Unexcused Absences

HT Tracks Expenses (Spring 2011)

I cheerfully admit that I obsessively track our spending habits. For those who are curious about daily living expenses on our canal boat, read on! Just for the record, I’ve used an average price of the Euro at $1.35 for these calculations. Obviously fluctuations in the currency market make a big difference!

Capital Costs

A relative lack of expense initially attracted us to canal boating. Après Ski’s cost and initial outfitting compare to a nice, new, mid-sized sedan. Since Kent has driven his faithful 4-Runner for the past 11 years and 140,000 miles, we have saved the entire cost of the boat thanks to our faithful truck!

Faithful Truck in the Tetons (2002)

Daily Operating Expenses
The operating expenses of the boat are also relatively low. We don’t spend every night at a marina, and when we do prices typically fall in the 5 to 10 euro range. The boat burns 2.5 l of diesel fuel per hour, and we average 2 to 3 hours of engine use per day. The VNF (Vois Navigables de France) permit costs around $350 for our 8.8m boat and covers the use of all the locks on France’s inland waterways. We pay outrageously for laundry, spending nearly $25 a week just to keep our clothes clean.

Average cost of boat operations: about $200 per week

Artisan Cheese

Eating in France definitely costs more than in the US. Several factors conspire against our pocketbook, some due to our choices and some due to differences in the cost of living. First, food is simply more expensive in France. In my unscientific opinion, food costs about one-third more in French supermarkets than in US supermarkets. We normally choose to pay an additional premium for artisan cheeses, locally-raised meats and produce found at village markets and in small green grocers or butcher shops rather than in large supermarkets. Finally, our dorm-room sized fridge holds only a couple days worth of food, meaning we can’t stock up on sale goods. We are often forced to purchase non-premium supermarket-quality yogurt, milk or juice at small convenience stores at inflated prices.

Average cost of groceries, drinks and household (boathold?) goods for two: about $250 per week

Crêpes, A Tasty "Value Lunch"

We try limit our dining out to about once or twice per week. Great restaurants abound in France, and we could quickly go broke enjoying them all. We stretch the dining dollar by eating lunch out rather than dinner. Many restaurants offer three-course fixed-price lunches of the same delicious fare that will be served in the evening at about half the price. Since most of France grinds to a halt at lunch, we will treat ourselves to a long, leisurely lunch, usually sitting outside and enjoying the fine weather.

Average cost of dining out for two: $100 per week

Of course we simply can’t do without the internet! You can read more here about how we get mobile internet. We’re pretty heavy users, using about 750MB of data per week.

Average cost of internet access: $25 per week

Grand total: $575 a week or roughly $40 per person per day

Happy hour with Dad

I had the privilege to cop an invitation to cruise the Canal du Midi with Heather and Kent. It was an experience I will never forget and I mean this in a very positive way. I step off the train in Béziers – a small town in southern France – and into a completely new world. Gone is the rush of schedules, the tyranny of hotels, and being a slave to a clock. We rise when we feel like it. Find a boulangerie and buy a baguette for breakfast. Feast on fresh bread, cheeses, jams, and freshly brewed coffee. We slip our mooring lines and motor leisurely along tree-shaded canals. We make our lunch of more bread and cheese. We stop when we feel like it and tie up to a bank or possibly a bollard if near a village. We can wander through quaint villages; if lucky, visit centuries-old churches; drop in at a winery and sample the local specialties; and maybe, enjoy a local restaurant’s offerings or Heather’s latest creation come dinner time. When night falls we remain on our floating home. No pressure, no problems (I might add I am not the boat’s owner and so don’t have to worry about maintenance.)

The second-best baguette in France

What I find particularly unusual is the camaraderie and support of other barge owners. It seems to be its own special world. You own a barge and decorate it to suit yourself. Your unique decor – which probably includes flags and flowers – sets you apart from the weekly renters. You have now joined a special clique. You will meet up time and again with the same owners as you cruise the canals. They will be your support group and your special friends. They are there to help with problems, offer advice, and give recommendations on sights, restaurants, and good maintenance people. We might spend late afternoons enjoying a happy hour with some or meet others for a joint visit to a restaurant. There is no feeling of loneliness or being an outsider. Closely allied to the network of helping friends is the friendliness of some of the maintenance staff at the boat rentals. In spite of the fact you own a boat and are not renting from them, they willingly share tools, advice, and the odds and ends you soon realize you need.

