Finally on the Move Tomorrow – Getting Ready in France (Thursday 14 April)
Let’s start from the last notes.
Monday 4th April
Today we make a visit to Briare where our boat will be permanently moored. It’s about 50 miles by road from Migennes though 20 days by canal. An easy drive over and a good visit to Port and Capitainerie. We see where our mooring will be, with water and electricity available, well into the port, with the swimming pool close by. Checked about other things. They have pump-out here to get rid of “black water” which helps us, but recognise it is problem in other places.
We walked up the canal branch from the port until it reached the main canal. It’s a good couple of kilometres. Pleasant walk, but every time we leave Briare that will be our start.
Visited the rail station to ask about trains back to Migennes (one of us will have to go back to collect the car when we get here). Very helpfully they provide times for a Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It will take 3-4 hours with some long changes, but all possible, though really only one appropriate train each day.
Tuesday 5th April.
We go to see the boat in the boatyard being prepared for blacking. The blasting back to the bare metal starts today, and probably finished Thursday. So we just have to wait on that front, with the actual blacking after that. We have also discussed some additional bollards on the boat (to have more control in larger locks), a possible winch for the anchor, an electrical adaptor for the various sorts of shoreline provision in France, converting our propane gas system to the French requirements, and French water adaptors. Most of this can get sorted though the winch may take a little longer. That’s not critical this year.
More difficult is how we get rid of toilet waste. Pump-out stations seem very rare in France. How do the French dispose of their waste? It seems it’s good for the fish! We are investigating alternatives. Our fail safe is that we have a manual pump we brought from England, just in case, but where do we pump it? Same answer about the fish.
Go into Auxerre again which is a lovely city with a good water front. Pop into the Tourist Office to get some basic directions. Get taken for being Dutch. Is that better than being English? (You can’t be British in France!)
Meanwhile we are investigating a Cle 3G (dongle in English) to make an internet connection. After looking at various options we are leaning to SFR as they seem to have the best network coverage. While musing this we bumped into Johnny and Liz Wales on the Puddle Stone who have called in at Migennes, who definitely recommend SFR. So we go for it.
We go back to Espace SFR to set up contract. Can’t be done it seems unless you have a French address and armful of other documentation! The Wales’s didn’t have that. We give up for a bit and go back and see Johnny and Liz. Go back to different espace (shop) they say, and ask for Sebastien. OK. A job for tomorrow.
Wednesday 6th April. We had planned to drive to Clamecy. Glyn needs a blood test on 18th April, and in our wanderings yesterday we espied a Laboratoire d’Analyse Medicale (LAM from now on) in Auxerre. We had been helpfully advised by Pascal Pinnon from Briare that we needed to find an LAM for such tests. The people in Auxerre were extremely helpful and advised that further down the canal the next LAM was at Clamecy, which we planned to be at around the 18th. Before driving down we stopped off at the SFR shop with Sebastien. He, his “responsable” and other colleagues could not have been more helpful. A Passport, an RIB and a cancelled blank cheque was all they wanted and we had our Abonnement Cle 3G. What an excellent start to the day.
The drive down to Clamecy (another half hour) is very delightful. If this is the country of the canal it will be great. Clamecy is a small but fantastic little town in the Nievre. We have fallen in love with it twice. We find a lovely little cafe for lunch, but finding shade for the dogs in the car is a very different matter. In the end we park smack in front of the Palais de Justice – allowed at lunch time and until the trees come out the only place with shade. The Office de Toursime was interesting, but sadly little about the Canal du Nivernais. However they did guide us to the LAM who indicated that using their services was very simple. Just turn up between 8am and 10am.
Today’s been enjoyable. We finish it by walking the dogs once again (they seem to get five walks a day over here) along the canal at the Ecluse de Bassou.
Thursday 7th April.
Having a quiet day before going off to Germany for the weekend. Pop into the boat yard. Progress slightly delayed as the blast cleaner had to go elsewhere for an emergency job for a day. Hope the boat is ready next week. Find a launderette to do some washing, and go to visit Joigny downstream on the Yonne. Find some nice walks. Basically tidying up and cleaning up before we go away for the weekend and come back for the boat.
Friday 8th April
Setting off to Ahrweiler for Manfred and Ulrike Niessen’s 40th wedding anniversary on the Saturday. Will go via Trier and stay there tonight.
A long motorway drive via Luxembourg, but it goes reasonably OK. Get to the small guesthouse in Konz in reasonable time. (Intriguingly Konz is twinned with Brienon which is the next town to Migennes.) Go into Trier to look around. Suddenly parking becomes a serious difficulty. We used all our Euro change in the launderette yesterday. Nobody has any change, even the Theatre office next to car park. Go to a bank and it just steals our €5, and demands more. Finally we give up and try to drive around. All a bit frustrating. Lesson to remember. Always keep plenty of change on you.
We go back to hotel. A really lovely place (the Euchariusberg in Konz). Really welcoming and a really good meal at reasonable price. This is worth recommending, as is Trier, but have your parking coins ready.
Saturday 9th April
Should be a short trip from Trier to Ahrweiler where the 40th celebration is, but we miss a turn and Glyn says don’t worry follow the signs to Köln (Cologne). Unfortunately this is not the right way and takes us100 miles and 1½ hours out of our way. So much for his navigating. Ahrweiler is beautiful but for some reason today our Satnav does not recognise the street address. Nevertheless in another half hour we are safely there, and can settle in. Shady and Topsy are glad to be out of the car after two long days. Both are a little unsettled, Shady quiet and Topsy boisterous.
