One New Thing

After our return to France from Kenya, we had three beautiful, summerlike days before rain moved in with a vengeance on September 21.

Relaxing on CARIB after the hours of air and train travel to
get from Kenya to Toul. When the rain system moved in and
refused to move on, it was nice to have a photo to remember
what a sunny and warm day looked like.

It's a good thing we'd completed so many of our outdoor projects before we left for Africa, and used the three "good days" to finalize most of the rest, because our last week in Toul was absolute weather misery. After the dry summer the rain was much needed, but for six solid days it was grey, cloudy, cool, and wet--sometimes very, very wet. Still, we managed to work around the periods of rain--and sometimes through the rain--to run final errands and enjoy a couple of dinners out in Toul. I also managed to finally check out an old cemetery that we'd seen from the train on one of our recent trips. It turned out to be what remained of Toul's Jewish cemetery of the 18th and 19th centuries. Toul used to have a relatively large Jewish population, but no longer. The synagogue in town is a historic monument but is now privately owned and is no longer in use as a center of worship.

The old section of the cemetery with the stones from the 18th and 19th centuries. The railroad
track separates this cemetery from the main city cemetery. There is a newer section to this cemetery
for contemporary use. Unlike the main city cemetery, the gate to the Jewish cemetery was locked.
Any entry would have to be arranged with the local Jewish religious association.

The most significant event of the week was that, on Thursday, September 25, our new bow thruster unit was finally installed. Yes! When we return in the spring, we might actually be able to make a relatively quick start to our cruising--water, weather, and everything else permitting, of course.

The sun finally returned to Toul on Saturday, September 27, the day of our departure. Our boat neighbor at TSNI was kind enough to give us a ride to the train station, and by late afternoon we were in Paris. In our summers in France, we usually include a visit to Paris, even if it's just for a few hours. We love soaking up the atmosphere, and with so much to see and do, we always try to find a way to fit in "one new thing" during that time. This year, our intent was to pay a visit to the recently reopened Notre Dame Cathedral to see what it looked like after the repairs made subsequent to the 2019 fire. As things turned out, we got a "bonus", in that the south tower of the cathedral opened for climbs to the top about a week before we arrived in Paris. I was able to book our free "skip the line" tickets for a September 28 entry into the sanctuary of Notre Dame, as well as buy tickets for a September 29 tower climb. The rest of our short time in the city we left unscheduled, giving us flexibility to visit with our host Jonathan and also meander through some favorite neighborhoods.

Jonathan hosted us on Aleau, the French residence
of Jonathan and Jeannie (who was out of town). They
cruise on Aleau in the summer and spend the fall, winter,
and early spring in Paris at the Port de Arsenal.

 

The port was filling up with boats returning
to their winter moorings at the Arsenal.

A stop in Paris would not be complete without partaking of "Breakfast in America," so that's where we dined on Sunday morning before heading off to Notre Dame Cathedral for our early afternoon visit. My first look at Notre Dame was in January 1976 on my first European trip. I was lucky enough to enter it again--with Lon this time--in September 2018, several months before the fire in mid-April 2019. In both of those visits, the number of other visitors inside at the same time was small, and the church had a real sense of "age" about it (perhaps due to the need for a good cleaning!). We had high hopes for this year's visit, but came away a bit disappointed. The interior was beautiful--light and bright--but that may have diminished the sense of how old Notre Dame actually is (a masterpiece of Gothic architecture constructed between the 12th and 14th centuries). The biggest issue for us, however, was the presence of a large number of people doing the same thing we were. We're not big fans of crowds, and traveling on the barge "off the beaten path" has probably made us spoiled for uncrowded historic and cultural sites.

Left: a 2018 view toward the Notre Dame Cathedral choir.
Right: a similar perspective in 2025.

Left: interior view from the front entry toward the apse and choir.
Right: In the transept, with Joan of Arc at far left and views down a side aisle and the center nave.

Upper: the crowds were heaviest at the entry, as the center nave was
roped off and visitors were directed toward the north aisle.
Bottom: 14th century wood carvings of the life of Christ.

