Drinking coffee in France

Coffee in France is delicious. The French , the Dutch and the Italians have mastered the art of coffee beyond anything in the USA, anything. But once again we ( Eric and I ) had a lot to learn. Our first clue should have been when we realized the 10 year old car we purchased - don't laugh it is a Ford Mondeo station wagon with duct tape on all but one corner of our bumpers- had no cup holders. By the time we bought the car , just last year, we were thoroughly indoctrinated into "coffee" French style.

You really have to search and search to find something such as coffee to go. Unless you are in Paris where there are Starbucks. The coffee to go phenomena of America just does not exist in France. The French go to the local bar, bistro, brasserie to have their coffee when not at home. It is a quick cup of coffee. Lingering does not often happen with coffee in France but in the bars there will be locals starting on their wine or Pernod in the morning. The coffee is a one shot expresso in a "petite" cup. If you want cream you ask for a "noisette." Adorable but not what American's who drink "big gulps" and "Ventes" expect. So you adjust and once you have made the mistake of drinking more than one of petite cafe at a sitting you start to slow down and enjoy this little slice of life. See there is that "slow down" thingy again.

The hardest thing for us to manage was to find a place where you could have a coffee and a pastry. There are a lot of tea rooms in the bigger cities and they are great, lucious pastry and great coffee. But in the country side it is impossible. So we started to do as the French do - you go to the Boulangerie ,buy your pastry and take it into the local bar to have your coffee. We have to admit one other vice that is going to make you laugh at us. We now have found that McDonalds has McCafes- you can get a great capuccino and a pain au raisin for very little money. But we have to admit that McDonalds, which is unfortunately everywhere in Europe, does not add to the French experience.

Coffee also is priced according to location. If you drink it at the bar standing up it is the lowest price. If you have it at a table it costs a bit more and if you have it outside at a table it maybe a bit more.

The other phenomena in France is coffee is the very last item at the very end of your meal. You may not have it with dessert. We have tried and tried and failed each time. Even if you are not having dessert and there is someone in your group having dessert - you may not have your coffee until they are done. This usually becomes a game at each meal that we eat in a restaurant and to our delight the French have never failed to do what we now expect - coffee after dessert. It is worth the wait.

Just try giving an Eclusier(lock keeper) and his wife a gift!

We have made some ( read a "little ") progress on the canals. When we left Beaulon on the Loire Lateral Canal our next stop was Digoin on the Centre Canal. Digoin is notable for the spectacular aquaduct entry to town and for the Stork family that has nested on top of the Church each year.

We then went on to Paray le Monial which is quite a religious village with a Basilica and several churches and when we arrived a kinetic vehicle race and a wedding. The next village on our way was Genelard. Genelard is quite small but has some lovely bike rides. We rode to the Chateau Digoine 2 times because it is such a beautiful chateau.

We then moved on to the town of Motchanin which is at the top (301 meters altitude) of the Centre Canal. The water from Montchanin west to Digoin flows to the Loire River and into the Atlantic Ocean. The water east of Montchanin flows to the Saone River and then to the Mediteranean. We only stayed for the night before doing 19 kilometers with 19 ecluses in one day to get to St Leger sur Dhuene. While we were doing this distance we did not have to wait once for an ecluse to open. The Eclusier(lock keeper) made sure we had an easy trip and each ecluse was open when we arrived. It makes such a difference and we did the entire distance in about 5 hours when it could have been an 8 hour ordeal! So at the last ecluse (#19), the eclusier who we started with on Ecluse #1 at Montchanin, we discovered lived in the charming lock house. He and his wife were working outside in their yard as he was now onto his weekend. We gave him a small gift - a bottle of wine. And as is the norm with the French you cannot just give them a gift. They have to give you something back. Madame gave us some of her homemade Cherry Jam - delicious. Right now in France there are cherry trees everywhere along the canals loaded with ripe cherries. The French are more than just charming they are genuinely kind and very generous.

We are now in French heaven. St Leger sur Dheune is the southern portion of the Bourgogne/Cote D'Or/Burgandy region. Mercurey, Beaune, Givry, Santenay, Pommard, Merseault and on and on and on. Biking heaven!

Off we go..... Cruising 2009!!!!

Well we finally left the Port of Roanne. Not easy - Eric needed to renew his passport and we had to wait for its return. Of course it was more complicated than that but the passport arrived Wednesday the 19th and we left on Thursday the 20th of May. So good to be out of Port. The noise. We stopped in Melay, on the Roanne/Digoin Canal, for 2 nights then on to Coulanges, on the Loire Lateral Canal, for one night and then Beaulon where we have been since the 23rd of May. Beaulon is a small village with a post office , great bakery, a fabulous Traiteur with the best moules we (Simon, May, a great couple from Roanne on the boat Joie de Vivre, Eric and I) have had - yes without a doubt!





The day we arrived in Beaulon there were 7 other boats - all but 2 were from Roanne. Of course there was a "happy hour" at 5:00pm each evening. After about 3 days some of the boats left and we were left to paint along with Simon and May. Work , work , work.......





During our last 2 days in Beaulon a family arrived - Dad, Mom, 3 young children, a dozen or so chickens, a goat, a pony, five dogs as well as one who was only 14 days old, a cage with 2 birds - and a Roulotte ( a customized wooden home/trailer usually drawn, in the old days, by a horse and now by a truck) with a whimsical sign on the side saying this was the Fortuna Major Circus. At first we thought it was gypsies but not so. They were a wonderful family who are living a very simple life. No electricity, the goat provides milk and cheese, the parents juggle and play music, the kids are charming and delightful.



By coming to Beaulon we have gone the opposite direction of where we want to go but only by about 30km. As we left Roanne we noticed that the Roanne/Digoin Canal which is about 55km long was quite low on water. We had been noticing that the Loire River is also quite low. We also found that there was a bit of debris that we were encountering as we went along. So we decided that perhaps going to the Centre, Bourgogne, Nivernais and then Loire Lateral might be a better choice than the other way around. We are aware that the Bourgogne and the Centre struggle during low water years. So with that said we have come to Beaulon to paint because it is quiet and a comfortable place to be. We found out this past Friday the 29th that the Canal Roanne/Digoin has closed due to a break in the canal wall. So an explanation for the low water in the canal as we left the week before. The sad and infuriating part is that there are still boats now stuck in Roanne for the summer as it is likely to take several months to repair the Canal - and this is the 2nd time in 3 years this has happened.



The Canal system was mostly built in the 1800s. This particular canal was built between 1830 and 1838. The canals are old but they also have problems with burrowing animals, tree roots and just saturated soil. So understandable that there will be problems. We sometimes encounter problems with the old locks ( "ecluse" in French) as they mechanically fail and occasionally we have awakened on a canal to find that a significant amount of water has drained out of that particular pound between 2 locks. But a complete break in the wall of a Canal is unusual and difficult to repair because of the remoteness of the location as well as the remainder of the Canal wall that must be refitted as well.



So we are now, after leaving Beaulon, going in the direction of the Centre Canal which is the southern Bourgogne region of France - lots of great wine.