A Cosy Ark

We have no idea if May has been a record month for rainfall in France, but we do know it has rained for all but a handful of days — and it has been bitterly cold on most of them as well. Since returning to France we have enjoyed only two days of warm spring sunshine (apart from those spent in Provence).Never mind, Sable is a cosy ark and has a wonderful heating system. We are frustrated most of all at not being able, or brave enough, to venture outdoors and explore places as we normally like to do. The waterways of France have not escaped the vagaries of the weather either. Virtually every river has been, and in many cases still is, in high flood and too dangerous for all but the largest and most powerful craft to navigate. We are on the Canal de Centre where the sluice feeding the top pound from the reservoirs collapsed and the canal was closed to effect repairs for three weeks, reopening only Monday. A year ago this canal was closed due to shortage of water! Fortunately the reservoirs have more than enough water to replenish the 4km stretch of canal that drained away when the breach occurred. We drove up to inspect the empty section — not a pretty sight. A few boats were caught in a boat-builder's pond and a couple were listing at a precarious angle and looked to be stuck in the mud. I'm sure a crane would have been needed to lift them to prevent them being flooded through their windows when the water was released back into the pond. Needless to say, as a result of the delays we have missed our appointment for dry-docking Sable in St Jean de Losnes. She was due in dry dock on 27th for routine cleaning and painting of her bottom. Who knows when this might now occur — we'll have to wait until we get there to negotiate another slot. And to get there we will have to wait until the Saône reverts to its normal flow. This also means our chances of making Dijon in time for the DBA Rally, June 6 - 10 are looking slim. So far we've made it to Santenay. Another couple of days cruising will get us to Fragnes where we'll have to wait until its safe to tackle the current.

It was a pleasure to have Deb and Mark visit us again. We were disappointed they didn't have better weather to make further excursions into Burgundy on bikes, as they did last year. However we all had some great experiences, mostly featuring food and wine, of course! Deb, CEO of a rapidly expanding corporation outreaching into all corners of the globe naturally required a faster and more reliable connection to the internet than our modest pre-paid SIM card service can provide. So we walked into the town centre at Paray le Monial for a coffee, after which I directed her to the Orange shop while I intended to walk up to the commercial hub at the top of town to enquire about a hire car. After waiting aimlessly for half-an-hour in a queue that never diminished they elected to join me in the hope there may be an alternative provider up the hill. As it turned out the hire-car places were unmanned and also refused to answer their telephones. And no alternative internet provider. Then everything shut for lunch so we trudged 3km back to Sable for a recovery repast. Deb returned to Orange after lunch and patiently waited, returning mid-afternoon with a new device and a voucher for 7days/1G internet. I phoned through with the secret code and presto, she was online and was a happy girl while it lasted, for about 30 mins. Must be a mistake! First thing, next day, back to purchase another voucher. This time when I phoned with the number for the device I was told, "The number is incorrect!" Now, there are three places I have no desire ever to revisit: Dunedin; IKEA; and Orange (as in France Telecom store). But, back we both went to wait 40 mins to be served by an incredulous woman whom I finally managed to convince to try calling the number herself. Quelle étrange! Another 30 mins waiting for a techno-twit in Paris to sort it out (a duplicated number apparently). After less than an hour on the net Deb's credit was again exhausted, along with her patience. She stormed back to Orange and demanded an explanation. It is impossible to use 1G sending a few emails... Our daughter with more than half a century's experience of inquisitiveness, and as she confronted the assistant in the store, waving her tablet and gesticulating at the data-usage meter in the corner of the screen whirring away like the odometer in an F1 racing car, she had an epiphany moment... she remembered that her tablet is usually synchronised, via the Cloud, to her office computers. She switched off the auto-synch program and with a gracious sigh agreed to purchase another voucher. When she returned to Sable we had already cast off for imminent departure and we had gone through the first lock before I phoned through to activate the credit — "the number is incorrect!" At the second lock we put both Mark and Deb off to cycle back to town. They returned, cold wet and exasperated but with more internet coverage. We inherited the device when they left for home a week later. It works like a charm for us; and I've recharged it online.

