The Pace Slows

With our UK trip done, and no day-to-day cruising, our past week has definitely been spent at a relatively relaxed pace. We've had some glorious, sunny early fall days here, so we are trying to take advantage of the mostly dry weather and complete as much as we can of our exterior painting and staining projects. It's not a huge amount of work--the painting is basically just touch-ups, repairing a few scrapes that we acquired as we cruised; and the staining merely some light sanding and a couple of coats of fresh stain on the one wooden exterior door we have on the boat. 

The docks adjacent to the boat are pretty short, so Lon has
to use the dinghy to get access to the hull
for the spot painting

Last Sunday, September 18, the need to complete projects warred with the desire to have fun and explore the area on a beautiful day, and "fun" won. 

Our first stop of the day, a 4-km bicycle ride away from the port, was Axe Majeur (Major Axis), a huge work of public "urban sculpture." Meant to be both monumental and a highly symbolic linkage of the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise to the historic Parisian axis, it was the vision of the Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan. Work began on the site in the early 1980's and reached its current level of completion in 2009. This area of landscaped walks and contemporary art includes 12 stations stretching over 3 kilometers.

The portion of the Axe Majeur from the red pedestrian bridge to the "Twelve Columns"

The view of the high rises of "La Defense" on the perimeter of Paris, as seen from the
level of the "Twelve Columns"

Lon demonstrates the amount of ascending and descending
required to get from the Twelve Columns back to our
bicycles on a lower level

Later that same day we cycled to the nearby town of Pontoise, the other major founding town of the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Pontoise is built along the Oise River, and we had cruised by the town, but didn't stop, on our way to Port Cergy. Like Cergy, Pontoise has an historic core surrounded by relatively new development, but it is older and larger than Cergy. Pontoise dates from Roman times, and its many vestiges of the past--such as medieval lanes, convents, churches, museums, and a castle--led to it being awarded the "City of Art and History" label in 2006.

A bit of serendipity for us was that our visit to Pontoise coincided with the annual European Heritage Days. This is typically a weekend in late September when many towns throughout France develop programs to highlight their historic and artistic heritage, and access to various historic sites and museums is often available at no charge. Such was the case in Pontoise, and we wished we had arrived earlier in the day to take better advantage of what was being offered. Still, we did our best in the time available and saw enough to make us want to go back when we have more time.

Vestiges of the old city fortifications. The old castle lay at the upper level, but was 
demolished in the mid-1700's. "Castle Park" currently occupies the site

The view of the Oise River and "left bank" Pontoise as seen from Castle Park

For Heritage Days, the city opened access to what was a 
small limestone quarry for the castle, and later a storage
site. Here, Lon climbs up the 66 steps of the 15th
century staircase that allows access to the old quarry

A tour guide addresses a rapt audience inside the church
of the 17th C Carmelite monastery (in French, unfortunately for us).
Although the nuns were temporarily expelled during the French
 Revolution, they returned in 1803 and the Carmel of Pontoise is the
 oldest Carmel in France still active within its original walls

A bit of intelligent business location, with butter,
eggs, and cheese (on the left) being sold 
next to a bakery (on the right)

The view over old Pontoise from Castle Park. 
The Saint-Maclou Cathedral, dating to the 12th C, is the high point
 in that part of the old medieval town

Nearer to our current "home" is the vast parkland around the artificial lakes on the opposite side of the Oise from Port Cergy. The lakes lie at one end of Axe Majeur. It's a great place for taking a daily walk away from traffic. It is set up for an enormous number of water-based activities, so the fact that it's not very lively now that summer is over is no surprise. However, on my walk on Friday I did see several school groups taking advantage of some of the activities that didn't require water immersion.

It's difficult to see against the trees, but there is actually one person crossing over this water on 
a zipline, and two youngsters "cycling" across the water on a taut line (their small reflections
are visible in the water about mid-photo)

We're also happy to be able to break up the work with visits
with our Australian boat neighbors Steve and Rosie

Although it would be nice to have another "fun" Sunday, we need to finish the exterior painting today, because the weather forecast for the next week looks uniformly wet. Great news for replenishing water levels, not so great for doing outside activities. We are planning a trip into Paris on Friday, where we will meet New Zealand boating friends John and Margaret for lunch and a "catch-up" on post-Amiens adventures.

We're also keeping an eye on the weather back in Florida and hoping that Hurricane Ian doesn't create too many problems.