L'Avenir - cruising Europe's inland waterways

My phone call in French was a success! As you can see, our taxi not only turned up but was precisely on time. Furthermore the phone call must have been convincing enough as our charming driver chatted away to us as if he expected we should have no difficulty at all in understanding. Departure day itself was a bit dismal weather-wise which seemed appropriate as the end of season pack up is always a little sad. As we are in a different winter port this year we didn't have any farewells to make other than to L'Avenir herself. A night in Paris meant we had a good sleep before the 2 long flights to Melbourne about which there is nothing interesting to be said which I suppose is a good thing. There is nothing remotely glamorous about long distance flying; it is just something to be endured. Perhaps it's different behind the curtain in Business and First and the champagne makes the films look better. I suspect I'll never know. So, that's it for another year. As a...

Restored round lock at Apremont. Now unused this lock once allowed barges to navigate between  the river Loire and the canal system The taxi to the station is booked for tomorrow morning. At least I hope it is. Conducting a phone conversation in a foreign language is just about the most excruciatingly difficult task you can put yourself through when travelling and best avoided if possible. Those finely honed miming skills are completely useless and if you can’t see the baffled look on the person you’re talking to how can you tell if you’re speaking complete gibberish? Anyway, I hope the taxi will arrive here at 10.30 and take us to the station. But did I tell him to pick us up at Chatillon sur Loire or Chatillon sur Saone? I meant the former but I’m worried that I got a bit confused. Unfortunately for both of us the two places are nowhere near each other. I should really phone him back and check but somehow I’d rather miss the train than go through all that again. In the...

Mural in Chatillon sur Loire. Figure on right is Robert Louis Stevenson (Chatillon is on RL Stevenson Trail) With 2 days to go we are finally tied up for the winter. Right up until this afternoon we were worrying that we might have to make an expensive last minute change to our flights and head south to a different mooring at speed – well, 6kph. Uncertainty has been something we’ve had to get used to this summer and normally our plans are so vague that we barely notice if they have to be adjusted but changing the date of our flight home is an organisational step too far. Now, we just have to get on with the cleaning, packing and winterising of the boat. L’Avenir’s home for the next few months is the port of Chatillon sur Loire, not far from Briare. The Tourist Office window has a notice which caught my eye. A happy, bouncing kangaroo is shouting ‘G’Day!’ The town, according to the poster, considers itself ‘Australie sur Loire’ with further information to be found on their...

It’s been a while…. Ever keen to save a dollar (or Euro) I’ve been hoping that we would arrive somewhere with free internet in order to update the blog. Now with less than a week left onboard and moored at our final destination in what seems to be a wifi wilderness I have been forced to attempt to resume my relationship with Monsieur Orange France. Unfortunately, he’s proving more than a little reluctant to cooperate. First off he flatly refused to accept my mobile internet recharge voucher online and after several unsuccessful attempts locked me out of my account. Okay, I thought, I’ll try the personal approach and phone the number on the ticket. No joy there. We haven’t a French mobile this year and I wasn’t able to get the number to connect on the phone we do have. That, possibly, may have been my fault or could it be that M. Orange is upset at my taking up with his UK counterpart? ( credit on UK mobiles doesn't expire and you therefore don't risk losing your ac...

Boating in France is not all about lazing on deck sipping wine in the sunshine as you may be aware if you've followed this blog for any length of time. There are times, like now, when the view from the window, if indeed you could see it through the rain lashed glass, is unrelentingly grey. The weather has steadily deteriorated over the past week as have our moods. One of us was even heard to wonder, this morning, if it would be possible to change the date of our flights home. Things could be worse though. We could be one of those (not all holidaymakers) camped in tents on the banks of the River Loire. At least we are in a port with access to electricity and have the luxury of huddling around a fan heater with our mugs of tea. I saw one of the campers this morning vainly attempting to keep his campfire alight. Not that it is all that cold - just depressing. The weather was still dry- just- when we visited Sancerre, the famous wine producing area of the Loire. The town is situa...

Briare Aqueduct Now cruising another jauntily named waterway - the Canal Lateral a la Loire. As the name says it runs alongside the River Loire. At over 1000 km in length this is the longest river in France although the canal is only 196km. The part of the river we are cruising alongside at the moment is extremely wide with the channel meandering and splitting around islands and large sand banks. These islands are an important conservation area and habitat for many types of birds. River Loire from Briare Aqueduct River Loire from Briare Aqueduct We arrived at the Loire at the small town of Briare. Once waterborne traffic had to make a difficult and dangerous river crossing in this stretch but now we can soar over the wide river on a most impressive aqueduct which opened in 1896. Until 2003 this was the longest aqueduct in the world. The lovely ornamental columns at either end and elegant cast iron lamps the length of the broad towpaths which run each side of the 6m wide ...

'Haste Ye Back' say the signs in Edinburgh airport's departure lounge. A life lived on the move is one of both happy reunions and sad farewells and we've had plenty during our month in Scotland. It doesn't seem to matter how much time we plan to spend 'at home' it is never enough to see all the family and friends that we want to. So, apologies to those we missed this time. We will certainly hasten back - well, next year anyway. As I mentioned when I last wrote Scotland turned on the good weather for us again this year so we decided to hire a car and do a 'grand tour', reaquainting ourselves with favourite spots and visiting some new ones. Scotland may seem a small country but it is crammed with a wealth of beautiful places and interesting historical sights. So, I'll let the place speak for itself with just a few pictures of places we haven't been before. (We are now back onboard L'Avenir in Briare and about to begin the quest...

Once again, Scotland has turned on the sunshine and as we tour the length and breadth of of this beautiful country and we find our eyes dangerously drawn towards 'for sale' signs on highland cottages. A few days of normality, i.e. pouring rain, would no doubt wash away our idle daydreams but so far the early morning mists shrouding the mountains have cleared by midday and we've even been heard to complain about the heat as we clamber up heather clad hillsides towards some ruin or waterfall. Everywhere we look there is a stupendous view - mountains, lochs, deserted beaches - and for once we can actually see it. If there's one drawback it is that we seem to be sharing the view with half of Europe. Scots voices are very much in the minority in the pubs in the evening which makes conversation (and eavesdropping) so much more difficult. We are very lucky to have generous relatives who have looked after us well and now, as we tour around, we are in the hands of the Bed and...