View of the north rose window. Crafted in the mid-13th century, it is the 
 only one of the three rose windows in the cathedral to retain its original
glass, with most of the 13th C glasswork still intact.

Left: the cathedral was reopened to visitors in December 2024, but there is still work going on,
as the scaffold on the back exterior of the building attests.
Right: the front/west facade of the cathedral and the main entrances. The south tower that
we would be climbing on the 29th is the tower to the right in the photo.

After we left the cathedral, we took a slightly roundabout way back to the port. One of the primary cultural sites of Paris is the ultra-modern Pompidou Centre, named in honor of the former President of France who commissioned the building in the 1970's. Among other things, it houses the largest museum for modern art in Europe. Because we're not fans of modern art, we'd never even walked by the building in all of our trips to Paris, but as it is fairly close to Notre Dame it seemed a good time to do so. Had we wanted to see the art our timing would have been horrible, as the building has just closed for a 5-year renovation.

Composed entirely of steel, the Pompidou Centre is an
"inside-out" building, with its structural system, 
mechanical systems, and circulation found on the 
exterior of the building. It was controversial when it opened
 because the architecture does not blend with the
 neighborhood in which it resides.

We were probably more intrigued with the "Stravinsky Fountain" adjacent
to the Pompidou Centre. Dating to 1983, it is lively mix of 16 sculptures
comprised of either colorful resin or metal. The fountain is so named 
because the sculptures are inspired by the music of Igor Stravinsky.

There is nothing better after a day of sightseeing than a relaxing dinner in a casual French bistro.

Monday, September 29--another gorgeous day, this time with a more French twist to breakfast at the Cafe de l'Industrie in the 11th arrondissemont. We got eggs, bacon, fresh-squeezed orange juice, a hot beverage, a baguette, and a kitty cat who had the run of the place (not jumping on tables, just walking around being curious) all for a very reasonable price. Around midday, as we made our way to our tower-climbing appointment at Notre Dame Cathedral, we had time enough to walk slowly through the Ile Saint-Louis, one of two natural islands in the Seine, with a quiet, village-like feel and elegant 17th and 18th century townhouses. We came across the small parish church of Saint Louis-en-l'Ile, originally constructed in the 17th century, but with a current interior that was "modernized" post-Revolution and has a baroque feel. We think we were in the church in a previous visit to Paris, but the memory is hazy and I, at least, had the impression that it may have been undergoing renovation at the time.

The interior of Saint Louis-en-l'Ile was quite spectacular. The most recent major improvement to
the church was the German organ (seen in the photo at right) that was added in 2005.

But on to the main event of our day, visiting the Notre Dame bell towers. After a 6-year closure, the towers were reopened on September 20, concurrent with the 2025 European Heritage Days. Despite the need to climb 424 steps from ground to the belfry of the south tower, it was one of the easier tower climbs we've ever done, due to the chance to take a breather at several points along the route.

A model of the climbing route: enter at "1"; climb to "2", where one can
catch their breath and buy souvenirs, if desired; continue on a stone spiral
staircase to "3", an exhibition room showcasing Notre Dame's history, and
the start of a new double-helix staircase which offers separate spirals for
ascending and descending; up the wooden staircase to "4", for an 
up-close-and-personal look at the chimeras (fantastic creatures) for which
Notre Dame is famous; and the final ascent to "5" at the top, with its
fantastic views over the city of Paris. 

This is the gallery at stop "3", where the double-helix staircase starts. We
had a bit of a wait here (and further up at "4") because there are limits on
how many people can occupy the summit at one time. 

Not the top yet, but still some amazing views from stop "4". The chimeras (gargoyles)
stem from the last half of the 19th century. There are 54 such creatures on Notre Dame. Some of 
the original figures were too badly damaged in the fire to be reinstalled, and were replaced
with replicas, however, the two seen at left appeared to be originals.

Finally! Made it to the top, and Lon doesn't even
look to be out of breath.

