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Monday 29 January 2018

January Days



Today our good friends left for Nevada and home so we were up bright and early to go over all they would like checked on their boat while away. They have a little dog and he was looking rather apprehensive about the whole thing. That carry-cage sitting out for several days did not look too inviting. We used to travel with cats so we know the drill. They don’t have an easy day ahead, especially with a train trip ahead of the plane.

We have had a lot of rain and we suspect you have heard of the flooding in Paris. When we flood here the water crests and eventually recedes and flows onward to the Seine and Paris.  Other rivers, flooding due to heavy rains, also join the Seine, the result being high water in the city of light. They have had a difficult time with the water reaching a maximum height of 5.84 meters according to Vigicrues the national flood monitoring agency. Waters should recede in Paris Tuesday but towns all along the Seine to Normandy and the English Channel will feel the crest.  In the paper, today we see where 242 towns have been affected.

Walking along the tow path today, upstream from Auxerre by about 10 KM, the river is still fast and full of much debris, filling the locks and caught in the river weirs. The VNF, who manage the French waterways, are out in full force removing debris and repairing damage. We expect more flooding to come as rain is forecast this week. Temperatures are mild the ground waterlogged and rain in the forecast.  It may be a good time to catch up on reading a good book!


Despite the rain and floods, I was walking home on Sunday from my daily trek and the Cathedral bells were tolling for mass, forsythia was in golden bloom high on a stone wall in a little winding street I was traversing, and the tiny little robins were singing of spring. I hear those bells every morning and the sound is always somewhat stirring to me. The twisting streets never fail to interest me as there always seems to be something I see that I’ve missed before. I love this place and we both feel at home here. We could be in a warmer more southern town but we prefer Auxerre with its mighty Cathedral and Abbey and multiple churches and towers, our wonderful view from the boat, its bridges and walking trails, the pool where John swims and the picturesque, historic city centre. We enjoy the people we have met and those who have befriended us, our language lessons and all those friends who helpfully and patiently correct us. There are many little slices of joy here each day.  Too many to list. 













Heading to Paris


VNF Worker Using the PikePole


Clearing Debris and Improving Water Flow


Happy Not to Be  Traveling With This Tree Trunk


Gangway to Water


Jan Walking...Well Carrying Dr.Watson


Going Ashore


Buying Rubber Boots Today!


Peaceful Vineyards, Pruned and Ready for Spring.







Monday 22 January 2018

Cards & Places


 We have a new card game we are very much into these days. It’s called Six Qui Prend or in translation Who Takes Six? There are 104 cards and up to 10 people can play and the more that play, the better the game. It’s fast and simple and whomever racks up the most points is the underdog. The person with the least points is the conqueror. Saturday night we played the game aboard Come What May with Virginie, Jean Françoise, Marie-Joelle, Yve, Ernie and Jan.  The food was delicious, the wine too, and the conversations interesting and of course challenging, as French predominates. Everyone speaks quickly but  all are kind and slow down so we can catch the drift of the swirl of language. Lots of interpretations but the language practice is simply excellent. Marie-Joelle says she doesn’t care that I speak only in the present tense at this point, just learn vocabulary so one knows words. As a former teacher, we believe her and concentrate on the vocabulary.  Virginie and Jean Françoise have a house near the marina facing the canal. A lovely old stone house with graceful windows and a vine covered facade. They own a small river boat and keep it here in the marina. Our Australian friends were the first to meet them as their boats are moored close to one another. Jean Françoise was helpful in advising them on a couple of renovation projects. Over time we have all been introduced to each other. Yve and Marie-Joelle are long time Auxerre residents who have been helping Jan with language, and all are interesting people who are so helpful with French life. So, we find card games are an integral part of the culture. We shall bring it home and introduce it.

