Barry and Margaret

on the way home

2007-09-25T21:47:00.001+12:00

Ang, Ella and I had a great time on the boat with Barry and Margaret, from Paris to Remis, and got something like 9 fine days out of 11, which is not bad going, but I wont claim that it was mid summer hot! just fine and dry and mostly tee shirt and shorts weather, some of the evenings got a little cold. Anyway the scenery was good what ever the weather, and we happened to be there at the very start of harvest for the Champagne region, so that was interesting and everyone seemed busy and happy to be getting the grapes picked. Not going to be a reserve year by all accounts, the weather earlier this year has meant that the grapes will just be fine for blending to make the normal bubbles, but not one of those years that gets put away for special bottling.
here are a few pics from our few weeks while we joined Barry and Margaret.

We started our trip in Paris, with the unmistakable back drop of the Eiffel tower

Ella slotted straight into her bed for the holiday with new soft toy friends she was as happy as a bug in a rug...

Negoiating locks was no problem.

some of the Expansive wine cellars, in the Champagne region around Epernay

Ella sporting the life vest, (which was worn for the first few days, but then as she got the idea that she was not allowed outside without an adult she didn't wear it so much)

ever wondered what the inside of a 2.2km long tunnel with a river flowing through it looked like?

Ella spending time with Grandma while Mum and Dad went on a scenic bike ride...

Cezanne racing along at about 6km/hr...

Parked up for lunch...

Lunch...

Dinner... and what trip to France would be complete without a feed of snails...

Ella helping out with the driving...

Barry and Margaret will be back at Lagarde now where Cezanne will be 'wintering over' and no doubt packing their bags, as they are just under a week away from being back in New Zealand.

maybe no updates for a few weeks

2007-08-19T17:32:00.000+12:00

might not be any updates for a few weeks now.
web master Ross, along with Ang and Ella are off to catch up with Barry and Margaret in person. and join them floating in france. Can't wait!!!
So may not have time to update the website that often, sure i will be too busy drinking wine and soaking up the sunshine...
Look forward to loads of photos and stories when we get back in a few weeks time.
Ross.

in Paris now

2007-08-18T22:05:00.000+12:00

made it to Paris, so now parked up in bassin de l'arsenal. see below. to do the sights and sounds of Paris for a week and then move on.

Bassin de l’Arsenal

text description

This is bassin de l’Arsenal, or, more formally, the Port de Plaisance de Paris Arsenal, a man-made lake between the Seine River and the Canal Saint Martin. It is a very pleasant port for pleasure boating that is virtually unknown to tourists, just south of the place de la Bastille.

You‘re looking north in this photograph, which was taken from a pedestrian bridge that crosses the lake roughly at its midpoint. Off in the distance is the northern shore of the lake. You can see the square, dark opening of a tunnel leading north from the lake; that‘s the Canal Saint Martin, which runs underground for a kilometre or so before returning to the open air and continuing on to another lake south of La Villette. Just above the opening into the tunnel is a row of windows forming part of the Bastille station of Métro line 1; from within the station, you can look out over the lake to the south. Above that is the vehicular roundabout of the place de la Bastille, and you can see the centerpiece of that roundabout, the greenish July Column, at its center. On the right and next to the roundabout is the Opéra Bastille, the newest and largest opera house in Paris.

In the seventeenth century, this lake was just a ditch through which a small stream drained into the Seine, and the city limit of Paris ran along the left side of the ditch (from the viewpoint seen in this photo). The fortress of the Bastille itself was about even with the northern end of this lake, on the right, behind those trees; nothing remains of it above ground at the original site, but you can see chunks of it elsewhere here in my gallery.

Behind the camera in this photo is the remainder of the lake and the set of locks that moves boats between the lake and the Seine just beyond. Most of the boats in the lake are quite nice, as you can see. The park that runs along the east side of the lake (to the right in this photo) is quite pleasant (note all the people relaxing there on this warm summer day).

Click directly on the photo to see a larger version (twice this size). Photographed on July 21, 2000.