Left: looking west down the Seine toward modern La Defense.
Right: looking over the new roof and spire to the east.

More views from the top of the south tower.

On the way back down, the route took us into the south belfry to view the two largest and most famous of Notre Dame's bells, Emmanuel and Marie.

I've no idea at this point which is Emmanuel and which is Marie.

From this point, we passed along a new terrace that brought us from the south tower into the north tower. 

Portals were available for viewing the restored 
wooden roof structure, the "forest."  Prior to the fire,
 the roof was made of oak trusses that had been added to the 
cathedral between 1220 and 1240. As such, it was one of
the oldest frameworks in Paris. The new roof is composed 
of oak from trees that were 150-200 years old, 
and installed using medieval techniques.

We enjoyed the tower visit much more than the "regular" Notre Dame visit of the previous day. The number of visitors allowed was greatly restricted in the tower and the views were spectacular. 

After the climb, a stop at Amorino Gelato on
 Ile Saint-Louis, for the best ice cream/gelato
 we've had in quite some time. 

We returned to Aleau to complete our final packing, say "thanks and so long" to Jonathan, and then the mechanics of returning to the U.S. took their usual form: metro to the airport and overnight at a hotel there before our departure on September 30. We had an unfortunate delay out of CDG which caused us to miss our connecting flight in Atlanta, but as there are several flights between Atlanta and Tampa-St. Pete each day, we weren't too late getting home. Our timing was impeccable in at least one respect, in that we managed to get home before the U.S. government shutdown. 

Our attention turns now from Europe and boating to life in the U.S. Our Florida fall/winter activities have already started. We're still dealing with jet lag, of course, but at least we've adjusted enough so that we're sleeping past 3 or 4 a.m. There's been a bit of "sticker shock" at the grocery store. We were unpleasantly surprised to see that an AC unit on the roof had decided to leak into our kitchen recently, so that had to be dealt with, as well as some plumbing fixtures that didn't like being inactive for several months. Annoying, yes, but all minor in the grand scheme of things. (For the moment, we're trying not to think too much about the "grand scheme of things" issues.) We've already given some thought to next season, but not too much, so this blog is now suspended until 2026.

Out of Africa

We're back on the boat in Toul after a fascinating 12-night safari in Kenya. The trip encompassed some "firsts" for us--our first time in Africa and our first time in the southern hemisphere.

It was disconcerting for us to find ourselves relegated to different hemispheres. The Ol Pejeta
Conservancy is in central Kenya and was the furthest north we traveled. Our other
three stops were south of the equator.

The trip was also unusual for us in that it was wholly nature-oriented. There were no stays in cities or towns of any size (other than briefly in Nairobi for the flights to-and-from Kenya), and no focus on historical events. Our goal was to see as many African animals as possible in their natural habitat, so that's how our trip was arranged.

We're normally independent travelers, but a safari was, for us, something best done using the services of local experts. We signed up with the tour operator "Gamewatchers Safaris." They came highly recommended by friends who'd used them for a safari in 2024, and we really liked their business model. Gamewatchers, like any travel agency, is able to book stays in a variety of places, but is somewhat unusual in that it owns and operates several small-scale, eco-friendly tented camps--operating under the name "Porini Camps"--in various private Kenyan wildlife conservancies. The conservancies in the Maasai Mara and Amboseli ecosystems in the south and west of Kenya benefit the local Maasai communities via lease payments for the use of their land. (The Ol Pejeta conservancy in central Kenya is not organized in quite the same way, but is still very much focused on conservation and working with the local populations.) Gamewatchers also benefits the Maasai by employing several hundred Maasai to staff the Porini camps. The expansion of wildlife habitat beyond the national parks and reserves has contributed to wildlife recovery and habitat/vegetation improvement in Kenya. A win-win approach to conservation.

