The Nivernais

Well onto the Nivernais Canal. September brings with it cool nights and warm days and spiders.

It is just such a wonderful time to cruise. It was busy from Auxerre ,at the beginning of the Nivernais, but by the time we reached Mailly la Ville it was very quiet. Simply "impeccable"(spelled the same but imagine the French accent). Although we had cruised the Nivernais last summer we loved being there and this time we were doing it in reverse direction and in September rather than June, so an entirely different experience.

One day when we were staying in Mailly la Ville we went for a bike ride to a small town called Arcy sur Cure. We discovered next to the road an old Roman road that just went off into a farmer's field. It was a remarkable experience to be on top of a ridge riding on a road that the Romans had built many many years ago. Then as we neared Mailly la Ville on our return a block of stone caught our eye. We looked up the drive toward a building and discovered that there were many blocks of stone and sculptures. As we were gawking a gentleman appeared and invited us onto his property and into his "atellier". He was a sculpture and worked in stone, wood and clay. This was one of those experiences that just takes your breath away. We felt so lucky to have seen this place and then to be invited into look at what this man had created. His name was Yves Varanguin. He was just like all the French in that he had all the time in the world to spend with us and show us his work including a monument he was delivering the next day to the town of Cravant memoralizing the French from that town who died in WWI.

Yves in front of his Atelier - look carefully and you will see a stone sanglier

Some of Yves' work in clay

The fall gives us so many sights to see. The bridges on the Nivernais are very low and when we first did the canal we measured each bridge before we went through. Being the second year we now know that we fit through them all. Most of the bridges are old and made of stone.

At the summit of the Nivernais canal is a small and I mean small village called Baye(pronounced Baya). It is large water conservation area with a large body of water that feeds the canal. The water eventually goes to Paris. This canal was really built for that purpose to take water to Paris during the summer. It is beautiful as you can see from the photo below. It is tranquil and remote with the only Boulangerie (bread) 6 kilometers away. To get to Baye from Auxerre the last 9 kilometers is a stretch of 24 ecluses and three tunnels . We spent 3 nights here this year and loved every minute of it. There are many great bike rides.

Transmission fixes and friends

With some sadness we have reached the end of the Bourgogne Canal. We began on the canal on July 10th and are at the end on September 7th. It is probably one of the nicest canals we have crusied and was a real treat for us. Very few hotel boats, no rental boats and lots of wonderful people.

Well we finally made it to Migennes. For most bargers it is notable for the train track which is directly across the Port. Migennes is a major train "thoroughfare" and many of the trains going to or from Dijon and Paris are coming through here. At moments you can hardly hear yourself think. But then there is the quai which is nice and low so that painting our boat hull is quite simple. There are friends that happen to be here as well -Laurel and Tom, it is quite close to Chablis, Joigny, Auxerre and most of all it is where Joe Parfitt, who will - keep your fingers crossed - fix our transmission, has his boat yard.

A view of the church as we left Saint Florentin just before Migennes

Cruising on the canals of France is often a lovely cosmic experience - a meeting of the universe in a far away place. We just spent 2 fun filled days with Laurel and Tom going to vide greniers, enjoying Bavette lunches, dinners together and touring Chablis and Joigny. We met some time ago and have not had time together until this past weekend. We had no idea they would be here so it was an extra special experience.

Gourmet dining al fresco in Bassou France

Then yesterday I ran into an English/Irish woman who looked so familiar. As it turns out she and her husband had invited us aboard their ship - 4 years ago - when we were in search of a boat to buy. Amazing and this is such a bonus when you are living in a foreign country. We have been so lucky to meet so many wonderful people and have such wonderful friends. We have friends who often call us every few weeks just to be sure all is well. Cruising provides a common experience. While here in Migennes our friends Mary and Jim drove over to visit for the day with their friends Janet and David. It so happened that in Migennes that day was a vide grenier and a Boudin Fete. Boudin is blood sausage and really for the strong of heart and stomach. They had a Boudin eating contest which was really difficult to watch.

Jim's hand and Mary with Janet and David

Eric's elbow has healed enough that he is off to paint today. The weather is fabulous fall weather very warm warm days and quite cool nights. The painting is coming along wonderfully from my perspective and probably it is just good from Eric's perspective. Today was quite hot and the paint was becoming sticky in a short period of time.

Another cosmic experience today. Joe's assistant Jeff arrived around 3:00pm today and by 5:30pm the gear box and reverse were fixed and put back together. In addition he will order the part that is needed to stop the small leak in the generator. We feel so lucky and amazed - what a great experience to have the work done when promised and done well. Yipee!!!!!!! Now a few days later the parts arrived for the generator and it also is fixed. We are so pleased to have these two problems fixed and be on our way to the Nivernais Canal.

"Oldtimer" on an old aquaduct with her old owners!