Dad helping with a lock

My previous experiences in France were mostly of Paris and the Parisians’ impatience with my very rudimentary attempts at French. Now I found myself in a country where people are exceptionally friendly and go out of their way to make me feel at home. We stopped to visit a special winery and called to make an appointment to visit it on Monday since the day we called was Sunday and the place was closed. They wouldn’t hear of it. We were invited to come right over and spent a charming afternoon getting to meet the vintner, his wife, and a daughter who was preparing to go to Australia to study law. We certainly weren’t outsiders; we were treated as close friends. In another instance, a waitress who served us one evening at a local restaurant saw us the next morning wandering through town, remembered who we were and happily greeted us. At a different winery, we were allowed to wander among the crew who were bottling the local wines. Nobody shooed us away. We arrived in another village and found all the mooring blocks taken. Not a problem; the operator of a pedal boat rental told us to use one of his reserved spots for the night. Locals tipped us off to the best boulangeries. Merchants in the markets willingly offered samples of their wares. Water was available for filling our tanks. On the rare occasions we had to pay for a mooring – seldom very expensive – we got electricity, water, and on-shore showers thrown in. This is not the France I remembered.

Enjoying Internet on the Deck of Après Ski, Domino in right hand, iPad in left

Many fellow boaters along the canals of France have been curious how we connect to the internet while afloat. Here is a brief how-to on options we have discovered for connectivity. We are currently “camped out” near the medieval village of Puichéric enjoying full internet access!

We use the Orange network, which is the mobile division of France Telecom. There are lots of Orange boutiques, the staff are generally knowledgeable and helpful, and the network has good coverage in the rural areas we frequent. Please note that you must bring your passport and an address whenever you purchase a mobile device in France, whether you choose Orange as your carrier or not.

iPad
In Fall of 2010, I purchased a micro-SIM at an Orange boutique in Paris. I brought in my iPad, and the staff swapped out the AT&T chip for me in the store and set me up with a new mobile “number” for my iPad. I paid 1 euro for the chip and chose not to sign up for any monthly plan, opting for the pay-as-you-go option known as “sans engagement.” I’ll explain how to top-up PAGO (pay-as-you-go) accounts later in this post.

Mobile WiFi
About a week ago (Spring 2011), I purchased a clever little device from Orange called a Domino for 59 euros. It’s smaller than a deck of cards and it connects to the internet via the mobile network. It creates and manages a secure network that allows up to five devices (the iPad, laptops, etc.) to connect to the internet at any given time. Once again, I opted for a PAGO account with a new mobile “phone number” requiring no engagement. You can also purchase a device for a single computer which plugs into the USB port called a Clé 3G (literally, a 3G key).

Free WiFi
One benefit of using the Orange network is the huge number (22,000 or so) of Orange hotspots across France. Once you are an Orange customer, you can use any of these locations (restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, bars, tourist information offices, libraries, etc.) for free, unlimited internet access.

Pay-As-You-Go
Here are several ways to “top up” your account with Orange, with phone trees accurate at the time this was written (Spring 2011). The Domino knows when it runs out of data, and automatically directs you to your Orange account to “top up” when you run low. This is the easiest method we’ve found.

PAGO accounts can be “topped up” three different ways.
1. Mobicarte, as France Telecom calls it’s PAGO packages, are for sale at all Tabac stores, grocery stores, gas stations, etc. They come in denominations as small as 5 euros, although if you purchase at least 25 euros of data you begin to receive a discount. For tiny packages like the 5 euro packages, the data will only last a week once activated, but larger packages will last several months. You receive a receipt printed with a 14-digit number which you have 6 months to activate.
-Once you have your receipt, call France Telecom at 0800 224 224.
-Enter your iPad, Domino or Clé 3G “phone number.”
-Press 2 for a Mobicarte top-up.
-Enter the 14-digit number on the Mobicarte receipt and press #.
-You’re done!

2. Or, you can use your credit card and call France Telecom at 0800 224 224 and purchase your Mobicarte electronically.
-Enter your iPad, Domino or Clé 3G “phone number.”
-Press 1 for a credit card.
-Choose your recharge option (for example, press 2 for 300mB for 10 euros).
-Enter your credit card numbers and press #.
-Enter the 3-digit code (on the back of the credit card next to the signature) and press #.
-Enter MMYY of your card’s expiration date and press #.
-You’re done!

3. Or you can do this via the web at or via your account with Orange at http://orange.fr and use a credit card to top up.

