Unexcused Absences France 2014 – Week 3 Recap (they said)

France 2014 – Week 3 Recap (they said)

by unexcusedabsences 29 Jul 2014

Marine and Guillaume, our visitors since Friday evening, cruised with us on Sunday until we reached the small city of St. DIzier. After we enjoyed a quick sandwich on the boat, the four of us strolled through town. All the streets were empty, with not a single soul in sight. Following the distant sound of music, we discovered that all the inhabitants were in the park to watch a fashion show — of cars! First, an announcer would talk about the car, then movie theme music would blare, and the car would parade down the “runway” and up onto risers.

Starsky et Hutch!

The event featured cars which have starred in films or television. There were at least half a dozen Delorians from Back to the Future, the Ford Grand Torino from Starsky and Hutch, a perfect example of a 70’s era US police car (no idea which film), and a spot-on replica of the station wagon from Ghostbusters, including folks in full costume! Some of the drivers even acted out scenes from the movie. Fun in blue-collar France.

Ghostbusters!

If you think France is all scarves, subtly ironic fashion choices among the young, and Hermès for everybody else, you should visit St. Dizier. Every person under the age of 65 has at least one tattoo, and face metal is very common. At the laundromat, I sat next to a gentleman in his 60’s wearing eyeliner. St. Dizier is a tough, old, industrial town — an unexpected corner of modern France.

Monday we moved a couple hours down the canal to Orconte, a nice little halte-nautique in the middle of a lot of corn fields. We were lucky that the single commercial enterprise in town was a boulangerie, and it was not fermé Lundi. We’ve had pretty decent luck with bread so far this trip.

Corn

Tuesday our short cruise was held up by a dredging operation involving a big track-hoe on a barge and four full-size péniches shuttling the spoils back and forth to the off-loading area. The big equipment took up the entire width of the canal (and then some), so we patiently waited until they got a péniche loaded and moved out of the way, after which we were able to squeeze through the maze of equipment and continue our journey.

Canal dredging between St Dizier and Vitry

By late afternoon we came to Vitry-le-François and the end of the Canal entre Bourgougne et Champagne. This is the crossroads of three canals, and a center for small-scale commercial barging. The port of the plaisanciers is a lovely, shaded little nook, tucked out of sight of the huge barges and boat yards. We met some fellow Americans (always a treat), Stan and Sharon on Encore. This is their first year cruising, and they seem to be doing a lot of boat projects. We hope we’re past that stage with Après Ski, having taken a lot of time to get her just right during our first two years aboard.

One of the old city gates in Vitry-le-François

Kent surprised me with a special trip on Wednesday. After we moored at La Chaussée-sur-Marne, we rode our bikes through the small, rural village. We cycled past the first champagne house we’ve seen (of many more to come), and arrived at a goat farm! Now, I adore both goat cheese and baby goats. La Ferme Gourmande had both! After tasting the cheese, we visited the goats, fed them hay and scratched their heads.

Big classical-style church in Vitry-le-Francçois

Our big stop for the week was the city of Châlons-en-Champagne. The excellent port sits on the edge of a huge park (three actually; the Petit Jard, the Grand Jard, and the Jard d’Anglais). Fortunately, we landed right in the middle of their 23rd annual summer music fest, which features about three weeks of free concerts in the squares and parks around town. Thursday night we saw Baptizein & Secret Yolk, a Ramones/Metallica hybrid who claim to be influenced by Syd Barrett (of Pink Floyd fame) but really sounded more like Sid Viscious of the Sex Pistols. They were followed by a one-man-band who calls himself Ya-ourt. He created a whole range of very good music using only his voice, a sampling machine, and an effects pedal, including a great Reggae number and an exact rendition of Jimmy Hendrix playing “The Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock back in 1969.

Châlons City Hall

Friday we watched Kendra Morris, an American who has achieved a modest level of success in France, but who should spend a bit of time taking humility lessons (along with perhaps voice lessons). She was so self-absorbed she never introduced her band, and didn’t care enough about her hosts to even utter a single French word (like, maybe, “Merci”). She billed herself as “the next Janis Joplin”, except we suspect that Janis would have a) sung on key, b) introduced her band and c) learned to say something like “thank you for your warm welcome” in French.

Châlons history goes back a LONG way

Châlons sits right on the Marne river, and for hundreds of years has been diverting water to run beneath the city. There are two man-made rivers running in tunnels that previously were used for moving goods around the city, but which now are open to kayak and electric boat traffic. The tourist office runs a 45 minute guided tour, and even though we live on a boat we jumped at the opportunity to cruise under and around Châlons on a boat. Eight euros well spent.

Boat tour in Châlons

The town is home to a number of churches and a massive cathedral. The buildings all had some terrific Medieval and Renaissance artwork, although the highlight for us was a diorama in the cathedral that re-created the stations of the cross using LEGO Star Wars action figures (I cannot possibly be making this up). It was shockingly well done, and included all the standard themes and stories. Someone had a lot of free time.

Stations of the Cross, Number 9 – Jesus falls for the third time

We originally planned to stay in Châlons only Thursday and Friday nights, but were having so much fun that we extended our visit two more nights. This gave us time to meet some of our boat neighbors, including happy hours with Bret and Ann on their gorgeous 100-year-old Dutch Tjalk named Kismet, and a day later with Bill and Jan on a fiberglass boat named La Bonne Vie (they’re aware that the proper French should really be “la belle vie”). Encore (from Vitry a few days ago) also pulled into port Friday, so the “floating village” definitely feels like home in Châlons.

Organ in the Cathedral

Magnificent stained glass

Jesus casts the Devil out of Heaven

Grand Jard park and cathedral in Chalons-en-Champagne

Grand Jard park and cathedral in Châlons-en-Champagne

Saturday night we returned to the main square and saw a three-man band called Talisco. They are outstanding musicians who play a very engaging, syncopated folk/electronica style (if you can imagine that). They are so talented that for their encore the drummer and base player swapped instruments, and I dare say they were even better than on their “original” instruments. See one of their videos here. We were very happy to have seen this group play, and bought one of their CD’s (quiz for the kids: what’s a CD?)

“Talisco” plays the main square

Next week we will move into the “real” Champagne, where I hear they make wine. We saw one little vineyard this past week but should be surrounded by them by the middle of next week. We may sample some of the wine, but promise to leave enough for future visitors.

France 2014 Week 3 Numbers