August 2013

Thursday 1st August. Saint Jean de Losne has a large English-speaking expat population both on the boats in the marine and in the town, which incidentally is the smallest town in France! bordered as it is by water on three sides it cannot grow any bigger. This is both good and bad. The community is very active but it is too easy to stick with the very social expat sector and not mix enough with the French-speaking people.

Today I am invited to a BBQ at the home of John, an English expat who has a delightful house a few villages away. It was a joy to sit in the deep shade of big trees and enjoy the pool after lunch.

     Friday 2nd. Marie came this morning to fit the blinds which should help keep the temperature inside the boat down. After she was finished I took the boat back to the marina. Reversing into my slot was interesting in a lively breeze!

Saturday 3rd. Dinner on Jubilant this evening with Helen, Steve and their interesting guests. It was lovely to sit out on deck on a cooler evening. Mike had bought along some exquisite miniature rolling stock, real collectors items.

Sunday 4th, Lovely 32k cycle ride this morning along the Rhone and Rhine and then back through forest and rural villages.

        

When I got back to St Jean there was a street market in progress along the river promenade. I bought a gift for Alison for one euro! After that I had what I thought was a well deserved lunch of Whitebait at L’amiral.

A truely sunny day

Sunday 11th August.  We have a daily community radio on the Gaurdo, called, funnily enough, Radio Gaurdo. In addition to a weather report and currency exchange rates and navigational news the channel is there as a community support facility and social media. On Friday I proposed a Sunday cycle. There was only one taker, Nigel, off another boat called “Libertè”. We did a leisurely 62k ride on a mixture of towpath and minor roads to just beyond Seurre, where we stopped for coffee, and back. It was quite a delightful morning. I will try to encourage others to join by proposing a shorter one next week, to Auxonne and back, which will be 30k and which offers the prospect of crêpes and coffee at Auxonne.

On this section of the Soane there are big grain, gravel and sand barges, 110m long. The locks are built to accommodate them and are scarily big for a little boat!

Seurre has some interesting looking buildings and narrow cobbled streets that definitely deserve further exploring. The old building that houses the information centre is interesting as is the half-timbered house next to it.

     

12th August. Wonderful day out on the River Soane with Jana & Joe from my pontoon. Picnic on the bank in the shade and home for just after 6pm. Did the Auxonne lock in both directions and Joe & Jana left me to do it all so that I could see how it would be single-handed. About 33klms over about six hours.

                     

                       

15th August. A public holiday today. I cycled to Auxonne mostly by way of a recce in readiness for Sunday’s ride with Helen and whoever else pitches up. It has a delightful town centre with a big church and some interesting old buildings. This is a garrison town and it is at Auxonne barracks that Napoleon did his military training. There was a medieval fete going on at the castle and I was very sorry that I had not bought my camera. There were some nice craft stalls. Back in St Jean I walked into town after my shower to see what was going on there. A big street market here but mostly garishly coloured tat.

17th August. Helen has twisted her foot walking so will not be able to ride tomorrow. Not a bad thing as it happens because Janie & co text to say they would have to do something with me on Sunday as they are heading North on Monday. We met in town in the evening for a drink and a look at the night market, with band playing and ending in fireworks. Better quality of stalls for this one. More hand-made and craft items.

  

18th, Sunday. Great day out on the River to Auxonne and back with Janie, Rob, Tilly & Oliver. Both kids had a go at steering. Oliver did really well, Tilly lost interest rather quickly! Good lunch of crepes in Auxonne and a walk around town which has a pretty Town Hall, a statue of Napoleon and a huge church. The market hall is the old barracks and an attractive building. Joined them in the campsite in the evening for a drink and to have a look at their VW camper, the evening ended with a spectacular sunset.

        

  

20th Tuesday

Cycled to Auxonne and back today. 43k in all and felt good, not that there are any hills! Bought a map and printer ink and got a video of the church bells which play rather nicely.

22nd Thursday. Kev, Nita & Conor arrived late afternoon. We discovered from Phillippe that the water pump needs more than a gasket and has in fact gone in to Dijon to be repaired, so there will be no cruising. As the weather is set fair for tomorrow and less good on the weekend we decided to do countryside stuff tomorrow.

23rd Friday. Nice drive through lovely countryside to Les Planches and the Cascade de Tufs. From there on some lovely mountain roads to Baume=les-Messieurs to visit the Abby. We had a swim in the icy pools at the bottom of the waterfall and a picnic in a flower strewn meadow.

         

         

In the evening we met up with Louis and family for a drink on the quay and to watch the clog dancers.

        

Saturday 24th. The day started off rainy which wasn’t a major draw back as we were headed for sightseeing in Dijon. We didn’t get a very early start so it was pretty much lunch time by the time we had parked the car. On our way to find somewhere to eat we stopped to have a look at St Benigne Cathedral of Dijon. This large Romanesque church predominantly dates from the 12/13 centuries but the crytp dates back to the C11 and includes a mortuary chapel dating from the C6. Parts of the roof feature the coloured tiles that are so much a part of burgundy.

        

From there we moved to St. Philibert’s C12 church right next door but which is in a serious state of degradation and largely held up by wooden props. It is currently and art space and featured an interesting photographic installation when we visited.

    

We really felt that we deserved our lunch after that and as  a reward the sun came out and we were able to sit outside where we enjoyed a really good meal.

After lunch we followed the owl trail round town and took in a number of handsome buildings that Hannie and I had missed on our walk including the place de le Palaice de Ducs. This was a very attractive space with a crescent of handsome stone buildings facing the palace and a number of fountains.

In the evening we had another really scrummie meal at a tiny little place in St J de L where I hadn’t eaten before but I certainly will again. It is owned and run by a most attractive lady who does everything herself. The food is really excellent and the ice creams and sorbets, to die for.

Sunday 25th. Kevin and I were the only takers for the Sunday cycle to Auxonne and back. It only took us an hour to get there so we just had a coffee and headed back to the boat where Nita and Conor were on the bed reading! This evening there is a Baroque concert in the church featuring C17 instruments.