Hopefully, this will be a good place to start for folks who want to know some of their options for internet while visiting France. Unfortunately, this will probably rapidly go out of date, so please feel free to post updates in the comments.

We have a new addition to the family! She is 8.8 meters long and weighs 7 tons. Yes, we have just purchased a small canal boat. In southern France. And before you ask, yes, we have lost our minds.

Comet 6, sister ship to our Comet 13

Some of you know that I recently made a secret trip to France. A few of you know why I went. For everyone else, I took the trip to finalize the purchase of our boat, Comet 13 (don’t worry, we will rename her). With this purchase, we’ve now locked down Phase II of our Unexcused Absence.

This whole silliness started in the fall of 2009; Suzanne, Karen, Heather and I were sitting on the deck of our rented canal boat in western Burgundy, France, enjoying a lunch of baguette, Époisses de Bourgogne cheese, and a Grand Cru Chablis that we bought from a lockkeeper, when I looked up at a passing barge and saw, flying from the foredeck, the Colorado flag. This registered one of those “hmm, you don’t see a Colorado flag cruising through rural France every day,” looks among the four of us. We resolved to track them down and learn their story.

Eric and Sudi's "Oldtimer"

Later that day, farther down the canal, Heather was out for a jog and saw the boat parked for the night along the canal. Turns out the boat (Oldtimer) was a converted Dutch cargo barge from 1927, and was owned by Eric and Sudi, retirees from Vail (of all places!) who were on their fourth straight year living on the canals of central France. Out came the happy hour supplies, and we spent a lovely evening in rapt attention, learning about the fascinating world of living full-time on the inland waterways of Europe.

Who knew that France has over 8,800 kilometers of navigable canals and rivers? Who knew that there is an entire ex-pat community of people, mostly from the UK, Netherlands and Germany, who live full- or part-time on the canals? Who knew you could get from central France through Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany all the way to Prague, Czech Republic, entirely on canals and rivers? That evening was certainly an eye-opener.

And the most amazing part, to us, was the cost, or lack thereof, of their adventure. Eric and Sudi kindly shared with us details about their annual budget, as well as the current state of the market price for used canal boats. Shockingly, the total costs were very manageable, even for two semi-employed, decidedly un-wealthy people like us! A little post-vacation research showed us we could own a small canal boat in France for less than $4k per year, including mooring fees, fuel, waterways license, registration, insurance, and regular maintenance.

Vineyards below Sancerre

So the seed was firmly planted by late 2009; we just had to create our own canal boat adventure! By mid-2010, preparations were in full swing. We had cut our expenses to the bone (see Suzanne’s guest post on that topic), had held a big garage sale to purge our house of unneeded possessions, and had lined up a boat-finding excursion to France for the fall.

We began our trip courtesy of Eric and Sudi with a short stay on Oldtimer, moored on the Loire Canal at the village of Sancerre (wine lovers, pay attention), then drove over to St. Jean-de-Losne, the “boating capital” of central France, to look at a number of used boats, most of which were rather disappointing. They were either well used, in terrible shape, or overpriced.

Not in our price range

Definitely in our price range

Not in our price range

Definitely in our price range

More than a little discouraged, we took a train to the Canal du Midi (in the south) to charter a boat that was for sale from Le Boat, the big European waterways charter boat company. Happily the boat, Comet 13, was perfect, as much as a 20-year-old charter boat can be perfect. But the price was right! Le Boat agreed to make some repairs over the winter, and I set up my secret trip to France, just completed, to inspect the repairs and finalize the purchase.

The small-boat harbor in Beaucaire

The folks in St. Gilles (where the boat spent the winter) did a fantastic job of fixing up the boat and preparing it for our purchase. I spent 3 days making carpentry and electrical modifications, and purchasing all those things you need when you get a new place to live (trash cans, mops, etc.), then took the boat out for a 2-day shakedown cruise to Beaucaire, about 4 hours up the canal from St. Gilles. Heather remained in Beaver Creek. After all, one of us has to work!

Marseille, France

I finished my secret France trip with an overnight stay in Marseille, then set off at 6am on the 27-hour journey back to Beaver Creek. The commute home started with a long walk through Marseille to catch a bus ride to the airport, then flights to Munich, Philadelphia, and Denver, followed by a Colorado Mountain Express van to our door in Avon.

We head back to the south of France in early May to begin our summer boating adventure with a 500 km cruise along the Canal du Midi and Canal de Garonne. Phase II of our Unexcused Absence starts in less than 4 weeks!

