Family Frolics

Good news! We received the correct replacement batteries on Monday, August 7, and the port electrician was back from vacation and on our boat the next day. Even better, the electrical issues turned out not to be especially serious: a stuck relay switch on the bow thruster controller was corrected by cleaning and remounting the relay, and rewiring the charge splitter and tightening the battery cut-off switches dealt with the alternator problem. After having to purchase two ridiculously expensive Exide batteries, we were glad to "escape" with only three hours of electrician time and a few replacement fuses as additional expenses.

During our wait for repairs in the first week of August, the weather continued to be very unlike a typical August. August 1st was rather rainy, but we did manage to eke out "Auxerre Walking Tour, Part 3" during one of the breaks in the rain.

A statue of poetess Marie-Noel, well-known in France,
and born in Auxerre in 1883. 

The interior of Saint-Eusebe church. The current constructions
are from the 12th to the 16th centuries. The first church
on the site in the 7th century, part of a monastery dedicated
 to Saint-Eusebius, was outside of the 3rd century Roman
 town walls, and was ultimately abandoned by the monks because
it was attacked so often. It was finally enclosed by a second
town wall built in the late 12th century.

Lon is an exemplary tour guide.

The off-again, on-again rain--and constant wind--continued into the morning and mid-afternoon of Wednesday, August 2, when we welcomed Lon's oldest brother Nick, Nick's wife Wendy, and Lon's youngest sister Sarah to Auxerre. We were very grateful that our port neighbor Robert was kind enough to perform "taxi service" with his vehicle to get our guests from the train station to the boat. In nice weather the walk from the train station is an easy 10-15 minutes, but it would have been a different story in the "sideways rain" that was falling at the time their train from Paris arrived in Auxerre. 

Miracle of miracles, the rain stopped, and the sun came out soon after our guests arrived on the boat. Although it was still incredibly windy, we were able to cross the river for a stroll to introduce them to Auxerre. As Sarah was only going to be with us for two nights, and Nick & Wendy for three, we had hoped to be able to take the boat out on a river cruise on Thursday, August 3. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. Thursday was gray, showery at times, and extremely windy. Our fallback was further exploration of Auxerre and a lovely dinner that night at an Italian restaurant.

Not letting the weather get us down: L to R (back): Wendy, Pat, 
Lon, Nick. Front: Sarah.

Lon, Wendy, Nick, and Sarah listen to an organist rehearsing
in the Saint-Etienne Cathedral. 

Wendy, Sarah, Lon and Nick on a wet quay at the first lock of
the Nivernais Canal.

The brothers bid "adieu" to their sister at the train station
when she left us on Friday morning to make her way to London. 

The weather on Friday started out cool and foggy, and the early forecast did not give us much hope for a weather day suitable for boating. Lon and I were wracking our brains to try to come up with a good alternate way to spend the day, when the skies began to clear, and the winds stayed calm. Around 11 a.m. we decided that the weather window was good enough to attempt a cruise. We were away from the dock within 30 or 40 minutes and headed north on the Yonne.

We made it to the 2nd lock by the time the lunch hour rolled around at noon. We were allowed to tie
up inside the lock, then the eclusier dropped the water level and went to lunch while we
enjoyed sandwiches and chips on the aft deck.

Wendy and Nick enjoying the sun near the
bow of the boat. I do not know the spf level
of Nick's jacket/head covering, but as a fashion
statement it was top notch.

After passing through the 3rd lock, we turned the boat around and headed back to Auxerre. The
town looks so much better in sunshine!

All told, we had about a 4-hour outing, including lunch. While it would have been nice to have cruised further, we were glad we returned when we did. About an hour after mooring, while we were enjoying our after-cruise Crémant on the back deck, an intense storm cell moved over Auxerre. As we escaped to the inside of the boat, the rain poured down and high winds created waves on the river. Within less than an hour it was all over and we were left with a lovely, calm evening for a farewell dinner with Nick and Wendy at a local creperie.

Wendy's dessert looked delicious.

Lon makes a friend of the creperie owner's dog.

We walked through Auxerre's night market on our way
to and from dinner.

It was a beautiful twilight and the river was like glass.

After Nick and Wendy left us on Saturday morning to head up to Charles DeGaulle Airport for a Sunday return to the U.S., we mostly just took it easy. The wind returned, and although it wasn't rainy, the cloud cover made it a bit cool and we were happy to mostly hang out on the boat at the port. We went to dinner on Saturday night with friends Jonathan and Jeannie (of the barge Aleau), and after a "movie night" on their boat on Sunday, we bid them farewell on Monday as they left Auxerre and headed north on the Yonne to continue their cruising season before settling into Port Arsenal in Paris in October. We hope to be able to see them in Paris before we return to Florida in early October.