I had better success with the hire car companies after lunch. Both returned my call and at 4pm the successful hirer delivered a Fiat Panda (the only car available) to our boat — 149€ for 5 days/500km. For day trips it was surprisingly comfortable for the four of us to get out and forget about the weather. A grand lunch to celebrate Deb's birthday seemed like a great idea. A friend had given her a book reviewing outstanding French restaurants written by Shannon Bennett an Australian critic. It included a review of "Le Grand Couvert" which hitherto was unknown to us but was a relatively new establishment founded by one of the Troisgros brothers whose 3-Michelin star restaurant in Roanne is world famous. More intriguing was the fact that this now popular restaurant is situated a mere 2km above a mooring where we almost always stop, at Iguarande, about 20km out of Roanne. The site commands extensive views over the beautiful Loire valley countryside. Lunch was delicious, the ambience exquisite and we all agreed it was an unforgettable dining experience. We'll definitely return, even if it does require a "special occasion" to make the effort. Some quite architecturally-trendy guest lodges have been built close to the restaurant which would provide an attractive location for a family celebration — a 70th birthday, perhaps. As we had to pass through Marcigny a visit to the Emile Henry factory outlet was mandatory; as was the purchase of some fancy cooking oils from the artisan oil maker in Iguarande. A return trip over the rolling hills, fat Charolais cattle belly-deep in grass, via St Christoffe and Charolles concluded a very pleasant day.

A trip to Cluny was rewarded with a visit to the renowned abbey and its grounds. The original abbey was founded in 910 by William the Pious, Duke of Aquitane. Accountable only to the Pope, the abbey grew considerably over the following six centuries and was, in its heyday, the biggest church in the world until St Peter's was built in Rome. Cluny was the mother house for over 1,000 monastries and became the headquarters for the Cluniac order, the largest monastic order in the western world. The Wars of Religion in the 16th century hastened the abbey's decline but it remained a stronghold of Christianity until the French Revolution when it was almost completely destroyed. Much of the stone was reused to build horse racing stables in the 1800's. We put Deb and Mark on a TGV to Paris for a weekend business engagement while we meandered back through the stunning valleys and vineyards of the Macon region. Steep, winding roads past incredible rocky outcrops and spectacular scenery. A journey impossible to undertake without a motor vehicle.

We tarried for a week in the pleasant port at Génelard, most of the time spent indoors relishing the warmth and comfort, reading, solving puzzles and generally losing our minds. However, in the town we discovered a hotel bar that has been exotically and/or eccentrically (take your pick) decorated by the elegant and youngish hotelier. At least it was cosy and warm and a hit with the older men of the town for there was always a few patrons. Deb and Mark made good use of the free internet and virtually everyone enjoyed small carafes (250ml) of the house Rosé. At 1.30€ per carafe who wouldn't? There's never a shortage of surprises in this country and it is heartening to come upon someone with some entrepeneurial panache. The entire railway line from Paray le Monial to Montchanin is being relayed at a cost of 47M€. It was fascinating to watch the amazing range of track laying gear and ballast spreading equipment working across the port from our mooring. Had the weather been more amenable I would have ventured closer to get a better understanding of how it all actually worked. But we were held up at the crossing, returning from the pub, as they pulled off pairs of rails more than 100m long, stacked on five wagons each obviously more than 20m in length.

From Génelard we farewelled Deb and Mark onto a bus to Beaune from where they hired bikes and finally got to spend a couple of days biking through the Cote d'Or, Bourgogne's finest vineyards to Gevrey-Chambertin and Dijon. We contend there is no finer region for cycling than Burgundy and today, fine at last, we sampled the pleasure ourselves with a 25km ride from Santenay to Mersault and back. To us Burgundy is always unique because it always a different season when we are here.