Saint Vincent-de-Paul

Marseille waterfront at night

In most expensive resort towns there exists a (slightly) secret “local” economy, hovering not quite in plain view, but not entirely hidden either. Merchant deals, barter, and special benefits await those who are not visitors or tourists.  On Maui, for instance, I was regularly able to get maintenance done on my “Maui cruiser” car by presenting a case of the “right” beer to a German mechanic who lived in upcountry Haiku. I also traded computer services for store credits at three local windsurfing shops, and acquired a fistful of restaurant credits, free golf passes, and other goodies by setting up barter arrangements with the right people.

Crowded day at the Beav

Here at Beaver Creek, we haven’t yet fully dialed into the “locals only” specials, but we have made some progress. The purpose of this post is to list a few things that are available, some of them to everyone who shows up, and some only to true locals (defined here as employees of Vail Resorts Inc.).

Food:

• Avon Bakery & Deli, 2-for-1 on all bread and pastries from 6pm to 7pm everyday and all day Tuesday (try the sourdough and the olive breads).
• Gondola Pizza, Avon, $8 all-you-can-eat lunch buffet every day (pizza, soup, salad and desert).
• The Gashouse Restaurant, Edwards, 4:30-6pm half price appetizers and beer. Two people can have drinks and dinner for about $20 (albeit a little early in the evening for our taste).
• Ticino’s, Avon, $7 for a beer and a personal pizza weeknights ($6 if you’re a Vail/BC employee).
• The Tap Room, Vail, $6 gourmet burgers on Tuesdays.
• “Feed the Beav”, $3 dinner at The Ranch every Thursday during ski season for BC employees.
• Wednesday mornings HR offers free donuts and juice for BC employees.

Miscellaneous:

• Beaver Creek, free hot chocolate at the top of Centennial lift at 9:30am, and free chocolate chip cookies every afternoon at 3pm at the base lodge.
• Vail offers free use of a gas BBQ grill at the top of Blue Sky Basin. Some people cook way more than hot dogs and hamburgers, I’ve seen full-on gourmet meals (lobster tails, marinated shrimp, prime steaks) blazing away.
• Enter the weekly “town series” GS and Slalom races for $15, then you get free beer and dinner and a drawing for fabulous prizes at the after-party each week.
• All Vail/BC employees get one free ski lesson per month (a huge value, considering that the retail price of an all-day private lesson is $710).

Drinks:

• Coyote Cafe, Beaver Creek, $105 buys you a mug for the season, and your first drink of the day, every day, is gratis.
• McCoy’s Cafe, slopeside at Beaver Creek base, offers ski instructors their first beer of the afternoon free!
• Bar 8100 (the Park Hyatt at BC) has a Facebook page, they occasionally post queries about cocktails, anyone who replies gets a free drink, a great deal at a bar where drinks cost $10-$15!
• Beaver Liquors (easy now…) offers 10% off for Beaver Creek employees.
• The Vail Daily is a great source of ads for various bars and restaurants, and has an extensive classified ad section.

Skiing Tips:

• (Almost) every Thursday night, Beaver Creek grooms Ripsaw (black diamond).
• Every Friday night, Vail grooms Blue Ox (black diamond) and Beaver Creek grooms Golden Eagle (the double-black World Cup downhill course).
• Most Tuesday nights The Beav grooms Assay, a completely hidden yet nice pitch at far skier’s right on the lower half of the mountain. On a powder day you can get fresh tracks there at lunchtime.
• To get away from the crowds at The Beav, try two fantastic intermediate cruisers, Golden Bear and Cressa, in the Arrowhead section.
• If there’s a powder dump on a Friday night, don’t go to Vail. You will spend your Saturday standing in liftlines (everyone between Colorado Springs and Boulder shows up).

Transportation:

• Parking garages at The Beav are free for the first two hours.
• Parking at St. James (BC) is free after 5pm.
• In Bachelor Gulch, you can park at the Ritz free if you spend $50 at Spago (which isn’t difficult at all, unfortunately).
• In Vail, park at Solaris for $20 instead of the Vail “official” parking for $25. You can also park free along the frontage road, but you’d better be in place by 7:30am (or you won’t find an available space), and you still have a bit of a bus ride to the slopes. Parking is free at Vail after 3pm.
• Use the Eagle County Transit bus to get to the Vail airport for $4 instead of taking a taxi or CME for $80+.