Summertime in Central France 16/08/2009Rhonda’s Comment: Don’t you mean melting away in central France! It is so hot @!!!@@!!!
Hi everyone,
Again, many thanks to those of you who have sent us encouraging comments regarding our blog pages to date and the sympathy notes etc. It is sure good to know that you enjoy the blog pages and we will do our best to keep them coming in an interesting format.
To start off I am able to give the following comments re the French and their way of life, such as it doesn’t matter which town or small city we go to, visit or stop over in, it always seems like a Sunday. The streets have so few pedestrians or even cars on them apart from 12 noon which is the rush hour for people to get home for their lunch and relax period. It seems as though life is only meant to be at a relaxed pace and you can walk past so many shops and think they are shut as there will be no lights showing and the doors can be closed, then again they can be closed for the day particularly on Mondays with some closed on Wednesdays as well. Everything including large supermarkets can and will close for up to 1.5 hours for the midday break and I can assure you that you become less popular if you delay the staff getting away.
The houses are mainly closed-up with their shutters to keep the heat out and in the winter the cold out, however, I have mentioned in a previous blog, in the evenings the folks will be having supper in a room with what appears to be a max of a 40 w bulb going for light and without the signs of a flickering TV. They seem to like dim to dark rooms to habitat. Hence all is generally quiet by 8.30 pm.It is impossible to find a breakfast bar open as we know it, as they don’t seem to have a breakfast other than a quick coffee or maybe a schnapps, a cigarette and away. It is only around 11.00 am can you get a muffin, croissant, omelette or something, but nothing like a full English breakfast or even the old Kiwi Farmers breakfast which we used to look forward to some Sunday mornings. While restaurants may be open at 6.00 pm after closing for a couple of hours around 2.00 pm, most will not serve food until after 7.30 pm, so you have an hour of drinking first. We have taken on a new found drink here “Panache” which is a bottled shandy from Germany and which is a great thirst quencher while being light enough to allow one to drive safely afterwards.
While on this point we have said how nobody seems to be in a hurry other than at lunch times and I can tell you that each time we go to a supermarket or department store the checkouts move at true snails pace. You can be assured that if there are 5 or 6 people queued to pay, there will be only one operator then if there are 7 to 10 they may get another checkout open. Gee it is annoying but what can one do as they just smile and carry on - great really.
At the supermarkets all the shopping trolleys are secured to each other by linking lock chains which can only be released by inserting a Euro or a shop’s own token into the lock slot. You can only reclaim your Euro when you re-link the trolley back to the correct base or trolley group. Even the shopping baskets have alarm buttons fitted so you have to leave them at the checkout or the alarm goes off. If you forget to take your own shopping bags with you, then you had better have long arms and a good sense of balance as no plastic shopping bags are available, nor are there any empty cartons to pack your stuff into. A great little assistant for the environment I believe.
At the fruit and vegetable area there is often a set of scales accompanied by a show board listing all the products which are on display with a code and price per kilo so all you do is put your carrots say onto the scales, press the associated picture on the board and a sticker showing weight and cost of your purchase is printed out which you put on the bag ready for the checkout operator to punch the details onto your bill.
Another thing we have noticed is the lack of use of mobile phones. While most people seem to carry one, there is never the sight we were so use to in New Zealand of seemingly half the people sitting in a restaurant or similar using text or mobile calls. It is so refreshing. Maybe it is the higher cost of calls here in France which means fewer calls or use.
We have previously commented on the tow paths which run alongside the canals. These have been in use since the days when the canals were constructed and horses or men pulled the barges along, so on each side of the canal there is a strip of land approx 5 to 10 meters wide which on one side or the other is the public “tow path.” This path is almost always kept in pristine condition, mostly with a bitumen surface which is smooth and safe to walk on and ideal for cyclists as well. In built up areas much of it can be lit with overhead or side path lights. You can cycle for many, many hundreds of kilometres along these mostly tree lined paths. No wonder cycling is so popular and safe here and often we have had Kiwi cyclists call out to us as they whizz past on these almost flat tracks. On weekends and evenings so many walkers, strollers and mums and dads pushing prams or pushchairs join the cyclists to enjoy this great facility.
If you or anyone you know is planning to come to “do” the canals, or is planning to holiday in France, make sure they are aware that they should not fail to bring, buy, hire or borrow bikes and for kids who may need a bit of exercise after a couple of days on a barge, this opportunity to cycle in safety and freedom should not be missed.
At the fruit and vegetable area there is often a set of scales accompanied by a show board listing all the products which are on display with a code and price per kilo so all you do is put your carrots say onto the scales, press the associated picture on the board and a sticker showing weight and cost of your purchase is printed out which you put on the bag ready for the checkout operator to punch the details onto your bill.
Another thing we have noticed is the lack of use of mobile phones. While most people seem to carry one, there is never the sight we were so use to in New Zealand of seemingly half the people sitting in a restaurant or similar using text or mobile calls. It is so refreshing. Maybe it is the higher cost of calls here in France which means fewer calls or use.
We have previously commented on the tow paths which run alongside the canals. These have been in use since the days when the canals were constructed and horses or men pulled the barges along, so on each side of the canal there is a strip of land approx 5 to 10 meters wide which on one side or the other is the public “tow path.” This path is almost always kept in pristine condition, mostly with a bitumen surface which is smooth and safe to walk on and ideal for cyclists as well. In built up areas much of it can be lit with overhead or side path lights. You can cycle for many, many hundreds of kilometres along these mostly tree lined paths. No wonder cycling is so popular and safe here and often we have had Kiwi cyclists call out to us as they whizz past on these almost flat tracks. On weekends and evenings so many walkers, strollers and mums and dads pushing prams or pushchairs join the cyclists to enjoy this great facility.
