Almost on the Med!

1st Oct 2011.

Today we travelled by TGV from Agde to CDG airport, Paris, & depart for NZ tomorrow.

Agde - Lindsay's visit 250

Agde - Lindsay's visit 274

Agde - Lindsay's visit 282

Agde - Lindsay's visit 283

On the Canal Du Midi

The Canal du Midi, approaching the round lock at Agde; note the tow path along the Canal near the Mediterranean

locks on the Midi

At present we are parked under plane trees which line the midi.

They were planted when the canal was built, are big & old & provide shade which is very welcome.

We have cycled to the beach again today. 1 hr each way, so now we are having a relaxing time before a visit from Lindsay.

We get back to Agde, tomorrow.

The weather has an Autumn feel now.

Lindsay is coming to stay for 3 days, so will do a bit of sightseeing in the area.

The boat comes out of the water Monday, but we can still sleep on it etc, so it will be a bit like camping.

Around Lyon

 

1.  Picking & sorting Beaujolais grapes

2.  Statue of André-Marie Ampère

3.  Lyon, beside the River.

4.  Grape vines on steep slopes near Condrieu.

5.  The wide Rhône River.

6.  Bollene lock. 22M deep. Deepest in France.

7.  Roquemaure church.

 

From Thoissy on the Sâone R. we cycled to several small wine growing villages of the Beaujolais wine growing area. Vineyards & country roads were very busy with tractors & trailors  as grape picking was in full swing. Mostly red grapes being picked by hand.

 

We spent 3 days at Lyon. While there we visted the passageways in the old city. Big wooden doors lead into these passage ways & homes, built from the 14thCentury onwards, which are still lived in today.

While wandering around the city we came accross the statue of André-Marie Lampère, Born in Lyon. 1775-1836. He was a French physicist, natural philosopher & mathematician who is best known for his contribution to electrodynamics. The Ampere---The unit for measuring electric current was named in honour of him.

 

Our journey down the Rhône started when we left Lyon.

 

Angela & Stephen Cowper came to stay when we were at Les Roches-Condrieu. A wine growing area.They took us on a tour of the area in their car, plus wine tasting at Vidal-Fleury, which was very interesting.

 

The locks on the Rhône are deep, the deepest, the Bollene lock is 22M deep.

The Rhône is big & wide with a current, which is not strong at this time of the year. The wind can become strong, which it did 1 morning after we were well on our way. Fortuneately we came accross a place to tie up near the village of Roquemaure where there is a 14th century collegiate church , of the Languedoc Gothic style. A local poet, Placide Cappeau, composed the hymn 'Silent Night', here to celebrate the restoration of the church organ.

Since 25th Oct 1868 this same church has housed the relics of St. Valentine, the patron Saint of all lovers. A rich wine grower purchased them in Rome to protect his vines from the Phylloxera disease, which appeared in Roquemaure for the 1st time in 1866. Since those days, Valentine looks over the countryside & their vineyards. By 1pm, the River was calm again & we continued our journey, to Avignon, which is a beautiful old city but we only stayed 1 night as the port was alongside a busy road.

 

Now we are on the canal between the Petit Rhône & Sête Rivers, making our way towards our winter mooring, near Agde. We arrive back in NZ on the 4th Oct.

Cezanne's blocked Aorta...

About a week ago, when we were on the Saone R. Cezanne had a problem. His Aorta became blocked  & he finally died.(fungus in the fuel tank blocked the outlets etc.) We were lucky that we were nearing a jetty beside a big lock, so we tied up & after much time trying to rectify the problem  & cleaning out some pipes, still no go, so Barry decided to use the foot pump which we have for the bikes. It has a special fitting , just the right size to fit into te diesel tank. A few pumps & voila, air flowed through & cezanne sprang to life.  The fuel filter was needing to be changed regularly, so we were a little concerned about being on the Rhone. There is a boat workshop at Pont de Vaux, so we had them do a temporary repair until we get to our winter mooring.This involved putting in another small tank & bypassing the old one[cezanne's bypass!] which was over 1/2 full, with the return, we were told, would be minimal & not a problem.  There was a lot of rain overnight. This 5km long R. was running high.The pontoon which I had to step onto to go ashore, to press a button to start the automtic lock, was under water. 2km down the Saone, Barry looked at the fuel guage Which was reading much higher than when we left.A few calculations told us we would not reach Macon, so about turn & with some hurried changing over of fuel etc & then a stop to do some more changes we arrived back here. The mechanic came & did some more alterations, so as the weather will be much better tomorrow we have decided to stay here another day.

