Hi from ?

You will never guess where we have been for the last 10 days.

Here is another clue.

Still having trouble?

I am sure by now you you have got it.

But just to be sure;

We spent 10 wonderful days is the Arsenal Marina in the middle of Paris. It is only 500 mtrs Notre Dame and just below the Place de Bastille. A great central location with Metro stations at both ends. We bought a 5 day unlimited travel pass for bus and Metro and really got full value from it.

Apart from having a hectic social life; lots of drinks and nibbles with folk we met other years and new ones from this year, we also ventured out 2-3 times a day to see the sights as well explore areas that are not so well know.

We even got the bikes out and tackled Paris traffic. There are 1500km of cycle tracks though the city but they have a habit of just evaporated at times, especially at places where it became too hard for the planners- the Arch de Triumph for example. Luckily there are hundreds of bikes and most of the drivers seem to be reasonably rider aware, however it did make life interesting at times.

Last year we stayed a few days in Paris in a hotel but found the boat so much better – more like have a small apartment with all home comforts and a great outlook.. The Arsenal has pleasant gardens and there is always a passing parade of interesting people. (the gardens are shut to all but boat owners at 11pm) To return home for lunch or diner on the back deck is so much nicer than returning to a small hotel room hotel room with limited outlook and very limited facilities.

We did very little “must see” sightseeing but as can be seen from the photos we did stumble across quite a few of them. We did however go to the Musse d'Orsay and spent nearly four hours in the Impressionists section of the gallery. It was very rewarding afternoon and the gallery, an old railway station, was truly magnificent. (Lousy cafe – 40 mins to get a coffee and basically no dunnies, but that's France) Anyway many of these famous artists had even painted pictures of places we have been, so I have include a photo of my original and their copy of it.

The Canal Saint Martin.

Boats on the banks of the Seine.

Work boats on the upper Seine

Pleasure boats on the Seine.

Reclining Nudes by Monet.

Well Lynda is reclining and she is in a gallery (the Louvre no less).– 2 out of 3 ain't bad

Lynda has changed her mind about the redesign of our bedroom – it's Art Nouveau now not high Renaissance.

Dr. Ghalet, Vincent van Gogh's homeopath.

My homeopath.

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Lynda's turn to give a woman's perspective blog:

1)Can you see the drool? Framboise ( raspberries) are my weakness over here. When the season hits I can be seen to make the most of it.

Ian is having his gastronomic delight. Talking to the Bouchere and selecting his particular cut of meat. It is often a case of what we can afford over here. Each piece is carefully selected, lovingly wrapped and given very particular individual attention. Nothing is too much troujble for the French Butcher.

3. The Canal Lateral -a -la -Loire- the 2^nd largest canal bridge in France, which takes boats over the Loire River. This was a commercial barge on it's final voyage taking Durham wheat to a nearby port. No longer commercially viable, the boat has developed engine failure on it's last voyage. The skill of the husband and wife team handling this 38 meter barge, is impressive.

4. The wonderful gardens of Apresmond-sur-Allier, near the canal bridge. These gardens were designed by Gilles de Brissac, the son of a rich industrialistsand started in 1970. He collected many rare plants and flowers, all carefully laid out and designed into this superb garden. It sits on a hill overlooking the Allier River in an old village originally inhabited by carriagemakers and mariners.The village was reconstructed by Eugene Sneider and his architect in 1930 .They brought it back to it's original condition in the medieval style.the village is a showpiece of gardens and quaint french village life.

5. Ian, Lizzie and Lynda enjoy a sumtuous lunch in the old Laverie Restaurant at Apresmond after a tour of the gardens.

6)Another Restaurant! This one beside the Canal Lateral-a la- Loire at lunch time. Ian and lizzie were treated to Calf's head and I had the local saucisse alternative which turned out to be cow's intestines and offal enclosed in a sausage skin. 3-4 courses with a glass of wine ,all for about A$20.00. Delicious.

7. Charity – sur -Loire, yet another beautiful village along the Loire River.

8)Don (a USA friend who we first met with Laura his wife last year), John (from Ousson-sur Loire), another Ozzie who lives locally and Ian, enjoying at picnic at Rogney. In Rogney an old series of 7 locks has been replaced by a new series of locks.

9. The same day outside of Cris and Heather's house. We met them on their boat at Nevers. John took us to visit them at their house in a small French village where they have settled after leaving England.

10. Briare harbour where we holed up for 10 days catching up with work and friends.

Ian off to do the grocery shopping in Briare on his bicycle.

11. A close up of the purchase reveals a slightly different slant to the shopping spree. Essential supplies.

12) A stall holder making black pudding sausage, ina local market in Chatillon – Coligny, along the Briare Canal.

