On the Move

Chatillon sur Loire

Leaving Chatillon was a difficult business. Several days were needed to scour 7 months of grime from the outside of the boat. A pity that paint doesn't adhere as well as dirt. We now have an embarrassingly patchy deck screaming 'paint me' every time we look at it. L'Avenir may be requiring a bit of an exterior make over but she has a good heart. After de-winterising, her engine kicked into life first time and so far we've had no problems. Mind you, she hasn't exactly been put to the test. We are excelling ourselves this year. So far, we've travelled 11km and passed through one lock. Even by our sloth-like standards that's pretty relaxed progress.

Removing dirt (and paint) with the pressure hose at Beaulieu

We had been ready to leave port by Sunday but suddenly remembered our port captain had the spare boat key. She reminded us (through the window of her boat) that Sundays are days of rest and we'd have to wait until office hours. Now Mondays can be a bit tricky in France - often considered a necessary extension to the weekend - but fortunately for us the 'office' reopened after lunch on Monday ie 2.30pm.

Beaulieu Mairie and marketplace

By the time we eventually got under way it was almost time to think about stopping and since the pretty little village of Beaulieu  7km upstream kindly provides not only a free mooring but free electricity and water we decided we should repay that generosity and support some of the local businesses. Being a Monday, of course, some of them weren't open so we had to spend 2 nights in order to try out the Italian restaurant and compare baguettes and eclairs from the 2 bakeries. Then there was the Wednesday morning market.....

Beaulieu didn't get mains water until the mid 1960s. Before then it relied on wells and had 200 of them! There is reputed to be a subterranean creature living in the watercourses beneath the village. It has never been seen but can be heard from time to time.

Beaulieu mooring

I mentioned in the last blog post that Chatillon likes murals. Here are a few.

Better than Swimming

Port de Plaisance, Chatillon sur Loire

'It's better than swimming' (long pause) 'Ma'am.'
I'm nominating this as the new slogan for Qantas, the observation having been made to me 10 hours into a 13 hour flight by a senior (very) flight attendant. She was waiting for someone to let her into the crew rest room for a lie down (lucky her) whilst I was attempting to ward off DVT and stretch my cramped muscles. We'd met earlier in the flight when, on one of my regular circuits of the plane I'd paused at the galley and had the temerity to ask for a cup of tea, it having been some hours since our welcome aboard drink of cranberry and apple cordial (those 13 hours were going to be long ones).  She'd make some tea, she said, when she had time in her busy schedule of not handing out meals, snacks or drinks.  I'd come back in a bit, I said, thereby saving her the walk to my seat.  When I returned she barked out something that sounded like, 'Juhevya tea?' I obviously looked puzzled so she said it again only louder. 'No, not yet,'I replied. Wrong answer.
'How. Do. You. Have.Your.Tea?' longer pause, 'Ma'am.' I realised then that when she said 'Ma'am' she really, really wanted to say something quite different.
So, when we met later, outside the crew cabin, I was a bit surprised that she spoke to me at all. 
Her. 'Going to London?'
Me. 'No, Paris.'
Now what ?
Me. 'It's a long flight.' Stating the obvious, I know, but I was exhausted.
Her. 'It's better than swimming..... Ma'am.'
And it most certainly is - but that's about all you can say about it.
This year's long haul tip - when  booking codeshare flights check the small print for which operator is flying which segments.
Thanks to a delayed departure from Melbourne we missed our connecting flight from Dubai and subsequent train from Paris. However, the second flight operated by 'the other' carrier was excellent - hot towels, drinks, decent food, pleasant staff, huge selection of films etc and most importantly, slightly more leg room. Makes all the difference.
But we're here now. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the spring flowers are blooming and l'Avenir is just as we left her. Well, a lot grubbier and she's needing a lick of paint here and there but there's no hurry. We have another whole summer stretching ahead of us. As usual, we have no firm plans. There are only 2 ways to go, upstream or downstream. Also we will, as we do each year, be visiting Scotland.
Huge thanks if you're a returning reader and welcome if you are new to the blog. I hope you enjoy seeing a little bit of France and her beautiful waterways.

We have an artist in port so we can spend the day watching paint dry. Chatillon has a tradition of public art works and there are lots of large murals around the town depicting historical scenes. I have posted some previously. The commune has employed 3 artists this year to paint the large walls of the port buildings with scenes from the canal's past. This artist is incorporating her own children and their friends into the mural which they are naturally very excited about.