arctic trip

Circumnavigation of  Svarlbard (Spitsbergen)

Our trip to the Arctic was very  enjoyable Quite different from the Antarctic. There were less icebergs ,but many glaciers which were very wide eg. 3 km.

Most days we did 2 zodiac  cruises, mostly to walk on the land, which was very barren as there is only 200 mls of rain per year in Svarlbard. On the land we saw many flowering plants, birds, plus animals. e.g. the rheindeer & arctic fox.From the zodiacs we viewed polar bears & explored the fiords & pack ice,

We saw 8 polar bears, some were in the distance, but on 2 different occasions we saw polar bears at the waters edge. They usually roam the ice in solitude. Polar bear can swim very long distances in the cold water as they have thick insulating blubber & air filled hairs adding to their buoyancy.They mate during April & May. Usually 2 cubs are born in late December weighing 11/2 pounds, in the darkness of their den. The cubs are then breastfed on milk containing 30 per cent butter fat produced from the mother's layer of blubber. When in March she breaks the seal of her den to introduce the cubs to the world they weigh 25 pounds.Their main prey, the ringed seal, have just given birth to their pups & are abundant. Mother bear has had a 6-7 months fast. she will care for them for the next 2 years.

We also saw large groups of Walruses. At this time of the year the males are in a separate group from the females &  their young.They are very sociable inquisitive creatures & loll about beside & on top of each other, occasionally puffing & snorting at their neighbours.The tusks are bigger on the males. Those with bigger tusks are more attractive to the females. The tusks are also used to haul out of the water onto ice, as well as to lean on when sleeping. The Latin name for walrus is Odobenus Rosmarus---The tooth walker.

There were different types of sea birds, some nesting on cliff faces & also the occasional whale,

brunnich guillemots

pack ice

The other animal which was prolific on the S.E. side of the Island was the Rheindeer. Perhaps this is where Santa Claus gets his team from!!!

On all the shore excursions the guides carried loaded rifles & were very vigilant as there is always the possibility of a polar bear attack.

visit to the UK and Windsor.

I had obtained a list of the remembrance services & events to be held on various days  during the weeks before & after the 1st of July, which was the 95th Anniversary of the commencement of the battle of The Somme. We would  have to hire a car  & didn't have enough days spare to warrant doing that,  so I decided to give the papers to an English couple who were in the Port at Sillery with us as we had decided we would move on that day. They said that they were going that day--{the 1st July to the Franco-British memorial at Thiepval, where a special service was being held,} in their car, but didn't know the time until I told them. We were asked to go with them & accepted but to be there in time we had to leave within 1/2 an hour.  We arrived just as the service was beginning. There were many people there, bands etc. The memorial is 45M high & can be seen from miles around. It is the memorial to 73,367 missing British & Sth Africans who fell between July 1915 & March 1918 & have no known grave. Their names are inscribed on the 16 pillars making up the base of the monument. The other countries who participated  in WW1 in the Somme area have memorials in villages nearby. The New Zealand memorial is at Longueval.

We continued to Châlons-en-Champagne where we spent time with French friends, then caught the Eurostar to London & stayed at a B & B in Windsor, owned by Zin Zan Brook & his wife. It was a 10 minute walk to Windsor Castle, which is well kept, covers a large area & is very interesting. We also spent time with Lindsay, an English friend. She was going to Hampton Court Flower Show on Friday 8th, the day we were returning to France, so I joined her for the morning & had an enjoyable time looking at the different exhibits & various ideas which people dream up to make gardens interesting. Hampton Court say they have the biggest flower show in the world. Barry went to a nearby pub, read a book & quenched his thirst with some ale. We had several pub meals & I did enjoy the cider, which I can drink without any problems!