Château de Fontainebleau

2007-08-14T20:39:00.000+12:00

last two weeks have been drifting slowly towards Paris. From St florentin, to the Chateau de Fontainebleau (see below)

Barry and Margaret are now cruising down the Seine and have just pulled in at the port de fontainebleau just a leisurely 3km bike ride from the boat. Shame its closed today, but they will have a look around the gardens and grounds anyway.

Just 2 days boating away from Paris now, so have that to look forward to.

See below for info on Chateau, looks pretty impressive from the pictures...
to see more info on the chateau click here

Château de Fontainebleau

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Palace and Park of Fontainebleau*
UNESCO World Heritage Site

State Party	France
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, vi
Reference	160
Region†	Europe and North America
Inscription History
Inscription	1981 (5th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

The Royal Château of Fontainebleau (in the Seine-et-Marne département) is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The château as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on a structure of Francis I. The building is ranged round a series of courts. The city of Fontainebleau has grown up around the remainder of the Forest of Fontainebleau, a former royal hunting park.

Left Part of the Cour d'Honneur

The chateau introduced to France the Italian Mannerist style in interior decoration and in gardens, and transformed them in the translation. The French Mannerist style of interior decoration of the 16th century is known as the "Fontainebleau style": it combined sculpture, metalwork, painting, stucco and woodwork, and outdoors introduced the patterned garden parterre. The Fontainebleau style combined allegorical paintings in moulded plasterwork where the framing was treated as if it were leather or paper, slashed and rolled into scrolls and combined with arabesques and grotesques. Fontainbleau ideals of female beauty are Mannerist: a small neat head on a long neck, exaggeratedly long torso and limbs, small high breasts—almost a return to Late Gothic beauties. The new works at Fontainebleau were recorded in refined and detailed engravings that circulated among connoisseurs and artists. Through the engravings by the "School of Fontainebleau" this new style was transmitted to other northern European centres, Antwerp especially, and Germany, and eventually London.

[edit] History

Interior

Boudoir of Queen Marie Antoinette

The older château on this site was already used in the latter part of the 12th century by King Louis VII, for whom Thomas Becket consecrated the chapel. Fontainebleau was a favourite residence of Philip Augustus and Louis IX. The creator of the present edifice was Francis I, under whom the architect Gilles le Breton erected most of the buildings of the Cour Ovale, including the Porte Dorée, its southern entrance. The king also invited the architect Sebastiano Serlio to France, and Leonardo da Vinci. The Gallery of Francis I, with its frescoes framed in stucco by Rosso Fiorentino, carried out between 1522 and 1540, was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Broadly speaking, at Fontainebleau the Renaissance was introduced to France. The Salle des Fêtes, in the reign of Henri II, was decorated by the Italian Mannerist painters, Francesco Primaticcio and Niccolò dell'Abbate. Benvenuto Cellini's "Nymph of Fontainebleau", commissioned for the château, is at the Louvre.

Fontainebleau from the lake

Gardens

Another campaign of extensive construction was undertaken by King Henri II and Catherine de Medici, who commissioned architects Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant. To the Fontainebleau of François I and Henri II, King Henri IV added the court that carries his name, the Cour des Princes, with the adjoining Galerie de Diane de Poitiers and the Galerie des Cerfs, used as a library. A "second school of Fontainebleau" decorators, less ambitious and original than the first, evolved from these additional projects. Henri IV pierced the wooded park with a 1200m canal (which can be fished today) and ordered the planting of pines, elms and fruit trees. His gardener Claude Mollet, trained at Château d'Anet, laid out patterned parterres. Three hundred years later the château had fallen into disrepair; during the French Revolution many of the original furnishings were sold, in the long Revolutionary sales of the contents of all the royal châteaux, intended as a way of raising money for the nation and ensuring that the Bourbons could not return to their comforts. Nevertheless, within a decade Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, began to transform the Château de Fontainebleau into a symbol of his grandeur, as an alternative to empty Versailles, with its Bourbon connotations. At Fontainebleau Napoleon bade farewell to his Old Guard and went into exile in 1814. With modifications of the château's structure, including the cobblestone entrance wide enough for his carriage, Napoleon helped make the château the place that visitors see today. Fontainebleau was the setting of the Second Empire court of his nephew Napoleon III.