We rented a car this week with our neighbours and investigated Sancerre and the surrounding area enjoying a visit to a couple of domains and purchasing some delightful Sancerre from Jean Paul Picard et Fils. Jan and Ernie are searching for another wintering location for next year so the trip took in the possibility of mooring in Briare. They are heading home this week and we will tend their boat in their absence as carefully as they tended ours. Jan even had a First Breakfast laid out for us upon our return! We were so grateful after our extended return trip; Skootamatta, Ottawa, Toronto, Munich, Paris and finally Auxerre. A train plane and automobile endurance test! The boating community is a helpful one, much barging wisdom and comradery and frequently referred to as The Long Village; a true statement.
We also checked out Dijon on our second travel day and eventually found ourselves in the delightful village of Beaune. If only a canal wound its way through this town we would all find a winter mooring. It is an ancient pre-roman walled town with a charming centreville. Each year, professionals, connoisseurs and wine lovers gather on the weekend of the third Sunday in November for festivities in the purest Burgundy tradition. Numerous events punctuate this weekend of festivities: street performances, folklore parade, gourmet village and a half-marathon through the streets and vineyards of Beaune. Beaune’s great wine houses compete to be the most creative and organize prestigious tastings: wines from the Hospices, rare vintages, appellations from all over Burgundy and thematic or gourmet tastings are on the menu. In Beaune and on the vineyard slopes, winemakers offer tastings of old and new vintages in their cellars. Gathered into wine-making brotherhoods, they organize gala dinners and inductions of new ambassadors of Burgundy wines.
The highlight of the weekend is the Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction, it’s organized by Christie's and takes place on the Sunday afternoon in the Halles de Beaune. Wines are offered for sale from an estate composed of donations and bequests made over 500 years, totaling more than 60 hectares, much of which is classified as Grands Crus and Premiers Crus. This charity wine sale acts as an international barometer for the market in prestigious wines and brings together Beaune’s major trading houses and buyers from across the world. However, due to its charitable nature, wine prices generally far exceed their usual value. The profits from the sale are used for heritage conservation and hospitals.

If you are planning a trip to France put this area on your agenda along with Sancerre and the Loire Region.  


Through a Gate: Needs Work but How Graceful the Staircase 

Pondering the Canal


MĂ©zilles


Spring-Like Day en-route to Sancerre

 



Ancient Church in MĂŞzilles- St. Marien


Towers Date from the Early 15th century- The Procession of the Livestock takes place annually; to protect them from dangers, they drink from a fountain with the church key around their neck

 

The Entire Village in Miniature


Surveying the Amazing Craftmenship Including  Tiny Dogs and Cats


View of the Ancient Viaduct from the Hilltop Village of Sancerre

 


Steep Vineyards; Pruning of the Vines is  January Work

 

Sancerre Cat


Could Have Kidnapped Him

 

Our Lunch Wine: Delectable

 

No Tourists: Just Travellers, Jan & Ernie

 


Caught My Eye


These Vineyards Pruned and Ready for Spring

 

No Caption Required

 


Jean - Paul Picard Vineyards: Amazing to Drink the Wine from these Fields


They Opened Especially for Us, Thanks to our Friendly Restauranteur


Tasting Room Art


Late Afternoon in Loire Valley


Tidy Rows: Note the Stone that Gives the Minerality

 

Friends Located in Briare



Briare Eglise in Early Evening

Friends: On to Dijon


Everyone Needs Some Kind of Hat?



Which Pair Did John Choose?



Dijon: City of Food and Drink!

 



Terrifying Face




Once the Territories of the Dukes of Bourgogne

 

From 1404 the Ducal Crown of Bourgogne



Isabelle of Portugal


Her Tomb or Her Half



Tomb of the Dukes of Burgundy Occupies an Entire Room of the Great Palace

View Of Tombs from Above



Duke Phillipe of Burgundy; a Handsome Fellow






Another Duke of Burgundy: Another Handsome Fellow

 

A Great Brooch with Crystal Cabochon



The Palace is now a Museum Filled with Restored Religious Art and Exquisite Works

 

Calm


13th Century Woven Tapestry: Think of the Hours of Work!


Beautiful Angel



Armour is Unbelievably Short: We are now Very Tall in Comparison


Heraldry


Various Coats of Arms



I Loved the Green Stocking with the Blue


Everywhere Another Beautiful  Item or Detail  


13th Century Hand Painted Tiles 

Altarpiece of the Crucifixion carved by Jacques de Baerze and painted by Melchior Broederlam in 1390; Called the Altarpiece of Champmol



Restored and Now Residing in the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy in Dijon; The Chartreuse of the Holy Trinity of Champmol was a Carthusian monastery on the outskirts of Dijon and the original location of the  great Altarpiece. 





These Patterned Tile Roofs Are Unique to the Region

 

Carefully Restored Centuries Old Buildings


History and Rooflines are Treasured and Retained.

 

Saint BĂ©nigne Cathedral of Dijon

 




Beaune Wine Shop

 

Hospitality at the End of a Full Day