Unexcused Absences France 2016 - Week 9 (he said)

France 2016 – Week 9 (he said)

by Kent 13 Sep 2016

September 4 to September 11, 2016. Our time in Clamecy was way too brief, since we needed to get back to Auxerre to meet my Dad and put the boat away for the winter. We had a terrific visit with Luc, who owns the Caves du Val d’Or wine shop. We’ve been buying wine from Luc for years, although we missed a couple years when Après Ski was wintered in Lorraine.

Moored near Mailly-le-Chateau

The highlight of our half-week cruise back to Auxerre was a Wednesday night picnic dinner with some of our French friends. We parked for an evening at the end of the branch canal at Vermenton, and Marianne and Jean-Pierre drove up from Dijon (in the middle of packing up for their move to the Riviera). Marianne’s daughter, Justine, and her boyfriend, Alexandre, who live nearby, also joined us. We had a lot of fun catching up, but time ran out as darkness descended, and we had to pack up our picnic by flashlight.

Picnic with our very good friends

The next day we stopped for lunch in Accolay where we visited one of our favorite restaurants in France, the family-run Hostellerie de la Fontaine. It was the owner, during our charter boat trip on the Nivernais before we purchased our canal boat, who first introduced us to the king of cheeses, Epoisses. He was quite amused when we showed him a picture of his “cheese chariot” from our visit in 2009.

A manual lock mechanism on the Nivernais Canal

We spent Thursday night tied up just outside of Auxerre on the edge of an enormous park. The local running club showed up in the late afternoon and did a big stretching session followed by several laps around the park and through town. It was all very exhausting to watch.

The Auxerre running club

Once tied up in Auxerre we started our well-tested shutdown procedure; do all the laundry, winterize the engine and boat systems, pack all the clothes and linens in giant plastic zip-lock bags, and clear out the fridge and pantry with multiple meals of “left-over surprise”. One thing out of the ordinary was a Saturday afternoon gathering of vintage Volkswagen cars that took place in the field right next to our boat.

Lots and lots of Volkswagens

Dad arrived a couple days later, just as Après Ski was coming out of the water for her winter storage. The three of us drove south about 40 minutes to a cave near Arcy-sur-Cure (central Burgundy) that has the second oldest cave drawings in the world (and the oldest that can be visited by the public). They did not allow photos of the drawings (for obvious reasons) but they were remarkably clear, and we got a nice look at some 30,000-year-old cave art.

The cave itself has been a tourist attraction for over 100 years, but it was only in 1990 that the drawings were discovered, completely by accident. A TV crew had set up their lights inside the cave for an interview with a scientist, and one of the lights ended up pointed at the ceiling, and everyone there could suddenly see the faint drawings through the thin layer of calcite sediment that had covered the cave walls since the drawings were made.

The following day, at sunrise, the boatyard crew moved Après Ski to its final winter home inside their giant storage shed. It was hard to get over the sight of our boat moving slowly through the streets of Auxerre in the morning light. The driver expertly maneuvered our boat around the parked cars about a quarter mile to the shed.

Après Ski cruising down a street

Mid-morning the three of us drove 25 miles south-west from Auxerre to an interesting tourist attraction. About 15 years ago, someone started building a medieval castle in the French countryside, using traditional construction methods and tools. The combination paid and volunteer workforce is in the process of creating quite a masterpiece. The reasonable entrance fee pays for materials and salaries, and the whole thing is quite fascinating to watch. It’s pretty remote from anywhere, but if you find yourself in western Burgundy you should definitely plan at least a half day to see Château Guédelon.

A craftsman at Guédelon

Stone masons

Dyed yarn

The partially finished château

From the new/old castle we continued westward and spent the night in Amboise on the lower Loire River. Amboise is famous for a number of reasons. Over the centuries, Joan of Arc passed through on her way to Orleans, Mary Stewart (Queen of Scots) lived there for much of her early life, the chateau was home to the French royal court for a number of years, and none other than Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life (and died) in town.

The next morning we visited the famous “ladies’ castle”, Château de Chenonceau. The castle was built over the river Cher and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in France. It was originally built by the Marques family in the 13th century and re-built 200 years later by Thomas Bohier, but afterwards was owned by Diane de Poitiers, Catherine de Medici, Louise de Lorraine, Louise Dupin, and Margerite Pelouze (hence the “ladies’ castle” nickname). It is a strikingly beautiful building.

The gardens at Chenonceau

The “new” building and the old keep

The chateau spands the river Cher

After Chenonceau we drove a few hours westward to Nort-sur-Erdre, in Brittany, to rent (of all things) a canal boat with some friends. Details of that trip will follow in another post.

France 2016 Cruise – Week 9