Philip the Fair, Henry III and Louis XIII were all born in the palace, and the first of these kings died there. Christina of Sweden lived there for years, following her abdication in 1654. In 1685 Fontainebleau saw the signing of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes (1598). Royal guests of the Bourbon kings were housed at Fontainebleau: Peter the Great of Russia and Christian VII of Denmark, and so, under Napoleon was Pope Pius VII — in 1804 when he came to consecrate the emperor Napoleon, and in 1812–1814, when he was Napoleon's prisoner.

Today part of the château is home to the Écoles d'Art Américaines, a school of art, architecture, and music for students from the United States. Preserved on the grounds is Henry IV's jeu de paume (real tennis court). It is the largest such court in the world, and one of the few publicly owned.^[1]

Jazz pianist and composer Tadd Dameron wrote the composition "Fontainebleau" upon visiting the palace.

[edit] References

^ Cercle du jeu de paume de Fontainebleau. Histoire de la salle de jeu de paume de Fontainebleau. Retrieved on March 19, 2007.

[edit] External links

v • d • e

World Heritage Sites in France[show]

Coordinates: 48°24′08″N, 2°42′02″E

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Fontainebleau"

end of July, in Saint Florentin

2007-08-05T22:52:00.001+12:00

31/07/07currently in st Florentin, where the painter Cezanne lived for 20 years. (namesake of the boat)
Getting fit on the bikes, and doing 50km rides some days touring around looking at different villages.

news from Barry and Margaret

2007-07-20T09:17:00.000+12:00

We arrived in Montbard, which has lovely gardens alongside the canal as we entered the ville, on Wed. 18th July. There are many locks on the Bourgogne. They are hand operated, therefore we are accompanied by a lock keeper whom we help to open & close the gates. Barry has been lock counting & tells me that yesterday we went through our 300th lock, on this holiday. They are all now downhill to Paris, where we are planning to arrive on the 20th August.
July14th was Bastille Day___a public holiday, for lock keepers also. We joined the hundereds of locals at Pouilly - en - Auxois at 11p.m. to watch a fireworks display. It was very orderly with bands etc, but by 12 p.m. everyone had gone home & it was very quiet.
On the 12th July, the weather started to improve & we have had lovely sunny days. The farmers are very busy harvesting wheat, which would normally have been harvested earlier. There was a big grain depot opposite the Marina at Pouilly. Trailor loads of wheat were arriving from dawn to dusk. The stalks are also being bailed. There is also farming in this area- charolet cattle plus a few sheep.
There are extensive iron ore deposits in the Montbard area. A large industrial site (foundary) making steel tubing, run by hydro power,is across the marina from where we have our boat moored.

all down hill to Paris from here

2007-07-17T22:08:00.000+12:00

Barry and Margaret have moved on now from Dijon, and have made it to the highest point on the canal of Burgundy (French: Canal de Bourgogne), on their way to Paris, Pouilly-en-Auxois, (featuring a tunnel that passes under the town,)

The Canal of Burgundy (French: Canal de Bourgogne) is a canal in Burgundy in central eastern France. There are two river entrances; to the north the Yonne River allows access in the town of Migennes, and in the south the Saône allows access in the town Saint-Jean-de-Losne. The construction began in 1727 and was completed in 1832. The canal connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea via the Yonne and Seine to the Saône and Rhône. Barges transport goods along the river.

The canal is 242 km long, with 209 canal locks. It passes through the departments of Burgundy, Yonne, and Côte-d'Or. The highest point of the canal is the "partition" at Pouilly-en-Auxois, which is 378 m above sea level. The lowest point is at the junction with the Yonne at 79 m above sea level.

(the tunnel)

and it is all down hill from there.

The town..

