Barbecues and Bell Towers

Early Summer in Burgundy... 

First event for us, organised by River Rats, was lunch at the Café de la Place in Aiserey on the 21th April. Twenty of us went along on a lovely sunny day and enjoyed very good food and very good company. 

Next on the calendar was the ‘Open Doors’ at H20 - a great opportunity to buy and sell boats. Unlike last year when it was torrential rain all weekend, this year the sun shone and created a wonderful party atmosphere. The local TV station arrived with three cameras, and Gérard's marina launch was commandeered to get some 'view from the water' shots.

Pete decided to support Danielle’s beer and barbecue stalls in aid of the Boating Museum. He was standing in line clutching his baguette to his chest in anticipation of it being filled by one of the sausages sizzling on the grill when, unfortunately the gas ran out. After some shrugging of shoulders and phone calls, a new gas bottle eventually appeared and was connected.

The BBQ then caught fire. 

But Gérard was on hand with a bottle of Evian to prevent any major catastrophe. 

We attended the VE day celebrations in Brazey en Plaine, with Germaine. A band and military procession (could have been on set for ‘Allo ‘Allo), followed by a moving ceremony in the Square with the English contingent being invited to sing ‘God Save the Queen’ - fortunately there were a fair number of us and with Lawrence ‘avec microphone’ leading, we did not disgrace ourselves. 

Then an invitation to complimentary drinks in front of the Mairie, lunch and an opportunity to watch three parachutists land in the adjacent treelined park area. A good day.

18 May we set off for a short, early Summer cruise. We cast off and travelled northwards along the River Saône…

Soon we were cruising through the Franche-Comté countryside. It’s a gentle, beautiful region, adjacent to Switzerland. It has very distinctive and attractive bell towers - elegant rounded shapes covered in varnished tiles.

 

Thanks Sandy for a great photo

An Archbishop , formerly chaplain to Stanislas Lozinski, Duke of Lorraine and former king of Poland, is said to have had the first tower built in the style of a Polish church at Besançon to please his master - but nobody is quite certain of their origins. They are delightful and we enjoyed spotting them and exploring the villages.

Serene mooring at Mantoche

and the village bell tower

There are bridges and locks and moorings and docks

When messing about on the river.

There's a whirlpool and weir that you mustn't go near

When messing about on the river.

There are backwater places all hidden from view,

And quaint little islands just awaiting for you.

So I'll leave you right now to cast off your bow,

Go messing about on the river.

Well that just about epitomises our journey! 

Scey-sur-Saône - one of the "Petite Cité Comtoise de Caractère"

The weather was sunny and warm - sometimes it is good to have the time to explore and simply relax, rather than having to press on to reach a certain port by a certain date. 

Mooring at Traves

One of our friendly neighbours in the adjacent field

We met up with Sandy and her friend from South Africa, Rhian, at Soing. Enjoyed relaxing under the trees beside the mooring (it was very hot, and were grateful for the shade)

Spot the Eiffel Tower?

Next day we had a delicious meal at the restaurant nearby. It was closed last year but a young couple have refurbished and re-opened and it. Hope they do well, they deserve to.

Ray-sur-Saône - another "Petite Cité Comtoise de Caractère"

Ray's unusual oval Lavoir

The sound of this gate opening is worthy of a Hammer Horror Film

In Gray we met up again with Peter on 'Evelyn J' and enjoyed a great supper with Chris and Jac on the 'Joli Roger', before they set off for Nancy. 
Then back to Port Royal at Auxonne. Susan and Grant invited us for supper on the beautifully polished 'Chocolat' before they too set off northwards along the Entre Champagne et Bourgogne Canal. 

Grant and Susan on Chocolat, leaving Auxonne

Sunday evening was a real treat - a concert with a 10 piece brass band and 150 voice choir. The church was packed and the music and singing brilliant. A fantastic finish to a delightful early summer cruise.

In Saint Jean-de-Losne we were greeted by the Gare d'Eau swans and their cygnets, that had hatched out whilst we were away.

The Marina Cygnets

And back in time for the festive weekend, The Pardon of the Mariniers

A (very) Late Winter Post

We set off in Bertie, seeking winter sunshine, the sea and colour - the winters are so grey and dull in the UK and Burgundy.

Our journey through Spain was more leisurely this year and we took the opportunity to visit Valencia - a lovely city. 

Then to catch up with friends:- 

David and Pamela who had rented a flat in Torrevieja for the winter and then on to see Keith and Glen who we hadn’t seen for many years, high up in the hills in their amazing cave house. 

Keith & Glen and...

their two Spanish pooches

Next stop was to stay with Helen and Steve who were holidaying in an apartment on a golfing complex near Cartagena. 

Six enjoy Sunday lunch

Then on through Spain towards Portugal...

Almerimar, one of our stopovers in Spain

But the weather the next day...! we moved on

Eventually we arrived in the Algarve. 

You can see why we like it!

And we love travelling in the motorhome. Being able to visit towns and cities, wild camp on cliff tops and walk along deserted beaches and stay in aires and small campsites wherever takes our fancy. 

Bertie in Faro

Faro tile restorer's workshop

View from our door wild camping 

The scenery is beautiful, the people welcoming and the colours of the water, the skies and the lush countryside are joyous. The warmth of the sun soon disperses any winter blues.

Obviously many other silver-haired northern Europeans feel the same way; visits to garden centres have been traded in for morning coffee at the local bar in the sunshine and an early evening glass of wine catching up with friends!

Soon we met up with Nigel and Maggie and their two dogs, Dash and Belle. Really good to spend some time with them and also to keep in touch during our stay updating each other of good sites to park and where to get a good English breakfast….

Beautiful Belle in her PJs

The best Fat Boy's breakfast

Fish 'n chips Portuguese style

Once again it was lovely to catch up with John and Alli and to enjoy a long, slow fish lunch with them in Alvor. It passed too quickly, so we’ll just have to do it again!  And this year Les and Jude and Ellie joined us in their motorhome “Bettie”. So good to explore and share adventures with them for a few weeks - just like our camping under canvas days many years ago. 

The Church Alvor

Les, Jude, Ellie and...?

Monchique fire engine

Hard to resist this

Alvor sunset

Our return trip was up the west coast - a visit to Lisbon - crazy city but great fun. A stay at Batalha and visiting the UNESCO world heritage site - the monastery, was a joy. Then into Spain - Pete wanted to see the Rias, which were rather lovely. We had planned to travel along the north coast and onto Biarritz, but the weather forecast was not good for that area so decided to drop down and travel parallel across the plain through Leon, Burgos, Zaragoza, and into Catalonia. It was a brilliant road trip, which gave us a very different view of Spain and yet more places to revisit. 

Lisbon

Batalha

The weather in Saint Jean de Losne when we returned was beautiful - bright sunshine and spring in full bloom. So we cracked on with de-winterising and preparing Slo-Mo for cruising. We were able to catch up with everyone after our time away and enjoyed some good social events with all our friends there.

We made a few new friends in Spain and Portugal too...