Back on Cezanne, at Châlons en Campangne we had lots of shopping & washing to do before saying farewell to our friends there & departing for the canal de la Marne à Saône. At the market we bought some delicious apricots, peaches & nectarines. Yesterday it was raining. We were visited by friends from St. Dizier for lunch. Tonight we are at Chaumont.

Hampton Court Flower Show. School Childrens competition. Sea scene.

A different exhibit!

Tropical flowers to catch insects.

Windsor Castle.

Windsor Castle.

The Franco-British Memorial at Thiepval

a French Wedding...

Here is our latest newsletter.

Hortilonieres boats returning after the market.

Women , in their national costumes

Men selling produce in their national costumes.

The light show at the Amien Cathedral

Coucy Castle

Barry at the Castle

A peaceful evening on the Aisne River

On Fri, 17th June we drove to St. Dizier in a rental car, to attend the wedding of French friends whom we met in 2003.  There was a marriage service at the Marie(town hall) at Betancourt La Feree ( the suburb where they live) at 5p.m.  

When Jean-Pierre arrived at the wedding ceremony he waved the black NZ flag which we gave him 2 years ago. He is an ardent rugby fan, They had arranged for people who speak English to talk to us.

The jovial Mayor officiated at the wedding service. When we went outside afterwards there was a fly pass of 5 jets from the French Air Forece, then 3 made a heart shaped vapour trail in the French colours---Blue , white & red.

The reception was held in the community hall nearby. Being in the Champagne area, that was what was offered to drink. The food, was various types of very nice nibbles, e.g. vegetables to dip, seafoods, pastries etc, & later in the evening an assortment of small cakes & sweet pastries.

We returned to the River Somme. The morning we took back the rental car was the 1st day the Hortilonieres  (whom I  have mentioned earlier) were selling their produce at a market which they do each Sunday at this time of the year. They load the produce onto the narrow boats & go down the River to the market place, dressed in their national costumes.

We stopped off for a night in Amien, to see the light show on the Cathedral which started mid June, each night at 10.45  when it is dark. This is when they show the colours of all the figures, as they have been in a previous era. It was interesting to see for a short time but was rather dissappointing, compared to other light shows which we have been to.

We were rather sad to leave the peaceful Somme River on 24th June & were back onto big waterways & locks again---on the Canal du Nord.But this was shortlived as we turned once again onto peaceful waterways. The canal joining the R. Oise to the R. Aisne is one of the prettiest & quietest French waterways which we have been on.

On Sat, 25th June, at Pont Mard we cycled to the nearby ruins of Coucy Castle. This Castle was originally built in 920, but was extended by several owners over the years, then  neglected.In 1917 the retreating German army destroyed the remaining 4 towers & the Keep.

The weather has suddenly changed from showery warm conditions  to hot sunny windfree days.

To The Rescue!

Dear all,

We thought we would update you on a few of our experiences etc.

The weather has been showery for some time now, but not enough rain for the farmers. Their crops are not growing very well & look a bit sad.

Today we picked up a rental car in Amiens & tomorrow will drive to St. Dizier to our friend's wedding


 A little more about St. Valery. ; William The Conqueror sailed from the port of St. Valery when he invaded England in 1066

We enjoyed our stay at St. Valery, but had to move on & are now at Piquigny, a quiet town.

 Cezanne to the rescue!