Rather than travel to several different African countries, we chose to stay strictly in Kenya and get our variety by staying in Porini camps in 4 different conservancies. The conservancies promised to be less crowded than the national parks and reserves, and the off-road driving allowed in the conservancies allowed for closer viewing of animals. Off-road driving also meant lots of bumps--the "Maasai Massage"--and getting close to bushes and trees as the drivers found their best way through the bush. "Mind the bush" became a mantra of our guides from the very beginning of our game drives.

The travel to Kenya did not begin well on September 4. We were to fly from Paris to Brussels to Nairobi on Brussels Airlines, but a departure delay from Paris meant that we would miss our connection in Brussels. Therefore, we were rebooked on Turkish Airlines with a Paris-Istanbul-Nairobi itinerary. That flight from Paris was also delayed, but with some fast walking we managed to make the connecting flight in Istanbul. We arrived in Nairobi about 2 a.m., and it was nearly 3:30 a.m. when we got to our hotel. It was definitely my shortest hotel stay ever. We had time for a 1-hour nap before we had to be up for breakfast and a 6 a.m. pick-up that would get us to our flight to the Selenkay Conservancy and Porini Amboseli Camp--except that 6 a.m. came and went and no car arrived to collect us. It turns out that the driver had been in a car accident. How a substitute limo was found nearly immediately we've no idea, but it was a crazy drive to Wilson Airport, where the small, local airlines are located. With the way things had been going I was almost afraid to get on that small prop plane, but it turned out to be a nice flight, and everything from that point went great.

Our itinerary was as follows:

Porini Amboseli Camp, Selenkay Conservancy, Sept. 5-8: PAC is the only safari camp in the Selenkay Conservancy, just over the northern boundary of Amboseli National Park and not all that far from the border with Tanzania. Although hazy, Mount Kilamanjaro could be seen from the conservancy (and more easily from Amboseli National Park, which is closer to Tanzania).

We spent one day in Amboseli National Park. It was too hazy to see Mount Kilimanjaro well, but
the use of a lot of filters post-photo allows the mountain, and the tiny bit of snow at its peak, to
 be seen behind the elephants.

Porini Rhino Camp, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Sept. 8-11: We flew to PRC, which is situated in the 90000-acre Ol Pejeta conservancy. Ol Pejeta is the largest sanctuary in East Africa for the endangered Black Rhino and also houses a chimpanzee sanctuary. PRC contained 9 guest tents, and because there were hardly any other guests, the manager was nice enough to put us in a larger family tent. Our favorite thing about PRC was the photographic hide (blind) overlooking a watering hole in front of the mess area. 

The photographic hide was a metal cargo container that had been fitted out with a countertop
and stools for viewing. This was our view one morning after a herd of elephants came by the
watering hole to drink.

Porini Mara Camp, Ol Kinyei Conservancy, Sept. 11-14: A flight from Ol Pejeta took us back to the west of Kenya and the Maasai Mara ecosystem. The Maasai Mara is renowned for the Great Migration, when over a million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles move from Tanzania into the Maasai Mara and cross the Mara River. September is theoretically part of the Great Migration season, and we'd hoped to see it during our trip; however, rain patterns in mid-summer caused most of the activity to be completed by July. No disappointment with PMC; it was an intimate camp with just 6 tents. 

A typical tent interior.

Porini Lion Camp, Olare Motorogi Conservancy, Sept. 14-16: PLC was within driving distance of PMC, but was closer to the entry to the Maasai Mara Reserve. We spent one morning in the reserve and were amazed by the huge, open expanses of grassland. There were several other safari camps fairly close to PLC, so our game drives in the conservancy were a bit more crowded than what we had gotten used to at the other camps.

Just a portion (maybe a third?) of the safari vehicles in the Maasai Mara Reserve that were waiting to see what would happen to the Thompson gazelle that was being stalked by a cheetah. The
cheetah finally made its move and exploded from the grass, but it was just a little too far from the gazelle, who managed to outrun the cheetah. 

What was common to all the camps was a wake-up service at 5:45 or 6 a.m., with delivery to the tent of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, and a pitcher of warm water for face washing (there was no plumbed hot water at any of the camps). The morning game drives in open-sided vehicles with a guide and spotter (one of whom doubled as the driver) started at 6:15 or 6:30 a.m., and a stop for a "bush breakfast" was made around 8:30 or 9. 

