Sancerre Vendage

On the right side of the BLOG is a place labeled "Jalbums". Just click on the space and it will take you to a wonderful site that does justice to the photos. I am still working with it and will have more photos of the vendange. As you click through be sure to see all the photos by clicking on the arrow on the right of the photos at the top.
The vendange is the French word for grape picking and the beginning of the process of making wine. It is a special time. When we arrived in Sancerre this fall it was about a week before the beginning of the vendange. The grape vines were resting and doing the best they could to be the best grapes ever. There were no workers, no trucks/vans - nothing was happening . There was stillness, a serenity in the vineyard that was just magical.
The second week we were there the vendange started on a monday and the energy level changed dramatically. People were working in the fields both by hand and machine. The smell of the crushed grapes perfumed the air in the village. Life was good!
Some of the photos I took were early in the morning before the sun came up. At the base of the village of Sancerre is the Loire Lateral Canal and the River Loire. In the fall the cool nights produce heavy fog over the areas of water. As the sun rises this becomes an unusual sight. Tulah and I were running through the vineyards and as we turned around at the top we were able to see this fabulous vision.
It is our favorite place to be in the fall. So very special.

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!

Sancerre, France

Welcome to the first posting of our adventures with "Oldtimer" blog. Although we have 3 years of history with the ship and many adventures , we will begin with where we are now. The picture above is on the grounds of Fountainbleau which we were lucky enough to see in September. We moored "Oldtimer" in Moret sur Loing on the Loing Canal. From there it was a quick 40minute bike ride to Fountainbleau. A spectacular place to visit. This summer we began our travels on June 4th when we left our winter port of Roanne. We traveled up the Roanne/Digoin Canal , turned left onto the Loire Lateral Canal , right onto the Loire River to the Nivernais Canal, onto the Yonne River, the Seine River, then left to the Loing Canal, the Briare Canal and back onto the Loire Lateral Canal as we head back to Roanne for the winter. We are now in Sancerre the most beautiful and lovely wine country . The 2008 Vendage (grapes,leaves photo) has begun and the energy and smell of the harvesting of the grapes is quite wonderful. Today we rode about 30km - not far - to a wonderful valley filled with grape vines We went to St. Gemme and Sury en Vaux - quaint, charming and glorious villages right out of a picture book.

Life on "Oldtimer" is pretty calm this year. Our first couple of years on the canals and rivers certainly had moments of panic and anxiety as we learned to manage the barge. This year we even completed several rivers with ease -knock on wood. Rivers can often be more difficult as we have to contend with commercial barges, current, wind, barages(dams) and the few and far between mooring places. The upside of the rivers , particularly the Yonne River, is being able to visit such beautiful places as Auxerre, Joigny, Villeneuve and Sens. All of these places are old, old villages with some great architecture and beautiful churches. For two non religious types we have visited more churches than we can count.

A LITTLE HISTORY

Rather than recount our past 3 years all at once - we thought we would do a piece with each blog . Sometime in 2002 - we think - the mid life crisis hit - "What are you going to do with the rest of your life." Our next door neighbors sold their home and bought a huge mobile home. I said " Eric lets do that , think of the freedom." Eric said " I am not driving on the highways of America with a huge box for a home." About that time there was an article in a magazine about people who live on their boats in the USA. So we spent the next two years going to different harbors and boat shows - Miami, Salomens Island, Puget Sound to look at boats. We were looking for a trawler type of boat , particularly a Defever. In the meantime Eric was working to get the house in order to put on the market. He remodeled bathrooms and other assorted fixes. Then along came my 60th birthday. My kids - bless them- threw a huge suprise birthday party.The following week Eric, Thom(our oldest son) and I left for 10 days on a rental boat on the Canal du Midi in southern France. Well that and another magazine article about people living on boats on the canals of Europe and we were sold. We put the house on the market in June 2004 , it sold in March 2005 and closed in June 2005. We sold all our accumulated junk, put a few things in storage,then traveled to see friends and family by car(Montana, Michigan, Nova Scotia, Maine) and spent the month of September in Charlottesville ,Virginia where Eric's 92 year old (at the time)Mother lives. September 24th we flew to Paris with 6 bags and 2 dogs. We must have been nuts. Do you know that customs did not even look at us? To be continued.........