On our way here we were travelling behind another boat which gave trouble after the 2nd lock. Smoke started coming from the exhaust, then the engine, so a red light came on & a siren started, so they turned the motor off & the boat drifted. That was when Cezanne came to the rescue. We tied up along side & towed them 10 kms against the current intill we came to a mooring place. All was well on the straight parts of the river but it was difficult for Barry driving around the corners , with the current. Then we came to a srong cross current as a big diversion entered  the river. We gave Cezanne full revs but he was still moved about considerably. You may wonder why we towed the boat beside us. That was because it had no motor, therefore no steering, which would make towing it extremely difficult.The boat's problem was a worn out impellar, which Barry helped the owner replace.

Yesterday, the 15th June, we took the train to Arras to visit La Carriere Wellington. A memorial of the battle of Arras 9th april 1917.

In the entrance I took the 2nd photo which was in memory of the Passendaele battle. On 12th Oct. 1917 NZ'ders were involved in an attack which was an absolute disaster. NZ sufferred its greatest ever human catastrophe. In just 2 hours, more than 2800 NZ soldiers were killed, wounded, or listed missing. The most disastrous day in NZ's military history.

A memorial to the NZ'ders who died at Passendaele.

A very interesting website is ; Passchendaele- What it is all about-NZ ARMY website  

also this history site or the Wikipedia site on Passchendaele

The clay which was used to make the colums came from the mud at Passendaele & Coromandel.

We went underground with a guide for about an hour, visiting the numerous tunnels & learning about the life of those involved with this memorial at Arras. Miners from NZ played a big part in diigging the tunnels.They gave tunnels various NZ names. 24,000 men were underground here for 8 days before the battle began on 9th April, 1917.

The entrance to one of the tunnels dug by the NZ'ders.

there is a movie about it now called Passchendaele Preview here which I think is about the canadians involvement, they became known as storm troopers, to watch a battle scene from the movie...   link to youtube

Amiens to St. Valery sur Somme

Margaret beside her Grandfather's grave at the Pont D'Achelles Military cemetery just outside Nieppe, when we were in Armentieres.

 

Margaret in a field of ANZAC poppies

On our journey down the Somme we passed a very large factory where locally grown potatoes are processed, solely for  the extraction of starch, which is exported all over the world & used as an additive for the items as varied as paper, drinks & pharmaceutics.

Around the city of Armiens there is a large area of Hortilonnages----islands formed over the years by the extraction of peat, which are occupied by private owners & professional market gardeners----Hortilones, whom we bought produce from at a market in Amiens.

One of the many Lakes formed after the the digging of peat

The Amiens Cathedral, built 1220-1269, is the biggest Gothic building in France. Far bigger than Notre Dame in Paris.

Along the waterway there are so many man made lakes, lined with little fishermen's holiday homes. Fishing is a very popular sport here.

Tied up in the city centre of Amiens.

Amiens Cathedral-rear view.

Amiens Cathedral.

We are now at St. Valery sur Somme which is at the mouth of the Somme River.The Bay of the Somme covers an area of 72 km sq. The tide can go out 14km. We have spent 2 days cycling on some of the good cycling paths in the area where one is away from road traffic & have visited some of the neighbouring villages around the bay.

Progress into a more peaceful quiet waterway...

Dear all,

After travelling through the industrial areas we are now in the real French country side ,parked in a village called Frise on the Somme river. (Click here to view map of where Frise is.) We arrived here at about 11.30 on sunday ,just in time to go to the local restaurant for a sunday lunch .We arrived at 12.15 & left 3 hours later. 4 very good courses with the menu,& lots of house wine.I am writing this at 8.30 pm the sun is shining & it is so quiet.!!

On Wed we left Armentiers in the afternoon travelling for about 3 hours . The next day (thurs) we intended to have a big day, but it was so windy, so decided to give it up when we reached the junction of the river Lys & the grande garabit (Click here for info). Parked there for the night,we got a bit of a wash from the passing barges, but not too bad.

