And . . . It's a Wrap!

We have now closed the door on the 2023 boating season and are back in Florida. It's always "fun" the first few days, trying to remember where everything is, and of course, having to do way too much grocery shopping in order to get the cupboards replenished. Our sleep cycles are slowly adjusting to the time change, although staying up later has been easier than sleeping past 4 or 5 a.m., which means that most of our nights are a bit short on sleep at the moment. This, too, shall pass.

We collected a few more photographic memories of Auxerre on September 30 and October 1 while preparing C.A.R.I.B. III for its long winter nap, then headed to Paris on the afternoon of the 1st.

The Auxerre riverfront by night.

Late summer "fireworks" at sunset.

A last selfie by the boat prior to departure.

Locking up and walking away.

When we can, we like to work in a final day or two in Paris prior to leaving France. In addition to just soaking in the atmosphere, we try to do at least one new thing during those short visits. The big draw, and our new activity, for this end-of-season time in Paris was an invitation from boating friends Jonathan and Jeannie on the barge "Aleau" for a cruise through the Saint Martin tunnel. The south entry to the tunnel is located at the basin of Port Arsenal, where we spent 3 weeks in June. From our mooring we had watched numerous tour boats enter and exit the tunnel and experienced the "bounce" of waves created by the release of water from locks at the other end of the tunnel, but hadn't purchased the permit required to cruise the Saint Martin Canal. Jonathan and Jeannie live in the Arsenal on their boat during the winter months, and as they were planning to arrive at the Port on October 1, they offered to use their pass and their boat to give us the "Saint Martin Canal Tunnel experience."

A canal cruise requires sustenance beforehand, so we met up with them at "Breakfast in America" on October 2 in order to get our "Bottomless Cup O'Joe" and a breakfast that would do a U.S. diner proud.

Jonathan (in the mirror at right) photographs Lon, Jeannie, and
me at BIA.

The Canal Saint-Martin links the Seine River to the Canal de l'Ourcq. The original canal was built in the early 1800's as a source of fresh water for Paris. 2.5 kilometers of the canal were enclosed by a tunnel at the end of the 19th century during Baron Haussmann's monumental "re-do" of Paris.  It's a popular tourist day cruise, but also provides an alternative to the Seine as a way to exit central Paris.

As Jonathan drives from the back, and Jeannie crews at the front, Lon and I find ourselves
in the unusual position of being able to enjoy a cruise without having to work at it.

The middle boat occupies the slip that we were in during
our June stay in the Arsenal.

Just entering the south end of the tunnel.

The tunnel is lit by electric lights, but also by skylights. If you're on the street above, you can see
down into the tunnel. If you're in the tunnel, you can see out to the world above.

Upon exiting the tunnel, you're immediately greeted by
the first of two adjacent locks.

Boat transit through the locks of the Canal Saint-Martin
is a spectator sport.

The lockkeeper wasted no time in letting water into
the lock.

We went "up" through two locks, then turned around in the basin, went "down" through the same two locks, and re-entered the tunnel to head back to port. The timing of our return cruise was such that the position of the sun resulted in shafts of light through the skylights.

The lights created some lovely effects.

Jeannie and I at the front of Aleau had an unobstructed view.

After saying our farewells to Jonathan and Jeannie, we stopped for visits at a couple of additional boats in the marina. One boat was that of an Australian couple we met at the DBA barge rally in Auxerre who were planning to spend this winter in Paris aboard their boat. Our other stop was at the boat of one of our French boat neighbors in June, a musician who we hope to see in Sarasota in November as he makes a musical "farewell tour" in the U.S. 

October 3 was our day to travel to Charles de Gaulle airport for a night at an airport hotel prior to our departure to the U.S. on October 4, but we were in no particular hurry to get to the airport. Instead, we kept our luggage stored at our Paris hotel, and used the available time for two more new (to us) Paris experiences.

The first item of the day for us was another subterranean activity, this one following in the footsteps of "Les Misérables" hero Jean Valjean to the sewers of Paris, via the Paris Sewers Museum. We'd been aware for years that such an "attraction" existed and had often thought about visiting, but it had never exactly been a "bucket list" item for us. From 2018 to 2021 the museum was closed for renovation, but with the renovations complete, we decided that this year was as good as any to satisfy our curiosity. It was--OK. The museum shows just a very tiny portion of this "city beneath the city," and the purpose of the museum is to educate, not to shock or titillate, but it nevertheless felt a bit "flat" as an experience. 

The only rat to be seen was in artwork on a wall.

This was the smelliest part of the museum, a demonstration
of the equipment used for straining trash out of the 
wastewater, which is a combination of water from
sanitary sewers and storm sewers.

A replica of a side tunnel. The sewers do have street signs
 posted reflective of the location in the city above.

Just across the river from the Sewer Museum is the "Flame of Liberty", an exact
 replica of the flame on the torch of the Statue of Liberty. It was a gift to the city of
 Paris in 1989 by the International Herald Tribune. It is now a de facto shrine to
Princess Diana, since it stands above the underpass that was the location of the car
 crash that took her life in 1997.

After lunch we took a meandering route towards the Louvre Museum area to catch the Metro back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and then head to the airport. In doing so, we walked by the Petit Palais, a building constructed for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, which now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts. We'd never visited it, and after seeing that admission was free to the permanent exhibitions, we made a spur of the moment decision to stop inside.

The interior was gorgeous. When we have more time it
is probably worth revisiting so that we can see more of
the artwork.

 The gardens in the interior courtyard of the Petit Palais.

Public art in the Tuileries Garden. The statuary would 
probably be banned in Florida these days.

Although it was October 3 it still felt like summer,
and the Tuileries Garden's vegetation looked like summer.

After non-eventful flights--the best kind--to Tampa-St. Pete, we immediately started our fall/winter activities. It feels like we were never gone. We already have an idea of where we would like to cruise during the 2024 season, but as "aspirations" (rather than "plans") worked so well for us this year, we think we'll stick with hopes and aspirations in 2024 as well. The blog is now on hiatus for a few months.