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The scribblings for 2015 start from here …
Epernay, France:We arrived in France today after a reasonably good flight with Qantas. I say reasonably, in that although they lost our luggage somewhere in Dubai, we were treated to a very pleasant and otherwise uneventful flight. And it was safe as well as comfortable; which is I guess the most you can ask for when flying economy (well done Qantas).
We picked up a hire car at Charles de Gaulle airport, and after plugging the address of our hotel in Epernay into Emily (the GPS), we drove the easy 2 hour drive down the motorway. The weather was very good - clear skies, no rain, and plenty of sunshine, although there was still an early spring nip in the air toward evening.
We stayed at the IBIS (same as last year when we were there with Deb & Rod); quite cheap & cheerful. After a good night's sleep, on the horizontal, we were firing on all cylinders the next day, so headed for Toul after the usual stop in the village of Damery at the house of "Haton" for supplies.
Arrived safe and sound in Toul on Thursday afternoon (albeit, each of us now resonant with a heavy cold; courtesy of some inconsiderate, unhealthy, selfish, self-centered and unwitting son of a @#$% on the plane). I may well be more philosophical in regard to that passengers pernicious gift when I'm over it!
Our bags arrived the following day by Chronopost van - the French equivalent of Australia Post Parcel Delivery, so we started to unpack and de-winterise the boat. Most everything turned back on, as it should have, except for the central heating system. Although this worked OK, we discovered that the radiator in the wheelhouse was cracked and leaking. After further investigation we came to the conclusion that a new radiator was what was needed. Since there is a plumber just across from the port, I thought, "Easy! I'll just pop over there and ask them to replace the radiator. No sweat."
Once they had stopped rolling around on the floor laughing ... "You want it fixed by when? ... This week! Maybe next month! Peut-etre! You Anglais' are funny people! you know that?" ... I realised that this may well not be the laid down Misère I thought it to be.
They were however able to sell me a radiator of somewhat similar dimensions, so I thought - "No problem; how hard can it be? I can do it myself!"
... Now, let me tell you something that I'm sure you don't know. ... French radiators, of the type I had purchased for the replacement all come with a hole in each corner into which you connect the various bits of piping; these holes are all normal, everyday, run of the mill right-hand thread joints. However, Dutch radiators, of the sort being replaced and to which these pieces of piping were previously attached, come with two right-hand thread holes and two LEFT-HAND thread holes. A small detail, you might think. No. No. No. A pain in the ass. To keep a tediously long story short, it is possible to find the necessary bits and pieces, but not the cake-walk I had thought it would be. After some swearing and grunting, the radiator is now fixed.
We have subsequently rewarded ourselves with a pleasant lunch at "la Table a Victor" in Toul, an excellent place!, to celebrate the successful conclusion of the 'wheelhouse radiator' saga.
During the week, while we have been here in Toul, we have also caught-up with a couple of friends at the same restaurant . (Don & Patty on "Maria", and Marc & Mel on "Henrietta"). It was a very enjoyable evening - good company, good food & good wine (roughly in that order).
(I have to compliment Pete on the taking the picture below: she took it - I saw her do it, but at the same time, somehow, she actually ended up being in it! I must have blinked! Well done Pete!)
I have one last (small) job to do on the boat, the replacement of a little fuel lift pump, which Duncan (the local boat mechanic) will install for me tomorrow, and then we should be ready to head toward Paris on Wednesday. We are looking forward to the cruising.
Have now completed all the small jobs we needed to finish before we set off cruising. The new fuel lift pump is installed and has been tested, and with Don's much appreciated help I have topped up the main engine diesel tank. The new heater radiator in the wheelhouse is also installed and working fine. In fact, even though it has a smaller footprint, one of its little features that made it more difficult to install, it is a double-sided unit and consequently throws out more heat. This purely accidental feature of the new radiator has turned out to be fortuitous; the wheelhouse is the least insulated place on the boat as a consequence of the large amount of glass there, it needs the extra heating when it is cold. I also arranged for the annual check on all our fire extinguisher; 3 powder, 1 water and one CO² unit, paid some invoices and booked our mooring in Toul for the coming year...
All necessary tasks having been completed, we departed our home port of Toul on Wednesday morning at 9:00am, heading toward Paris. Our first stop is Pagny sur Meuse; 13 kilometers of canal, 12 locks, a tunnel (866 metres long) and 5 hours of cruising later.
PS: Want to thank Don & Patty for their kind help in getting us ready. Couldn't have done it without them!
When we reached the tunnel we had to wait (double red lights) as there was a boat already coming through from the other direction; it was "Nilaya". She is an hotel boat run by Kevin & Isabelle. She is a very nice boat indeed and Kevin runs a great charter (I can supply details if anyone is interested).
After the tunnel it is an easy 5 kms of cruising through some lovely country, with no further locks, until we moor up in Pagny.
There is not a lot in Pagny. We did manage to top up on some wine at the Epicerie, but despite that normally being a depot-de-Pain and there being a boulangerie in town, we were unable to get bread. (France?)
Friday is a public holiday; one of the few on which the VNF close the lock system, so we will travel tomorrow to a mooring in a small village called Sauvoy.
The run to Sauvoy is also an easy one and pretty; 15 kms before we encounter the first of a half dozen locks, including passing over the River Meuse on a 'pont-canal'. What I like about this canal bridge over the River Meuse and the freeway is that, although it is only 5 metres wide, the VNF have seen fit to put up a sign to let you know you can't pass another boat on the bridge. A more technically correct sign would not be possible (in my humble).
The weather is lovely at the moment; real Spring weather, plenty of warm sunshine against the skin, but not hot yet at all. We need to enjoy the morning run to Sauvoy, as the clouds are building and the forecast for this evening and tomorrow is not too good at all. Rain, wind, and low cloud is forecast for the start of May.
The barometer has plummeted. Rain. Cold. Strong wind. Not nice. Still moored in Sauvoy.
(Oh, by the way Deb, it is not helpful to SMS me that Melbourne is having a glorious run of weather; 23 degrees, clear sky and sunshine. Not helpful at all!)
Fortunately today is a public holiday and the locks are closed. We are hunkered down in Sauvoy with some good food and wine and a good book.
We met a couple of very kind ladies today who were walking along the canal. They gave Pete a small bouquet of flowers; Lily of the Valley. It is good luck and good health to pick and give these flowers to someone on May 1st. The ladies had never met or even seen us before, but they were wonderfully kind enough to go out of their way to give us this gift. There are some very nice people about that you bump into when you least expect it.
You can click here to go directly to the May 2015 web page ...
click here for May 2015 .
Toul:
Friday April 17th to Sunday April 26th, 2015.
Toul:
Monday April 27th to Wednesday April 29th, 2015.
Pagny sur Meuse:
Wednesday April 29th, 2015.
Sauvoy:
Thursday April 30th, 2015.
Sauvoy:
Friday May 1st, 2015.
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