Unexcused Absences

After getting the boat parked and winterized at the Aqua Fluvial boatyard in Baye, on the Canal du Nivernais in western Burgundy, we hopped in the rental car and pointed north. First stop was a visit to Vézelay, an historic and beautiful hilltop village between the Nivernais and Burgundy canals.

A door in the church courtyard, Vézelay

Legend has it that about 1000 years ago a monk named Baudillon brought relics (bones) of Mary Magdalene to Vézelay. Pope Stephen IX confirmed the authenticity of the relics, triggering an influx of pilgrims that continues to this day. Vézelay Abbey was also a starting point for pilgrims on the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela, one of the most important of all medieval pilgrimage centres.

Vineyards in Vézelay

The majority of the religious Crusades launched from southern France, but in 1146 the Pope commissioned Bernard of Clairvaux to preach the Second Crusade, and he did it from the big church in town, Basilica of St Magdelene. And in 1189 the Frankish and English contingent of the Third Crusade met at Vézelay before heading off to the Holy Land. Today the town is a major tourist destination, and also anchors the Bourgogne Vézelay winemaking region, a respected appellation that produces a “fresh, steely white wine,” at least according to Wine Searcher.

After our brief stop in Vézelay we continued northward for 45 minutes and arrived in Auxerre to spend the night with Wendy and Roger on Izula. Readers might remember we had a surprise reunion with them in Sens during Week 1. They had finished their cruising for the year and were settling into their winter mooring with a gorgeous view of the Auxerre Cathedral. Winterizing our boat, Après Ski, is a slightly different process than preparing for winter aboard a 24 meter, 80-ton barge. Whereas we just change the oil and flush out all fresh water, Izula packs in several cords of wood for their cozy iron stove belowdecks. Wendy cooked a delicious dinner and we caught up on our travels since we had gone our separate ways a month ago on the Yonne River.

Evening with Wendy and Roger onboard “Izula”

The next morning we visited the fantastic wine and cheese sections at LeClerc Supermarché one last time, then drove to Paris where we dropped the car at the airport, took a train back to the city, and met our friend from Washington who had just started her new job with Renault-Nissan and was now living full-time in Paris. Wow, talk about a great life trajectory, living in arguably the most beautiful city in the world on someone else’s dime, with an important position in a world-famous company like Renault-Nissan, hers is a truly amazing achievement. We all enjoyed dinner at a local bistro, then spent one more night in France before flying home the next day.

Dawn view from our friend’s apartment in Paris

And that’s it for our time in France for 2012. We were lucky enough to get bumped on our flight home, so our return tickets for next year have been heavily subsidized, courtesy of Air France. We will continue to update our website this winter, and are already counting the days until our return to France next spring.

Like the “French Castle” scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail

“Telegraph” style engine control on Izula