Canal des Vosges and Nancy

So, after the Aster adventure we turned our thoughts to our own cruising and the need to get Slo-Mo ship shape. But of course, there was also a lot going on in SJDL. We haven’t been in port before when it really comes alive in the summer and so were often diverted by the ‘summer social’ gathering on a Wednesday evening, musical Fridays, BBQs, lunches with friends in the sunshine and of course the temptation of just sitting in one of the bars on the quayside with a glass of rosé, simply watching the world go by… the summer was slipping by.

But eventually we replaced the rudder bearing - a job that should have taken a day but eventually took 5 days, 2 sledge hammers, 2 blow torches and 2 desperate men!

At the end of last summer our bow thruster jammed up. We didn’t know if it was weed or worse. It turned out to be worse. It hadn’t rotted away over the winter so we had to arrange a lift out. We found a tangle of blue rope well and truly wedged around the prop. 

It was almost the end of July when Mal and John came to stay. The weather forecast was a mixture of some heavy rain and sunshine so we based ourselves in port and did some day trips in the car and a short cruise up to Auxonne. It was a great 10 days and fantastic to spend time with them both.

Good Friends and a Great Lunch on Jubilant

Baume-Les-Messieurs

August and we were finally ready to leave, turning left on the river. 
Where we are based in Saint Jean de Losne, the river Saône is classed as a big river but as we travel northwards, it becomes the Petit Saône - not so wide, slower running and meandering through some lovely countryside.

The weather was good and we stopped at Pontailler, Gray and then Port Sur Saône, where it was the final day of an International Festival of Folklore. (This made a very welcome change for us as we usually arrive somewhere the day after a concert or festival has finished.) There were groups of various nationalities parading through the streets, a pageant of beauty queens and a big stage area where performers dressed in national costumes entertained everybody with their national songs and dancing. Oh, and the quayside was full of stalls - a massive vide grenier!

The Argentine Contingent

Next stop was Corre Marina for three nights. We needed to repair a pump, and do some shopping. Then torrential rain. The marina kindly lent us a car so we could visit La Rochère, the oldest Art glassworks in France that is still active. Enjoyed the visit very much, but weren’t too impressed by the ‘art’ glass. Think we have been spoilt by the wonderful glass creations we have seen at the British Glass Biennales in Stourbridge!

Then onto the Canal des Vosges - again beautiful scenery and very quiet but also some torrential rain… so we took it in turns working on the roof through the locks.

Full Battledress

A mix of small towns and green bank moorings - the Canal des Vosges seems to be very well maintained and moorings are clearly marked often with picnic tables and good mooring rings or bollards.

NANCY

What a beautiful city! 

We arrived in the rain and managed to find a place in the marina, which is walking distance from the city centre. The sun came out and for the next couple of days we had a wonderful time discovering the city. Place Stanislas is reputed to be the most beautiful square in Europe - and it is quite wonderful with the gilded iron railings and gates, architecture and pavement cafés. 

Then there’s the  adjacent park with its Art Nouveau bandstand. Nancy is a beautiful city and we really enjoyed our short stay there and did find time to visit the Musee de L’Ecole de Nancy, which was the centre of the Art Nouveau movement, watch the son et lumière in the square, have lunch in the Brasserie L’Excelsior and finally to lust after some of the beautiful glassware in the famous Daum Brother’s showrooms.

Brasserie L'Excelsior

Our Art Nouveau Bank!

Son et Lumière

 

We did it

We did it!

We brought this old barge home!

It was completely bonkers. No one knew if the boat would stay afloat for the journey. No one knew if the old engine would carry on running day after day, or the generator (necessary to run the pumps, toilets and galley), or the compressor (needed to start the main engine).

We painted

and painted

We put her in dry dock, painted and caulked the hull and strengthened the rudder fixings. The machinery, which had not run for twelve years, was all serviced and started, toilets were unblocked and repaired, we managed to get the hotplates working in the all electric galley, (but not the oven) and brilliant Steve, our systems officer, even rigged a shower in a cupboard!

Just doin' the toilet

Dry dock

You'll see from the Museum website that we did the trip in seven days. We, in our leisurely cruising mode, would take two weeks or more to cover the same distance.

Steve under the floor again

Please start

We were up at seven, under way between eight and nine and ran until seven each evening. 

The strain on the boat, its machinery and systems, not to mention the crew, was considerable.

The Aster is very unusual in two respects, the propellor is at the back edge of the rudder and she also has a Bow Rudder. These together mean that we all had to learn a new style of boat handling and control. 

Matthew on the helm and Steve on the bow rudder! Hell who"s driving this rig?

We, together with Helen and Patricia, had signed on as catering crew. We leapfrogged three vehicles, so that we could shop for supplies each day and get back to the boat to prepare lunch. Mealtimes were a chance for all the crew to relax and have fun.

