Unexcused Absences

This year we did a single long cruise on the canals, unlike the previous two years which were broken into two shorter trips each. While we’ll miss the beautiful autumn cruising season, it was certainly simpler and less expensive to buy one set of airline tickets and to unpack and pack up the boat only once. For 2014 we’re also planning a single three-month trip, but a little later in the year, so as to catch the grape harvest.

Washington’s Dulles airport back in May

Our departure from Washington back in May seems simultaneously a lifetime ago and like it happened yesterday. And while we’ve seen some amazing sights, events, and museums over the past three months, what really matters in boating (in life, really) is the people we’ve met along the way. Some of the following are just casual acquaintances, and some we now consider to be good friends.

The 2013 Roll Call

People we knew previously whom we met again this year:

• David and Ondra onboard Old and Bold
• Marie-Hélène and Christian onboard Wisdom
• Bruce and Yerda onboard Rival
• Rob and Terry onboard Armida 
• Harvey and Sandra onboard Hoop Doet Leven
• Marianne and Jean-Pierre, who live just north of Dijon

New friends this year, in chronological order:

• Marion and Charlie onboard Moondance
• Tony and Yvonne onboard Hors d’Age
• Bob and Jacqui onboard Pelican
• Randy and Deborah onboard Alouette
• John and Rosemary onboard Petronella
• Jim and Mary onboard Festina Tardé
• Peter and Jo onboard Joyeux
• Robin and Rob onboard Tiara
• Rory and Jenny onboard Paula
• John and Judy onboard Vivienne
• Nick and Pam onboard Avalon
• Richard and Julia onboard Ettie
• Peter and Margaret onboard Matilda 

Old friends we had hoped or planned to see, but which weather and/or schedule mods prevented:

• Wendy and Roger onboard Izula
• Jack and Susan onboard Aegir
• John and Karen onboard Château Deux
• Bob and Lynn onboard Tracker
• Arthur and Barbara onboard Ichtus
• Ron and Lynn, Americans who live near Cluny and run Southern Fried French

In the lock in Chatillon-en-Bazois

More Thoughts

We are often asked “why France?” We have tried to answer the question as best we can through our writing in these posts, but rather than making you go back and wade through all our musings, here is the cliff-notes version; everything about canal boating speaks to and satisfies our desires for what we want out of life. We cruise slowly, to better take in the scenery and history around us – no tour buses with three sights a day and a different hotel every night. We meet new people (or keep to ourselves sometimes) as the mood suits. We watch the progression of the seasons, from the new shoots and flowers of springtime through the crops maturing in high summer to the harvest in late summer and fall – each day the grapes grow just a little bit, or the grain browns just a little bit, until suddenly it’s time to gather it all up and head to market.

We observe how the French celebrate with family and friends, and also how they celebrate summer vacation, and how they celebrate their national holidays, and I think we in America could learn quite a lot from our friends and allies across the Atlantic. We see historical evidence of vast, earth-shaking political and religious struggles of long ago (Gauls vs. Romans, Protestants vs. Catholics, German vs. French) and shake our heads at the utter futility of all those lives lost and strife endured. We tolerate the sometimes infuriating shop closures (remember, much of France is usually closed), but at the same time marvel that the average French worker can each day enjoy a luxurious two hour lunch with friends or family or colleagues. These are some of the tangible things that we can articulate, but our experience in France is also so much more.

Speaking of experiences, and since I seem to be making lists, here’s another one…

Top Five Memories from our 2013 Season on the Canals

• The Pique-Nique Géant in Besançon – a thousand people at one enormous long table for a Sunday evening shared meal
• Tasting our first real wine, the 2007 Echezeaux Grand Cru, courtesy of Constance and Louis-Michel of Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair – a truly sublime experience with a thousand flavors that lingered forever
• Everything about Mulhouse – the museums, the street festival, the food market, the night of artistic fire, the evening barbecues in the friendly port
• Our brief hiking tour of the Swiss Alps – impossibly green fields hanging off the sides of impossibly steep mountains, all bundled with Swiss precision and hospitality
• The weekend with Marianne and Jean-Pierre and their adult children – long dinners on the terrace, a hike through the vineyards of Vosne-Romanée, and the company of good friends

It was surprisingly difficult to narrow our memories of this year down to a list of five; a few things that didn’t quite make the list included the evening of music and theater at the Besançon Citadelle, playing pétanque with the locals in Deluz, wine-tasting in Clamecy at Luc’s place with Todd and Ted, the incredible beauty of the Doubs River valley, our petit sejour in Paris with Dad, the “locals-only” meal at the tiny country restaurant in Mont-et-Marré, our time with Rory and Jenny of the river cruiser Paula, and numerous romantic dinners for two served on deck by my beautiful (and favorite) wife Heather.

With my favorite wife in Gray (photo by Kristin)

Finally, for those interested in cruising the canals someday, I keep track of (and publish) things that I was curious about when we were contemplating a boat purchase; what will cruising cost? how far is it practical to cruise in a week? how much do I need to develop a deep love of the locking process? Below I’ve listed some numbers from our year just completed, as well as the totals from the three years we’ve owned our boat.

France Year Three Numbers:

• Kilometers: 999
• Locks: 424
• Engine Hours: 209
• Cost of Moorings: 276.90

France All-time Total Numbers (about 40 weeks of cruising spread over 3 years):

• Kilometers: 3,320
• Locks: 1,267
• Engine Hours: 699
• Cost of Moorings: 850.10 euros

France 2013 Route (in blue)