Being the 13th and 14th of July, they got to enjoy the fireworks, and celebrations that take place on Bastille day, see link for more info: Bastille day in france, and almost saw some of the tour de france or Official web site but just missed them as they happened to be inside the tunnel that passes under the town at the time the cyclists rode past!
The weather has been a lot better, sunny was the last report...

Dijon

2007-07-07T09:49:00.000+12:00

Have been in Dijon for 3 days.

Had a wet & windy trip from St. Jean. It is still not that much better. We are wearing clothes which we would wear in Spring or Autumn.

Dijon is a lovely city, which we have always enjoyed visiting.During the next few days we will visit some of the museums, do a walking tour &visit the parks & gardens;

Link to info on Dijon

Email form Barry and Margaret

2007-06-30T08:34:00.000+12:00

'Cezanne' our floating home in France...

Barry, with a load of supplies on the bike!

Hullo from France.

After arriving in France we hired a rental car & drove to Cambrai, where we spent 2 days doing a boating course to obtain a certificate of competence , which boat owners need to use the waterways. We then called on some friends at Chalon en Champagne, to collect a box of clothing etc, which we left with them last year. Our boat, named Cezanne, was at Lagarde, on the Canal du Marne au Rhin. We spent several days there, recovering from our flight& the busy days & nights at Cambrai. We also spent time shopping & cleaning Cezanne.

It was then time to do a trial run N.E. from Lagarde, for 4 days, traveling as far as Lutzlebourg, which is a pretty town, which also has a crystal making workshop & sales. On this stretch of canal we passed thru’ 2 tunnels, the longest being 2 ½ Kms. Also a transverse incline plane at Saint Louise-Arzviller. It is the only such construction in Europe & allows boats to cross a 45m. change in altitude which would otherwise require 17 locks. Back at Lagarde we did a few more additions & alterations, before setting off on the 4^th June to do a round trip.

We continued down the Marne au Rhin canal to Nancy where we stayed 4 nights. Nancy has a big central square called Stansislas Square. The big buildings surrounding it are ornamented with guilt covered statues & in the centre of the square is a big statue of Stansislas, the ex King of Poland, who was gifted the area of Lorraine. On Sat. night we celebrated my birthday by dining out, then sitting in a café in the square, “people watching”. There had been a festival that day with a brass band playing music in the square & entertainment for the children. At 10.45, when it was dark, there was an electric light show against the Marie{town hall).

We then traveled on the Canal des Vosges to Epinal.. During wet & windy weather Barry started making shelving for the kitchen. We spent several days in Epinal . It was also a pleasant change to wander the streets & go to the markets.

From there we went to Corre at the head of the R. Saone. This took 5 days as there were many locks. The 1^st day there were uphill locks which were close together, so I walked between the locks to make it easier to put the ropes around the bollards. During these days we traveled through lovely forested country with big trees alongside the canal & birds singing merrily all day long. We then went down the Petite Saone to St. Jean de Losne where we are at present. There is a big marina here which is well equipped for boating people. They also have wifi ,so that is why I am able to use our computer. We have had trouble using it elsewhere . I have written several letters & lost them!!!!!!! We are staying here a few days to do some painting on the boat & give it a bit of TLC. It is also a very social place where some people winter over. There are a few Brits. & NZ’, ders here. From St. Jean de Losne we go up the Canal de Bourgogne via Dijon for 242 kms. To the R. Yonne, then to the R. Seine & Paris. We return to Lagarde via the Marne R. & the Canal Marne au Rhin.----Then it is time to return home!!!!

This morning we went to the market & bought fruit & vegetables. The fruits in season

At present are cherries, strawberries other berries & apricots.

We are both well & enjoying our canal boating challenge.

We hope you are all happy & well. We would love to hear news from you & know if you receive this letter.

Regards,

Margaret & Barry.

made it to st jean du losne

2007-06-28T17:14:00.000+12:00

This is the marina where Barry and Margaret are now. click on the following link to go to a web page for information on St Jean Du Losne.
www of the office of tourism at St Jean du Losne
(the picture at the bottom of the web page is wider than the screen and you can click and drag it to the left and right to see the whole panorama.)