Lunchtime

Helen's Chicken Basque

It was the best adventure. We left Decize in a frenzy of local media and officialdom, and set off for Aster's new home.

TV interviews

Janine and the flag

Glen designed the T shirts, (but did NOT choose the colour), A retired 86 year old (lady) bargee presented us with a hand sewn flag and the Museum had produced two banners for us saying "Let's save the Aster".

A rare moment of relaxation

I can do this

We were completely worn out at the end of each day. We enjoyed the companionship of a lovely group of people, we were apprehensive about fulfilling our obligations, but most of all, we had such fun.

Washing up will never be the same!

It was a one off. It could never be done again. We were not even sure if we had the correct paperwork to make the trip and were prepared to abandon the barge if challenged by the Waterways Police.

We wouldn't have missed it for the world!

So, thank you to a very special group of people - we will remember this trip forever.

A great crew

AND - thank you Charles, you seer of visions, we would never have done this without you.

Shine on you crazy diamond

We're on the move again...

It's the first week in August and we're still in the marina! We'll be leaving tomorrow heading towards Nancy. It's a very late start for us but we have had a couple of adventures to keep us occupied.

Spain and Portugal

We had a fantastic two months in Bertie. We enjoyed every minute of it - the freedom, the variety, the landscapes. It's just like cruising but by road. 

We wild camped on headlands and beaches; visited cities; travelled across wonderful landscapes and met up with friends. 

Mediterranean boats at Bouzigues. Spent great couple of nights with Les and Jude...

On the road to Spain - we enjoyed almost traffic free driving and found the sunshine!

Seville rooftops. We loved this city and will need to return sometime to explore further

Great to spend some time with Neil and Angela, thanks for showing us the ropes and introducing us to some lovely places

Seville Plaza de Espana

We visited Cadiz on Carnival day, everyone was dressed up.

A couple of Cossacks 

This was the view from our window at one of our overnight stops

Of course we both loved seeing, hearing and smelling the sea, we have missed it.

And...we often had the beach to ourselves.

Another wild camping location, Carvoeiro. The lighthouse beam swept our roof lights all night

These two had bagged the best perch in town, on the roof of the supermarket

John, Allison and Shakti. Thank you for your hospitality. Lovely to catch up with you and to enjoy a few days of luxury

It's obvious why we'll return to Portugal next winter 

The Lands End of Portugal - Cabo de Sao Vicente

Looking across to Cabo de Sao Vicente - the view from our overnight stop

Obidos - west coast beyond Lisbon. Beautiful walled town and a 4 day Chocolate Festival taking place - a chocoholic's dream. But our plan to head north and travel the Atlantic coast was changed as the weather got colder and wetter. So headed back south to the sunshine. 

Alhambra Palace, Granada. A must see. Following a great reunion with Pauline and Richard in  La Cala de Mijas, we crossed the mountains to Granada. A spectacular - if very windy - drive.

Pete said there had to be a picture of me in this blog otherwise everybody would think he'd pushed me over the edge at Cap de sao Vicente....

Alhambra - we were lucky, the previous day there had been driving rain and high winds, but we had sunshine.

Heading north - Delta de L'Ebre. Fantastic birdwatching, walking and cycling. Saw Glossy Ibis, purple heron, marsh harriers and many others.

It's lunchtime and preparing the rice fields has to to stop. Instead of white vans all the guys arrived on huge tractors.

Back in France, the instructions for this campsite said 'drive through the bull ring'....

Typical overnight stop provided by the local commune.

Vichy - a glorious day and great architecture

Autun - the Amphitheatre just behind our overnight parking spot.

Autun - and our view across the lake

Chateau de Sully - we saw the signpost and what a great place to visit and have a lunch stop.

That was it. Back to our lush green hills and forests, Burgundy feels good.
We just had time to clean and unpack Bertie before starting on another madcap adventure, we were about to help rescue the last wooden barge in France......

Let's save the Péniche Aster

The Aster is the last surviving wooden péniche in France. She was built in the early 50's and was later converted to a passenger carrying vessel, working the Canal du Nivernais. She has been unused for the past 13 years or so and was steadily rotting away. You can find the full story, a blog of our journey and the hundreds of pictures we took, on the Saint Jean de Losne Museum website (there's now an English version)

http://www.musee-saintjeandelosne.com/projetaster.htm

The Aster in her heyday

And now twelve years later

Sad but repairable

The Museum of Barging here in Saint-Jean de Losne purchased the Aster for a nominal sum and intends to restore and maintain her as the only surviving example of a wooden barge.

At a boozey barbecue some while ago, an impassioned plea was made for volunteers to join the project.

So it was that we both found ourselves alongside seven other sixty plus adventurers who formed both the advance work parties and the delivery crew.

To be continued............