The schedule was not one that would be beloved by people who like to "sleep in." We saw a
lot of sunrises during the trip. Sunrise in Ol Kinyei (top), Olare Motorogi (bottom left), and
Selenkay (bottom right).

Joshua (left) and Stanley (right) setting up a bush breakfast
in the Ol Kinyei Conservancy during a morning game drive.

We would return to camp between 11 a.m. and noon for a 1 p.m. lunch and R&R until 4 or 4:30 p.m. when we'd leave for an afternoon game drive. Between 6 and 6:30 p.m. we would stop somewhere scenic for "sundowners", i.e., Happy Hour in the bush. Back to camp by 7 p.m., we would order hot water for the gravity-fed shower, spend some time by the campfire, and then have dinner at 8 p.m. We were usually in our tent by 9 p.m. It would have been nice just to laze around the tent, but the evenings were just too cool to be comfortable doing so. This was especially true in the higher altitude of the Porini Rhino Camp. It may have been equatorial Africa, but it got cold. We were incredibly grateful for the multiple covers on the bed, and the hot water bottles that made their way into our bed each night. The exterior window flaps on the tent were dropped down over the screens for the night, and after dark we were always escorted to and from the tent by a member of staff due to the possibility of animals wandering through the camp. Depending on the camp and the night, there were lions or elephants or cape buffalo or hippos wandering near our tent.

There were some extra activities that had nothing to do with game drives. When staying at Porini Amboseli Camp, we made a visit to a Maasai village near to the camp. We tried to look at it in the spirit in which we believe it was offered, as a way to become more familiar with the Maasai way of life. The modern-day challenge has been to find a way to enable the cattle and sheep of the semi-nomadic Maasai to co-exist with the wild animals of Africa. The approach to conservancies and Maasai employment in the camps has been a way of addressing this.

Many of the villagers turned out to sing for us. There were also jumping demos, showing
us how fires are traditionally started, and one of the women showed how they make
beaded objects. At lower left, a Maasai house made in part with cow dung--we were invited
inside and it was very dark and very compact. Lower right, Maasai villages as seen from the
air. For protection of the livestock, the houses occupy the outer ring, and the livestock
pens are in the center.

We also had the chance to take a couple of "bush walks" in order to see some things that we wouldn't normally be able to see from the vehicles. We did this from Porini Amboseli Camp as well as Porini Mara Camp. In both cases, a watchful eye had to be kept for dangerous animals. Safety is to be found by being in a vehicle, as most animals have become accustomed to them and don't perceive them as a threat. A human being freely walking about is an entirely different matter.

At Ol Kinyei Conservancy/Porini Mara Camp, our walk was accompanied by one of 
the conservancy rangers, armed with a gun.

When all is said and done, though, the trip was about the animals, and on that score we were not disappointed. The guide/spotter pairs we had at each camp were phenomenal, with a wealth of knowledge about where various animals could be found and about the animals and birds themselves.

Clockwise from upper left: Julius and John at Porini Lion Camp; Frank and Edison at
Porini Amboseli Camp; Kevin and John at Porini Rhino Camp; and Stanley and Joshua
at Porini Mara Camp.

Most people who go on an African safari hope to see the "Big Five" game animals. The term derives from big game hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot: lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and cape buffalo. Thankfully, most of those who use the term these days are only interested in shooting these animals photographically. By the time we left Porini Amboseli Camp we had seen all except the leopard, and that lack was remedied during an exciting afternoon game drive during our time in the Mara ecosystem.

We saw lions in all the conservancies and parks/reserves we visited. At lower left, a male
lion takes possession of a warthog killed by one of the females. We were glad not to have
seen the actual event, although a couple who were also staying in the Porini Mara Camp saw
 it happen and were pretty shook up by it. Mr. Lion was not in a mood to share with
his hungry cubs. At center top, the lionesses seem not to be aware of the antelope at the 
top of the hill.
 