If you or anyone you know is planning to come to “do” the canals, or is planning to holiday in France, make sure they are aware that they should not fail to bring, buy, hire or borrow bikes and for kids who may need a bit of exercise after a couple of days on a barge, this opportunity to cycle in safety and freedom should not be missed.
Rhonda's Comment: Note the empty bottles and glasses and we are still standing.Ok, now to bring you up-to-date. We told you we had moved up to Nevers and had settled into the local marina where we had met new folks from the nearby barges and had shared drinks and meals both here and in town so it has been a great week looking at the ancient buildings and learning all its history.
Early today we received an email from our friends on “Déjà Vu”, Jack and Jadel, advising that they had visited the nearby village of Apremont- Sur-Allier which is listed as probably the prettiest village in all of France and suggested we visit it before we moved on, so away we went on the trusty scooter for the 15 km ride to view this place. I am sure you will agree from the photos enclosed that it sure stands up to its reputation. It is truly magnificent and the stroll through the Floral Park kept Rhonda and I going with “WOW”s as we would turn another corner. It is not to be missed and it is only approx 3 kms from the double locks with the Pont over the Allier River which we showed photos of in our last blog.
Rhonda's Comment: This village was truly magical.
On the return journey we stopped below the Pont and I had a swim with the locals in the river. It was beautiful and evoked many memories of childhood days in central Hawke’s Bay when visiting some of the larger rivers there as we didn’t have swimming pools to visit.
Back at the port, we were told by the Capitainaire that we would have to move the boat to a new berth tomorrow as the local district Triathlon is set down to take place on Saturday and with our dock space being required for the transition, so our new berth on the other bank of the port will have good views of the event.
At around 8.00 am the PA system started blasting news about the event which got under way with the first race at 9.30 am. What a joke really as they had several classes racing, so the last being the open never started until 2.00 pm in the 37 degree heat. Goodness knows how they didn’t have any heart or heat related attacks. I am writing this at 5.30 pm and there are still runners going past our boat to the finish line. I think they need a few Aussie or Kiwi triathlon event organisers to get this sorted, however, this is France and everyone seemed to have great time.
At around 8.00 am the PA system started blasting news about the event which got under way with the first race at 9.30 am. What a joke really as they had several classes racing, so the last being the open never started until 2.00 pm in the 37 degree heat. Goodness knows how they didn’t have any heart or heat related attacks. I am writing this at 5.30 pm and there are still runners going past our boat to the finish line. I think they need a few Aussie or Kiwi triathlon event organisers to get this sorted, however, this is France and everyone seemed to have great time.
As it was so hot, I decided if it was good enough for the locals to swim in the Port I would too and after extolling the virtues of the cool water Rhonda got in too. We didn’t put our heads under the water like the locals and had a shower immediately we got out but decided that this was the way to drop the body temperature as it was 44 degrees in our wheel house and still 30 degrees at 10.30 pm at night. The last two days have been around similar figures so the fans on board have been flat out at least moving the hot air about. It is nice to moor up in the heat of the day under the trees if you can find a spot to suit.
Harry has run into a spot of health troubles - again, with getting a real dose of conjunctivitis in both eyes so it was a case of stuffing him into the backpack and visiting the local Nevers Vet to get a special eye wash and ointment which he sure does not like having applied but already his eyes are clearing so that is good and will allow us to get under way headed for Decize which is some 10 hours and 5 locks from Nevers, so we may stop over on the way.
Well, we decided after 6 hours to stop over in the canal and found a nice quiet spot near a village of about 5 houses and of course the obligatory church. It was a quaint little place complete with its own public washroom set alongside a small feeder stream to the canal. This stone wall sided building with a concrete floor about the size of a single car garage was where the local women used to meet and carry out their weekly wash which was done by hand. The clothes were rubbed on the sloping concrete nib and then rinsed in the stream many times to get that Persil whiteness. I am sorry I didn’t get a photo of it as it was a sight from a long ago period but I think we did show one in our blog relating to Braire.
We moved on from there towards Decize which is actually on the Loire River so at one of the 5 locks we met put us onto the river itself so we moved right into the centre where we had been told that the moorings were good only to find that there was no water or power available and the other alternative had little or no bottom clearance due to the drought plus offered no water or electricity. We turned the boat around and went back through one lock to the Le Boat rental base where we had seen facilities but as it was not listed in our directory as a public portage we were not sure what to expect and yes, we arrived at 12.10 pm to find no-one about so we took the gamble and tied up on a long finger and hooked up power and water and sat tight waiting for someone to kick us off. At 5.30pm I wandered over to the office which was now open to be told, “yes you can stay there as long as you like all for 8 Euros a nig
ht including water and power”. We couldn’t get our money out quick enough so here we are. It is 44 degrees today and we are truly melting and alternating from showers to standing under the fresh water hose with which we fill the boat tanks. Even Harry, despite having been pretty well clipped, hides in the bathroom and as soon as I get in the shower he is in and just stands there hoping, I guess, that the water will be cold.Tomorrow, we will off-load the scooter and check out this city and area. Every so often someone asks us how and when did the canals come into being along with facts relating to their purpose so will add these to our next blog page so meantime, take care of each other and remember, if you really want to do it, then get on and do it before it is too late.
Klms - 984
Locks - 202
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