Below, is some information from Wikipedia about St Jean du Losne, it is translated from a French web page, so some of the grammar may not sound right, but gives insight into history.

Saint-Jean-of-Losne

An article of Wikipédia, the free encyclopaedia.

To go to: Navigation, To seek

This article is an outline to be supplemented concerning a common Frenchwoman, you can share your knowledge by modifying it. For more indications, do not hesitate to visit the Project of the French cities.

Saint-Jean-of-Losne

Country	France
Area	Burgundy
Department	Coast-in Or
District	District of Beaune
Canton	Canton of Saint-Jean-of-Losne (chief town)
Code INSEE	21554
Postal code	21170
Mayor Mandate in progress	Mrs. Martine Deprey 2001-2008
Intercommunality
Latitude	47° 06' 14'' North
Longitude	5° 15' 53'' Is
Altitude	179 m (mini) - 182 m (maximum)
Surface	0,5 km ²
Population without double accounts	1.257 hab. (1 999)
Density	2.167 hab. /km ²

Saint-Jean-of-Losne is a common Frenchwoman, located in the department of Coast-of Or and the Burgundy area.

Synopsis

[masquer]

Heraldic [to modify]

Blasonnement: from Burgundy, with champagne of azure to the Legion of Honor to the naturalness suspended with a fermail of mouths
Napoleon insisted that the cross of the Legion of honor appeared in the blazon, and not outside as it was habit for the distinctions ^[1].

Geography [to modify]

Saint-Jean-of-Losne is located on the Saone, on the level of the confluence of this one and Ouche. It is the crossroads between three great river loader-gates:

the Saone, towards the Rhone and the Mediterranean
the channel of Burgundy, towards the Seine and the Paris basin
the Rhine-Rhone channel, towards the Rhine and Northern Europe and east

Saint-Jean-of-Losne is also the smallest commune of France occupying only 0.6 km ².

Economy [to modify]

river port of pleasure

The city of Saint-Jean-of-Losne is today the first French port of river tourism. Thanks to this port, a great number of tourists return the trade of the surroundings of Saint-Jean-to-Losne profitable. The port has been gradually developed for 30 years. At the beginning it y' had creation in the first time of a company of hirings of boats then a company of boats with passengers and two companies offering of the multiple services such as management of the marina, sales of new boats and occasion, sale of superstructure, installation repair, dry setting of boats. Other companies settled to benefit from the activity of river tourism.

History [to modify]

The existence of Saint-Jean-of-Losne is attested since XIIe century. Initially dependent on the dukes of Burgundy, the city will be attached to the royal field, becoming the seat of a baillage ^[2].

Its position of East-West crossroads enabled him to develop an important activity related to the river transport, in particular at the XIXe century with the construction of the channels. Y thus passed nombreaux wood rafts coming from the Jura and bound for Paris.

This strategic position was worth also at the town of have been the seat many battles, of which two made the glory of the city:

detail of the monument commemorating the seat of 1636

The seat of 1636 (Thirty Year old war)

October 28 1636, the Austrian troops directed by Matthias Gallas, after having crossed the Rhine, decide to be established with Saint-Jean-of-Losne for the winter. But on November 2, after two attacks and in spite of a breach in the fortifications, the city is still not taken and the besieged inhabitants refuse any rendering categorically. A third attack will not be enough there: besieging do not take possession of the city. The rain continues which fell during the seat, makes enter into raw the Saone; besieging food miss, and an avant-garde of the royal troops, directed by the marshal Josias Rantzau, arrives in support of the inhabitants: the Austrian troops raise the camp on November 3, and must be folded up.

Louis XIII will reward courage for the city by exempting it of taxes ^[3].

Two flags taken to the Austrians at the time of the attacks are visible in the church Saint-Jean-Baptist.

