of the Duchy of Burgundy. Like so many of the towns we have visited this summer, the old town of Beaune contains some remarkable monuments, and preserved buildings and mansions of impressive age.

The 15th century Hotel-Dieu, built as a hospital for the

poor and sick. As evidenced by the long line of tourists

waiting to enter, this is the most famous of the local 

historic buildings. The world's biggest wine auction takes

place here in November. We would have loved to see the

interior, but had neither the time nor the patience to brave

the line 

The 14th century ducal palace of the Dukes of Burgundy.

It now houses the Museum of Burgundy Wine.

The old vat house at the chateau

 contained a collection of wine presses

from the 16th through 19th centuries. 

From the 13th century, and inspired by the religious center

in Cluny, we have the Collegiate Church of Our Lady--

another "Notre Dame". It is one of the last big Romanesque

churches in Burgundy.

Within the church, in one

 of the oldest chapels,

we find this 15th century mural.

The pride and joy of the Church of Notre Dame is a collection of five

tapestries from the 15th century that illustrate the life of the Virgin Mary--as 

it would have looked had she lived in the 15th century. The skill required to

craft these tapestries by hand was amazing.

The old town still retains many of the old ramparts,

and the passageways needed to enter and exit.

Lovely "old stuff" notwithstanding, Beaune is first and foremost about wine. Wine has been important in this region for millennia. The Climats (vineyards) of Burgundy are plots whose limits have been precisely drawn out and named for several centuries. Each Climat has its own specific soil, subsoil, and microclimate (the terroir). This means that every wine from a Climat has a unique flavor achieved through a single grape variety (pinot noir for reds, chardonnay for whites). Because these long-standing cultivation practices have given rise to a whole cultural and architectural heritage, the Climats of Burgundy were added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2015.

The area listed as a World Heritage site stretches from Dijon in the north to

a series of villages in the south called the Maranges, with Beaune

 approximately in the middle.  More than 1,247 Climats

are encompassed by the boundaries of the area listed as World Heritage.

Public art in Beaune, with, of course, 

a wine theme.

No significance whatsoever, except that any man who

would go out in public with a Pokémon character over

his motorcycle helmet deserves to be noticed. 

This coming Friday we'll be off to Dole to rent a car for the weekend. A large amount of shopping will be involved, as we hope to be able to acquire all of the supplies we need for the painting and wood staining that we want to accomplish, as well as oil and filters and things of that nature for winterization that must take place before the end of September. We are looking forward to a probable visit on Saturday by our Dutch friends Yolanda, Joost, Rosa, and Suze as they make their way back home to Haarlem after their summer vacation in various parts of France. And we are still hoping to do a several day long trip somewhere in early September--we're a little behind in the planning for that, so hopefully we can use this week to firm up those plans.