We meet Manfred and Ulrike and their two daughters, and have excellent cakes and coffee on the Terrace before going to see the remains of a Roman villa. If the French make the best tarts in the world, then the Germans make the best cakes.
A rest before an excellent evening with singing, talking and (in between) superb food and Erich Weber’s excellent wines. Our German isn’t that good and we only get about a quarter of what is being said, but enough to get the gist, and several people speak good English. It is really nice to meet up again with Jean Michel Roddaz (mon jumeau francais) and with Renee van Kessel and to meet Hans. The celebrations go on late into the night but we slip out to take the dogs for their final late night walk. A really excellent evening for an excellent couple.
Sunday 10th April
So now the return to France. Packing the car in the morning we see Hans and Renee walking down the hill holding hands together. Why is it you never have a camera to hand when you see such a beautiful picture? But the picture will stay in the mind as a perfect composition of serene love (hope it stays that way).
Following yesterday we rely on what Manfred called “the lady” for navigation back to France. And it works. She is much better than Glyn. We picked a small Logis south of Nancy for an overnight stay in a little village called Villiers sur Suize. A typical village bar. The room is fine if basic. The village is beautiful to walk around with the dogs, with the odd fisherman plying his trade. The menu in the evening is a simple choice. Not good for vegetarians, as often in France. Linda chooses the lamb and Glyn the Venison. It is really excellent. Reminds us of France in the Seventies taking the remains of the plat du jour (in St Aignan in the Cher) when we were too late for lunch only to get a meal to die for. The Venison certainly was this time, and the lamb superb too.
Monday 11th April
Couple of hours drive to Migennes. Visit the boatyard. Roger is hard at work finishing the blacking. All the preparation is complete and the blacking going on. Should be finished today and in the water tomorrow. We go to find somewhere to stay for the night. A nice Logis at Villecien just north of Joigny. Then we take the girls (dogs) for a walk along another section of the river Yonne. The new owner of the Logis finds border collies to be large dogs (on the telephone we had said “medium”, at 20 kilos, which is what the dog foods say) so we need to be careful. She is very nice but clearly not too comfortable with dogs. They have had the Logis only three weeks. Dinner in the evening is not quite the same as the last three nights. Either our French has deteriorated or we are communicating poorly. Linda’s char grilled pork is – how do you say – overdone. But they will, we are sure, be much better if we come back again. It was a very nice place.
Tuesday 12th April
Get to the boatyard at about 9.30am. Everything is already in action. Simon is in the crane and they are lifting the Morverc’h to put her “on the water”. (You don’t want her “in” the water in France we are told: that’s like under the water!) By midday we can board and prepare to stay on board, even though we will stay in the boat yard a few more days while bollards, fenders and electricals are being sorted. Go to Leclerc (did you know it used to be Le Clerc’h just like Morverc’h) and do a big shop. No more dining out. Now we will have to feed ourselves. Make sure we have masses of dog food, yoghourts, cheese, ham, veg and fruit. Also two new contract propane gas bottles which we have to get from an agent like Leclerc. So we spend our first night on board.
Wednesday 13th April
Now to the practicalities. The boatyard only has red diesel and isn’t allowed to sell it. How do we get diesel. Jo Parfitt tells us that most French people buy it at the roadside and decant it in. We could try the local Le Boat station, or there is riverside diesel pump at Auxerre. Wednesday is going to be our diesel day. Le Boat are willing to help us but would have to charge €1.65 a litre (against €1.35 roadside) – on 300 litres that’s an additional €90. So we try Auxerre. We meet Poul whom Spencer Collins told us to look up, but he is occupied craning boats. We talk to his office. Their diesel is €1.56, so a bit better. In the end however we decide to go French as the local petrol station just one minute away sells at €1.35. Simon Evans lends us two 25 litre cans and we buy two 20 litre cans at Feu Vert. Three trips to the petrol station gets us just under 90 litres a time so 270 in total, and we look over three quarters full. We decant it reasonably well though not totally expertly. A very tiny amount gets spilt, but hardly any really. Worse, it gets on our hands. We pay the price later in the sun. But at least the job (finishing at 8.00 in the evening) is done. However we decide that next time we’ll take the riverside price as long as it’s not more 20p over road side (at Briare it’s only €1.51) and only decant in emergencies. This tank full will last us quite a long time.
While we are sorting out diesel J-F has welded four additional bollards on the boat which will give us more control in big locks.
What's it all about, Alfie?
Thursday 14th April
Almost ready to go. New fenders are delivered to give us more protection in faster waterways and bigger ports. However an electrical adaptor does not arrive. Many French canal moorings use a simple French plug rather than the Universal outdoor plugs for boats, caravans and RVs, though some use these. Best we have both or we could be unable to plug in when we want to. Where however do we get the female adaptor for the Universal system to plug into our line, and then connect that to the French plug? Not at Mr Bricolage nor Speedy so we spend much of the day looking for one. In the end we give up. Luckily we have a “splitter” from the UK and Simon can make up an adaptor with part of this. Phew, almost there.
We haven’t sorted out how we will “pump out” other than our own pump discharging wherever we can, but we will have to live with that. Oh, and we haven’t found a French flag. Would you believe that? That is only a courtesy requirement but we would have liked to have found one. Never mind. Tomorrow we are off, albeit a few days late. A fortnight gone already, but we still have just over three weeks. They say the Nivernais is slow, but we should be able to do it.
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