1st September. Rained solidly till late afternoon. Did the ironing, shower and hair-wash and had to strip and clean the shower pump AGAIN! Caught up on e-mails and did some drawing before a late afternoon walk which revealed apples and blackberries to be harvested tomorrow!
2nd Helen & Donald on “Shiegray Bay” and Chris and Andy on “Emily Rose” moored up this afternoon and we all met on “Shiegray Bay” for aperos. Most enjoyable.
3rd. Cycled out to the Cascades de la Tuffière, water coming to the surface after running some distance through lime stone, deposits the lime stone on the moss and creates shelves, ledges and pools. Surrounded by deciduous woodland it is an enchanting environment.
5th. Moved on to Langres and was pleased to find a mooring as Jeasn-Marc and Therese had said that it was very full when they got back from cycling here yesterday. The town is about 2k away up a very steep hill. It has the longest continuous ramparts in Europe, punctuated by many gates. The view across the Marne valley is extensive.
Inside the walls there is evidence of the importance of the town as a religeous centre. Represented by a Jesuit College, a Carmalite nunnery, Hospitaliers charity hospital, and a onvent of the Annonciates among others. Most of these now house government institutions. The Cathedral of St Mammés nicest feature is its tiled Burgundian roof, evedence that we are now on the border of Champagne and Borgogne.
9th. Georgie and Will arrived this afternoon and we joined Glennie & Pete and Chris for aperos.
10th Took the bus up into town and walked the ramparts and then some. We stopped for a moulle frite lunch then continued through the winding streets of the town before descending back via the Intermarché. We met Chris & Jacquie of Joli Roger on our way down and will be joining them for aperos this evening! It is all one big party.
11th We set off at 9am to get through the tunnel. Had a long but good days cruising.
Arrived at Dommarian at 16.30 where there was already a boat on the small pontoon. They are a French couple I have met before and they helped us tie up with the passerelle in place due to the sloping bank. We had a delightful walk round the charming village then drank fiz and played “Carcassonne!
12th. Took a walk up to Montsaugeon and back this morning, a round trip of about 10k. It is a pretty stone village with some grand houses. Probably originally constructed by “salt barons” as there is a big salt store and market in the middle of the village which must have some point been on a major trading route.
There was also an attractive church, an old gate from the days when the village was walled and a little lavoir with a pump to bring up the well water. We were lucky to get back before it started to rain. The taxi came to pick them up at 17.30. It has been all too short and really lovely to see them.
Sat 12th. Georgie and Will leave in the evening.
Sun 13th Cruise in tandem with Guy and Isobelle on the Pedro boat to Cusey where we find Jean-Marc and Terése on Lotus. Went for a cycle ride and explored surrounding hamlets. There is a tiny chapel on a hill next to the canal but the church in Cusey is not in use and is looking sad and run down. The château is a private residence. Not much to see apart from the lovely countryside and a glazed tile roof on the church at Percey-le-Grande.
Have decided to hunker down here while I wait for the tropical storm Henri to pass through France on Wednesday with winds of over 60m.p.h. The weather leading up to it is supposed to be pretty wet and windy too. A profitable time will be spent re-arranging the stuff on the roof and lying round the decks.
There are also big walnut trees with nuts ready for gathering!
17th. Still at Cusey. It has been raining for the last 17 hours and yesterday afternoon there were high winds and thunder storms. At Aperos on Lotus with Jean-Marc and Therése yesterday evening we watched the forecast for winds of 70 to 90 k.p.h. on the TV and decided that we wouldn’t be going anywhere today. In the late afternoon yesterday two ex-hire boats limped in, one with a ding in the bow where they had hit the lock wall.
18th. Finally left Cusey. Was caught up by Dana and Vilhelm on Cloya and we shared the last of the 17 locks over a 32k stretch. Moorings were few and far between but in the end I was too tired to go on and wild moored in a nice spot just north of Renéve.
19th. Short hop to Maxilly with frequent showers but managed to moor upbefore the big downpour! Patricia will be arriving about 9am tomorrow to cruise the river section with me.
capetocarpe 