Lazy Days

It's been a pretty quiet period for us in the time since the last blog posting. We had good intentions for biking to a number of villages in the vicinity, but the weather turned very hot, which stripped us of most of our inclinations for exerting ourselves to go sightseeing. Lon managed some painting repair work, but the bulk of our days--at least during the midday hours--was spent inside the boat. It was simply too warm outside to do much else.

We did manage to do one day trip to the town of Clamecy, on the Canal du Nivernais about 44 kilometers (25 miles) to the south of Auxerre. We did this on Saturday, August 19, as that was the only day where the daytime high was not forecast to exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit. As it was outside of our biking range, we took the train down in the morning and returned via bus in the late afternoon. Located at the confluence of the Yonne and Beuvron rivers, it is another Burgundian "medieval village", of which there are many. The medieval center of Clamecy has been classified as a protected sector by the French government and has some lovely buildings from that era.

Timbers-R-Us: A stroll through the historic center of Clamecy revealed some
lovely streetscapes.

Clamecy as seen from across the Beuvron River.

The castle (circa 1700) in Parc Vauvert.

The collegiate church of Saint-Martin, built from
the end of the 12th century through to the 16th.

Saturday was market day, and the covered market
was buzzing with activity. The produce looked really good;
I wished we'd been in a position to actually shop.

Clamecy is a stop on the Nivernais Canal, and has a very nice Halte Nautique for 
passing boaters. 

A flowered bridge over the Beuvron River.

Lunch was ham and cheese sandwiches from a local 
bakery as we sat at the Halte Nautique.

Clamecy was once the site of mills for wood, woolens, and flour; tanneries; and boot and shoe manufacturers. It was also known for trading of wine, cattle, wood, and charcoal. For over 400 years it enjoyed great prosperity as a center of the "Flottage du bois", whereby huge quantities of wood from the Morvan forests were processed and floated down the river system to feed the insatiable appetite of Paris for wood to heat its homes. 

During the "great flood", the logs at 22 ports were thrown into
the river at the same time, and ended up in Clamecy for
further processing--sorting and stacking into rafts that would
then be floated to Paris.

The Clamecy Museum had an exhibit on the 
"Flottage du bois". As Paris transitioned to the 
use of coal for heating, the "wood floating" industry
declined. The last free log float took place in 1923.

Although we were hiding out from the heat during most days, we were not without social outlets. For about a week, Canadians Jill and David--and a rotating guest list--were rafted to the outside of us on their barge Thetis. We shared docktails more than once with them and with fellow Floridians David and Betty.

Thetis left Auxerre on Friday, August 18, to head up the 
Nivernais Canal.

We shared more than one dinner out with Betty and David. This
particular outing was for crepes. They are getting their motor sailor
ready for sale after years of incredible cruising adventures in
oceans, canals, and rivers. As their residence is Melbourne, FL,
we have hopes for a winter reunion with them back in the States.

Because we haven't been cruising I no longer have any excuse for not getting my morning exercise walking done. Some days the lingering over coffee is just too attractive, but I have managed to get out a few times, and with the heat, the earlier the better. On one of my walks I passed the Palais de Justice (courthouse). It was a nice enough building . . . 

 . . . but what really intrigued me was the sign that I saw painted on one corner adjacent to the parking area.

"Forbidden to urinate under pain of fine"

In a country where it has sometimes seemed (in fairness, not so much these days) that public urination is a spectator sport, the appearance of the wall made me wonder if the threat was all that effective.

After heavy thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday, today was absolutely glorious, wonderful weather for the 6th annual "Rues Barrees Festival d'Auxerre" (closed streets festival). Over 3 days, 20 artistic companies take to the streets of Auxerre to "strut their stuff"--acrobats, mimes, dancers, and others. Sidewalk sales were taking place at the same time, so the center of town was a lively place to be. 

We weren't able to spend a lot of time at the festival, but we were there to see this wandering
troupe of ballerinas who had escaped from the conservatory. Their performance was
highly interactive with the audience and very funny.

We are heading out tomorrow to a hotel at Charles de Gaulle Airport in preparation for a Monday morning flight to Oslo, Norway. We've not been to Norway before and are looking forward to seeing a bit of the country from which both of us have ancestors. Besides just general sightseeing, we have a stop planned in the town of Mo i Rana and a drive to the farm that was the home of one of my great-grandmothers in the 1800's. We'll be doing a fair amount of moving around by train and ferry, so I don't expect that I'll be posting anything here until after our return to Auxerre on September 7.