Fri morning ,no wind !!! left at 6.15 am , intending to stop in Douai for the night ,not very nice stopping places ,so carried on to the junction of the canal du nord  at 5.15  A long 11 hour day 78 km & 4 big locks & lots of commercial traffic, who were very good, nearly all gave us a wave.Sat we travelled up the canal du nord 38 km & 7 locks ,all 93 m long, made to take 2 barges & a pusher. Went through an interesting tunnel. It was 4.3 km long ,but had a passing bay (1km long) in the middle, so we had 2 barges & 2 pleasure boats passing underground.  click here for more info on tunnel then scroll down... Ruyaulcourt Tunnel 4.354km with 1km passing bay.

 

photo by john smethurst.

Had another peaceful night near a lock. Left this morning at 8.00 am & had a dream run through the 5 downhill locks ,as barges were coming up, & all the locks were open for us. Turned onto the Somme, what a difference !! narrow, quiet, no traffic . Our type of waterway. click here for info on the somme

B&M.

the grande gabarit

Wed 25th May
We didn't get very far with our intended walk this morning as an official told us the park was closed !!!!!!! 
It appeared to be open later. I can't understand why strolling in a park at 9am can be a problem.

It has been a beautiful day. We stopped at 3pm as we had to arrange the next part of our journey down the Lys R. yesterday & will be accompanied by a lock keeper as far as the next waterway The Grande Gabarit, where we should arrive tomorrow.  The Grande Gabarit    also known as Canal_Dunkerque-Escaut

 

Itinéraire à Grand Gabarit is a water and road route that has been created in order to allow the transport of the outsize structural sections of the Airbus A380 airliner from their point of manufacture to Toulouse for final assembly. The route was largely created by modifying existing waterways and public roads, with the addition of some new road sections. Specially constructed ships, barges and road vehicles carry the aircraft parts on the route.

This afternoon Barry completed the installation of the new inverter. There is no power here tonight so the computer is running on it. We are tied to a floating pontoon, with no steps or attatchments to it, so we are unable to go ashore. That is not a problem. I spent some time on the roof in my bathing suit sunbathing.

 

M&B

Ghent to Kortrijk

Tue 24th May
Hi all,

After Ghent we went to Kortrijk which is a pleasant city. I visited a Flax Museum called VLAS Museum Kortrijk, which was so interesting & explained the process of growing the flax(linseed) seeds right though to the harvesting of the seed, making the oil etc & linen from the shafts left behind & the methods of doing this from the earliest days until modern times was all explained extremely well. It was a very important industry for the area.  / www.kortrijk.be/vlasmusem

http://www.kortrijk.be/flaxmuseum (english text)

We have had a rather busy , enjoyable & sociable time since arriving at Armentieres on Sun. 22nd May.

On Mon morning we cycled 5 km to Nieppe to the Pont D'Achelles Military Cemetary where Grandfather Charles Taylor was Buried in 1917.

It is difficult to explain how one feels when visiting these places where so many young lives were lost. Also to read about the numbers etc. I don't really want to dwell on it  but it is very moving when one learns more about what went on during the wars.

Mon afternoon we spent ages getting our French telephone & computer working on the boat. An English couple Sandy & Trevor have their boat next to ours. They had been shopping at a big supermarket where they had bought a special of french bubbly. 3 bottles for 5 Euro (Thats 3 bottles for $8.75 NZ dollar). & invited us at 6pm to sample it. 4 hours later we were having our dinner.

This morning Barry went with Trevor in their car with diesel containers to top up our tank with fuel which was great  & saved pulling our trolley along the footpaths. They made 2 trips. Then this afternoon they took us to the supermarket to stock up on groceries. We have been really spoilt. We had them over for predinner drinks. Another long session. Have learned much more about travelling down the Rhone plus visiting other places. It is now 1/4 to 11. We have just finished doing the dishes.

The marina here is set in a very large park. Tomorrow we will walk 5 km around the lake before departing. It is peaceful & quiet at night compared with the cities, with no traffic & people noise.

I had hoped to write earlier but our evenings have been longer than I had anticipated!!!.

M&B

Have made it back to France

back in french waters now!

Brugge in Belgium

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruges

http://www.brugge.be/internet/en/index.htm

Cezanne in 2007

over view map

Click on the map to make it larger.