Blog 4 Fontainebleau

Took Sunday off and caught a local bus from Nemours on the Canal de Loing to Fontainebleau to check out the chateau.

The chateau is in the middle of the town of Fontainebleau in the middle of the forest of Fontainebleau about 80km south of Paris. It was built in the 17C by Francois 1 as a weekender where he and his mate could go and do a bit of hunting. Guess a few chicks were also invited along to round off the weekend.

The place has been altered a bit over the years, Catherine de Medici had a go (in fact there is hardly a chateau she had not redecorated) and Napolean 1 did his bit. Surprisingly it survived the French Revolution. Anyway we had a great day out and the town had one of the best markets we have encountered. Being Sunday, entry to the chateau was free.

As you can see Lynda was totally knocked out by the Fontainebleau and had to take a rest.

Once inside she was impressed even more and insisted I take a series of photographs with the aim of upgrading Lydfrord Close. The master bedroom.

I understand this is where Napoleon uttered those famous words to Josephine. something about not tonight.

The new look for our dining room.

The upgrade for the link to our carport.

The proposed new roof line.

And finally what building would be complete without an impressive entry statement?.This should add a bit of class to Lydford Close

Blog 2. Boating 2009 To the end of the Nivernaise Canal

Lizzy earning her keep operating one of the lock gates. They can weigh several tons and you can burn up several bagettes getting them started. Anyone joining us and who thinks it will be a free ride had better think again, still the harder you work the more you can eat and drink and still lose weight.

The canals are quite full early in the season and the water coming over the back gate can cause quite a bit of turbulance. Still it makes the day interesting.

One of the many old stone bridges that have been in place for several hundred years. The town path is one the right and the corners of the bridge have countless deep grooves from the tow cables use to haul the old barges.

Lizzy earning her keep again. An early morning approach to one of the prettier lock keepers houses on the Nivernaise.

Not a bad front door to come home to at night.

All along the canal the VNF (the canal authority) place information boards for both boaties and bike riders. They give info about things up and down the canal and in the hinterland around the canal.

Information boards of a diferent type. A bottle of table red and on of our favoritr whites - a pinot gris from Alsace. Both bottles cost around $4.00

Lynda and Lizzy playing tourist in Decise a small city at the end of the Nivernaise canal.The building in the background is one of the old city gates from around 1000 years ago. It proved to be a great echo chamber to rev a motorbike engine out; no doubt the original builders had this in mind.

The weekly market in the tozwn square in Decise. It was quite a small one but still had lots of tempting local goodies. A local cafe was a great place for a coffee and to watch the locals (and some Australian cyclists riding along the Loire)

The port at decise ant the end of the Nivernaise. Weare rafted up beside a barge belonging to an English couple we met last year; Unfortunely Brian and Paty were back in UK as Paty made a mean fruit cake and we were promised some more next time we met.

An old converted Dutch barge owned by some English boaties. Like many of the old barges it is covered with flowers. Anyone for tea.

First blog 2009 On the Nivernaise canal

The first blog .of 2009 - a bit late as internet sites in rural France are few and far between - besides we have been very busy having fun

We arrived back in Baye where we wintered our boat Deerste this year. We met up with sister Liz at Paris CDG Airport after a very good but uneventful flight with Korean Air – up there with Cathay and Singapore airlines.
A simple train and bus trip and we where at the tiny marina in the middle of the beautiful French country side.. Unlike last year, all was in order. A couple of days were required to get the boat systems up and running and to do some shopping for the run down the Nivernaise canal to Decize. It was great to be be back on board.

Deerste in the harbour at Baye.

Washing is a perpetual problem on the boat and French laundromats, when you can find them are very expensive. We solved this this year by bringing a small caravan washing machine with us in our luggage. We have not seen them over here but the response from other boaties and some hire boat companies would suggest a good market

Leaving Baye and heading for the first lock

Spring and lots of wild flowers – Lynda's bit to make the boat feel more homely

Lizzy was off on the bike along the cycle track – Deerste coming out of a tripple lock

Lizzy still on the bike. Coming into Chatillon-en-Bazois under a beautiful 300 yo bridge.

Then into a lock beside a wonderful old chateau. We stayed in this town for a couple of days right beside the chateau but it was privately owned and we could not visit it. A nice little town with a good market selling local vegs, fruit, cheeses other goodies.

Many of the locks are hundreds of years old and still have the original mechanism for operating the gates. These can sometimes take quite an effort to get working.

French breakfast. An early morning trip to the boulagere (baker) for baguettes, croissants and often something very naughty for morning tea. The selection of breads, pastries and other delights, even in the smallest village make it very hard to show self control.

Trust all is well with folks at home - love to hear from you - I & L