Fog

The Oxford Dictionary defines fog as: A thick cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth’s surface which obscures or restricts visibility to a greater degree than mist; strictly reducing visibility to below 1 km. And that is what we had yesterday. Dense and impenetrable fog. We left Lille at 6:30 AM yesterday morning and it may as well have been midnight as the fog had dropped so thickly. John and I were the only ones venturing out and about in this early morning hour except for a few hardy street cleaners. You can feel the fog. It bites. The French art of ‘scarfing” oneself is not without purpose and is at its supreme best here in Lille and we now understand why. Those lovely folds of foulards and giant scarves wound around one’s neck can rise about the ears and wrap the nose and mouth to keep the area from hat to chest warm and snug. We have quickly adopted the French style and fit right in these wintery days. We keep our rental car, when we have one, in a secure parking area in the Casino and a walk is required to pick it up. It was packed from stem to gudgeon with items for living aboard the barge that we had sent to Blythe in the UK. The route we take to the barge is north east from Lille towards Antwerp in Belgium then toward Utrecht in the Netherlands and finally to Heerewaarden and the boat yard. Arrangements were made to meet Jim at the Yard and he would let us in to unload our “stuff”. As this is the week between Christmas and New Year everyone is off and spending time with family. During the day from around 10AM to late night, crowds of friends and family fill our local streets. All is most convivial, with groups of folks conversing on street corners and shop entryways. There are minimal cars in this portion of the city making the streets a grand place for a visit. In the early morning of yesterday however, all was very quiet and we make Heerewaarden in reasonably good time. But we drive cautiously…through fog so dense it feels at times as if a blanket has been thrown over the car.

Despite the  frost and fog (at least it's not an ice storm) upon arrival, we have a great opportunity to go over everything carefully in the boat as all the workers are off until Epiphany January 6^th . We are truly excited to see her so close to ready. As you all know it’s been a long wait! The major work remaining is in the electronics and Arian is on top of all that and the engine room is looking spiffy. Having left the lights on in the rental car and running down the battery to the point we needed a charge, we began our return trip in late afternoon relieved to have all our stuff unloaded and out of the car. But the fog seemed even denser. All the way home it wavered between dense, denser, thick, blanketing or at one very brief point of 4 or 5 minutes entirely clear. Darkness fell, traffic was heavy and the frostiness increased. We were glad to get home to our new digs. . .  a big improvement over last month. Still three flights of very steep stairs to negotiate but a lovely space where no one bumps their head!

The following are some foggy, frosty photos we took to share what things were like. Today all is bright and clear and crisp, just above freezing. We were busy ordering necessary bathroom accessories today and using newly learned words. . . like porte-papier hygiénique et distributeur de savon liquide et crochets. We managed with the patient help of a delightful girl, Carolyn.

Bonne Année à Tous!

Frosty Branches. The Red berries can barely be discerned through the Frost

Beautiful Nature

Frosted Weeds

Note the Ducks Silently Swimming in this Fogged Canal

Rimed Roadside Weeds

The Canal is there...Yes  it is!

Curious Pony..a bit hazy

Spotted Mare and Foal

Post-Christmas Decoration

An Orchard so neat and orderly but lost in Fog

Foggy Picnic Lunch

Every Blade Frost rimed

Netherlands...a watery world..everywhere canals big and small

Dressed for the Weather

At first  we see nothing.....then

A Flock of Geese!

The Road 

Geese Disappeared

Clearing a bit

In Belgium 

Almost Home in Lille..Blanket Fog

So in honour of New Year's Eve tomorrow  and as a reward for driving in fog yesterday and exhausting ouselves speaking decent French for 1/5th of the day today, we thought that we needed a treat....

Saint Honoré 

Tarte au Chocolat

Until next week. . . .