FRANCE IN SPRINGTIME

Rhonda's Comment: Harry doesn't look too pleased with his summer cut.

I know that we have referred to the beauty of the country we have travelled through so far, particularly the riverside and the forests which cling alongside and to the hills which are left with forests as a cap which serves to give protection of sorts to the fields and towns and villages below. It should be noted, I guess that while so many of the vineyards and market gardens are grown on the hill sides, some of which are really steep, there is no sign of any irrigation systems, so that might be why the wines are so much higher here in their Baume count which is critical for good wines I am told.

Our travel to here, La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre, still on the river Marne which is a fair sized town with all the facilities we required for a few days stopover so can fill with water, food and other supplies and the berthage, power and water is free at our pontoon so this is one town that really knows how to draw water traffic to its shores. The last few days, have been so quiet on the canals or rivers with no “commercials” and only a few tourist boats to face up to so we have been really able to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the peace and quiet so we have been a bit spoiled really. To date we have travelled 547kms with 599 engine hours and negotiated 101 locks so we must be getting better (he says, fingers crossed) as there seems to be getting less scrape marks on the rails and hull.

We notice that the locals living along the way who care about their properties must have been very busy with a late winter planting and the results are now showing with wonderful displays of Irises, Poppies, Petunias, Begonias, Wisteria. Peonies and many we do not know the names of. Vegetable gardens look great too and as we have said before, it seems as though it is compulsory to grow heaps of vegetables and to preserve, bottle and freeze them for the next winter.

Most homes have huge stacks of firewood all set up in drying sheds of corrugated iron or similar materials and it is due to the practice of coppicing the local trees which ensures winter fires will be burning regardless of the weather. The trees which are mainly Willow, Poplar or Spruce types, grow very quickly so the cutting off of the branches or cutting down all together does not kill the trees but rather allows new growth to start again so coppicing can be done again in about three years. The cut lengths which seem to be about 1.5 m in length are laid up as described and are then cut to size of fireplace or stove as required throughout the Summer or Autumn. Cheap but very effective and the ashes go straight onto the gardens.

We spent the last couple of days in Chateau-Thierry which is still on the river Marne and offered berthage right in the town so shops are very close. The riverbanks are used by hundreds of families and strollers plus the myriad of fishermen who regard the river as being theirs and can be rude at times to boaters but that is a part of life on the canals and rivers here I am told.

We took the scooter off and travelled to a magnificent memorial about 5 kms out of the town.
This has been erected by the Americans in honour of their troops lost in both wars but mainly WW11. This memorial as you will see from the photos is a great structure and dominates this part of the skyline.

We have had a change of plans and as we are so close to Paris, (an hour or so by car) approx 3 days canal travel, have decided we will go there for a few days and can meet our great friends Daphne and Claude from New Zealand who are coming to spend time with us cruising and maybe we will spend some time in the capital and see Paris and not die as the saying goes but enjoy some of this beautiful famous and historical city before cruising off.

Rhonda's Comment: I know France has it's Chateaux but a chateau for pidgeons!!!!! Only in France.

It will be a bit of a challenge going in on the River Seine as those of you who have seen it will have been impressed by the volume and speed of the water travelling down to the sea let alone the huge volume of tourist boats and commercial traffic. The marina called l’Arsenal is near the Notra Dame and not far from the Eiffel Tower, so who knows we may be brave and venture up on the rickety lifts for a look over the city. A number of our boating associates have used this route to stop in the suburbs as there is a marina which gives a short direct bus access to Disneyland. .

We are also hopeful to catch up with Allan and Kate, Rebecca and Ben from Hamilton who plan to visit the area about then too. As it is almost summer the list of visitors planning to visit grows by the day which is great and we look forward to seeing as many of them as is possible.

Rhonda's Comment: Doing more shopping at the markets.

The weather has been amazing with lots of days of clear blues skies with little or no breeze and delightful long evenings. It is possible to sit up on deck until 10.0 pm without the need for jackets or jumpers so you can imagine how this appeals to me, particularly however, last night after a very warm day we got a huge thunderstorm around midnight and thanks to Harry jumping on my chest and making sure I was woken, we had time to shut everything down and awoke today to much cooler temperatures which pleased Rhonda so the climate has something to offer to all tastes.

Right near us is a wonderful sight of approx 10 huge white swans and some have clutches of signets along with many ducks with their youngsters so it is wonderful to watch the parade of nature at its very best. Although while I was up on deck this morning I watched as a crow swooped down and took one of the ducklings so all hell broke loose with the mum going mad and calling for backup so four male mallards swooped in to assist but to no avail. Just sad but that’s the way mother nature allows things to happen.

After 10 days here in La Ferte-sous-Jouarre still on the river Marne, we have really enjoyed this town with its markets, three days a week, yet good shops and restaurants are also right nearby. We have explored the area and seen monuments to World War heroes and where the German invasion was turned back in WW1 but is also famous as being the region named for its Brie cheeses and where from as far back as recorded has been noted as the best producer of sandstone sharpening wheels and one which only faded in the past 15 years as other methods of sharpening were introduced.

Yesterday we rode our scooter to a new countryside area where we stopped for lunch at a pub or Tabac/ Restaurant as they call them here and asked for a sandwich with ham and cheese. Well we got a salad with the most beautiful pate, tomatoes gherkins and finely chopped onions and a basket of cut up bread roll. No cheese but she did manage to mix us a shandy so all was not lost. You have to laugh and enjoy the efforts they make to interpret our clumsy efforts to speak a few words of French.

Today we travelled to Meaux some 16 kms away on the route we will take when we leave here. It is a city with lots to offer and we visited a couple of large stores and had a McDonald’s for the first time since arriving here so we look forward to visiting this area in the next few days. It will take us about 6 hours to get there as the river winds back and forth and there are two locks to impede our progress whereas the scooter did it in about 20 mins but we did have sore bottoms by the time we got back as two fatties do over-stretch the size of the seat I have to confess.

After another couple of days of slobbing around at this great location where we met up with some very nice fellow travellers, namely Steve and Vanda Mcleod who are on their barge, Jim and Wendy on “Carrieann”, Alex and Louise on “Riccall” a 1938 converted barge, plus late arrivals, John and Priscella with their 2 Aussie helpers, Ned and Kate on their barge “Final Fling”. Apart from the few drinks we had, we shared with them lots of travel information where we had all been to, so it was a learning curve for all of us. We look forward to keeping in contact with them all and seeing them again along the way.

We have just had final word from Daphne and Claude to say that they will be arriving at Charles de Gaulle on Wednesday, so we are going to move the boat on Monday to Meaux where there is a frequent bus service running to and from CDG Airport. It is anticipated that Rhonda will travel to met them there and bring them back to the boat.

The weather has unfortunately turned a bit showery and cool, more like Auckland summers than what we would have expected here, however, we are told that this will pass and we can look forward to the heat and humidity which is normal for summer here.

As you know, we have a very good satellite service for our TV on board so have been able to enjoy the rugby from all corners of the globe and now to the World 20/20 cricket series which is happening in England and woe is me to have to report that Australia has been knocked out after 2 losses. I feel so sorry for my little Aussie mates – eh Smithy!!

Rhonda has just left to pick up Daphne and Claude from the airport and we will report our travels to Paris in our next blog.