Upper: the leopard in Ol Kinyei Conservency was nice enough to be fully visible.
Lower: the leopard in Olare Motorogi had a full stomach from killing a warthog
(the remains of which were on another branch) and stayed mostly hidden in the tree.
 

Top: a white rhino (left) and a black rhino (right). Differences are overall size, mouth configuration,
and temperament. The naming convention has nothing to do with skin color.
Lower: white rhinos. Not native to Kenya, they were brought into the country starting in the
 1960's as part of a conservation effort.

The elephant at left is Michael, one of the "super tuskers" of the Amboseli National Park, so 
called because of the enormous size of his tusks. He was "looking for love" and not in a good mood.

Cape buffalo are considered to be extremely dangerous because of their
unpredictable temperament and tendency to charge when feeling threatened.
Top: evidence of the buffalo's love of rolling in the mud as a way of
 dealing with skin parasites. Bottom: The herd has an albino calf.

"Big Five" notwithstanding, there were so many other animals to observe.

Cheetahs

Loved the giraffes. They are so graceful when they walk. At left is a "Reticulated Giraffe", 
found only in the northern part of Kenya. At upper right is a Massai Giraffe, which we saw
in the Amboseli and Mara ecosystems. The most obvious difference is in the pattern of their coat.

Hippos do most of their activities in the water. They may seem docile, but they kill more people in Africa each year (around 500) than lions and elephants combined, as they can be aggressively fast
 and they have VERY big teeth.

Lots of zebras and wildebeest. They had no problem hanging out together, but also
sometimes traveled only with their own kind.

Left: baboons were commonly seen.
Right: Many of the camps had vervet monkeys, and it was emphasized to us to keep the zippers
of our tents closed to keep them out. The naughty monkey at right "flashed" us as we were
leaving Porini Mara Camp. 

Most of the hyenas we saw were of the spotted variety, but we did see one of the relatively
rare striped hyenas (upper right) in Ol Pejeta Conservancy. At left and lower right, we were
shown a hyena den that had several curious pups.

Male ostriches have black feathers and the females have brown. The 
neck and legs of the male in the top photo are pink, indicating that
he is "ready for love."

Warthogs/pumbaa are part of the "Ugly Five", but we thought they were
really funny and endearing creatures. The youngster in the lower photo
 entertained us with his "zoomies" as we watched from the photographic
hide at Porini Rhino Camp.

So many different kinds of deer-like creatures.

And an additional two barely scratches the surface of the
variety we saw.

Jackels are scavengers and mate for life.

Crocodile at the Mara River. When the wildebeest are crossing, crocodiles are ready to
take advantage of a ready meal.

Upper: a bush hyrax that hung out at Porini Mara Camp.
Lower: reptile or amphibian? The only thing I know is that it's colorful.

And then, there are the birds. Each of the camps had a checklist of mammals and birds so that we could keep track of what we'd seen. The list of birds had 150 names, but that was in no way complete. So, I simply print a few photos of some of the beauties we saw, but make no attempt to identify them.

One interesting thing: for all the precautions that we took to avoid getting sick from mosquitos--yellow fever vaccine, malaria pills (which we're still taking), and spraying our clothes with a nasty insecticide--we didn't see a single mosquito when we were in Africa. But if we hadn't done all those things, Murphy's Law would no doubt have kicked in and we'd have been swarmed.

What better way to end the post than with a bit of African humor,

A beautiful sunset that puts a herd of wildebeest into stark relief,

And a memory of our last breakfast in Kenya, on the porch at Porini Lion Camp overlooking the bush:

We are now one week away from departing Toul. Apparently, our replacement bow thruster has arrived, and it might get installed next week. The yard is busy with winterizing boats, so we shall see. At any rate, we have only a few projects to finish up before our September 27 departure to Paris. We will spend two nights as guests of our friend Jonathan aboard the barge Aleau in Port de Arsenal, one night at an airport hotel, and then we return to Tampa/St. Petersburg on September 30.