The victory of the seat imposed by Gallas is commemorated since every fifty years. the last “Festival of Gallas” took place in 1986 and the following edition is programmed for 2036.

The seat of 1814 (countryside of France)

January 17 1814, an Austrian outpost is installed on the level of the bridge on the Saone, opposite the city. In a patriotic fervour, the inhabitants join the soldiers to attack the outpost, which they remove with the enemy. After having cut the bridge, the city will resist the Austrian attacks still lengthily ^[4].

During the Hundred Days, Napoleon rewarded the town of his heroic defense by allotting the Legion of honor to him. March 14 1815, at the time of its passage to the Trawl-net-on-Saone, it declared with the representatives of Saint-Jean-of-Losne: “Known as with your worthy mayor that I give him the cross; because it is for you, good people, that I instituted the Legion of Honor and not for the emigrants pensioned by our enemies” ^[5].

Saint-Jean-of-Losne, Trawl-net and Tournus were the first cities decorated with the Legion of honor.

War of 1939-1945

On September 4, 1944 while the R.A.F destroyed the bridge of Seurre, the Germans protect their retirement while blowing up the stone bridge of Saint-Jean-of-Losne. The bridge of the railroad spanning the Saone in the west of also destroyed the east city, thus cutting the railway line Dijon Lons-the-Salt maker - via Saint-Jean-in-Losne Chaugey and Chaussin.

Administration [to modify]

Period		Identity	Party	Quality
List successive mayors
March 2001		Mrs. Martine Deprey
All the data are not yet known.

Demography [to modify]

Demographic trends
1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999
1 528	1 623	1 605	1 476	1 342	1 257
Numbers retained since 1962: population without double accounts

Places and monuments [to modify]

Personalities related to the commune [to modify]

See too [to modify]

Wikimedia Commons proposes free documents multi-media on Saint-Jean-of-Losne.

Communes of Coast-in Or

external Bonds [to modify]

Onwards from Epinal

2007-06-18T19:53:00.001+12:00

left Epinal on sunday 17th June, 14 up-hill locks and heading through nice wooded countryside.

18 more locks on Monday 18th June, and heading for Bains les Bains tuesday 19th.

Big Lift for boats

2007-06-16T14:14:00.000+12:00

this is one of the lifts that Barry and Margaret have been up so far on their travels.
(on the 2nd June)
click here to see a website about it (in french!) but good photos

on the way to Epinal

2007-06-12T20:01:00.000+12:00

11/06/07 Last night they stayed in Charmes

12/06/07
15 locks for the crew to manage today! hope all those rope and knot tying skills are up to scratch!
Barry and Margaret should make it to Epinal tonight (to see info on Epinal click here)

the view down over Epinal

Nancy to Flavigny-sur-Moselle

2007-06-12T07:15:00.001+12:00

I' guessing at this point that this is the only canal that takes you south out of Nancy, so I expect this is the general direction Barry and Margaret heading. I'll update with locations as I get them.
link to info and pictures of Nancy click here

current whereabouts

2007-06-10T14:38:00.000+12:00

latest email was received from Barry and Margaret while they were in Nancy. They arrived in Nancy on Wednesday the 6th June, and depart on Sunday the 10th.

They wrote:
We arrived in Nancy on Wed, & depart tomorrow. We have been very busy buying supplies for the boat. Barry has bought equipment like tools etc to do repairs & maintenance. We have also bought electrical appliances for the kitchen & lots of groceries, also some from the bio shop for me (Margaret) as the food I need is not available in most supermarkets.
Nancy has a very elaborate central square, but we have not seen much of the old city yet. Our bicycles have been very useful as we can tie bins on the carriers etc & bring back to the boat lots of items. Yesterday we found a good cycle track to an enormous shopping centre out of the city.

and then went on to describe their plans, as per the previous post, see below.

the general plan

2007-06-10T14:33:00.000+12:00

click on the picture and it should reload a bit larger if you want to have a closer look.

Starting from Lagarde in the East, going west via Nancy and then south to Epinal and Corre (at the head of the Soanne. Then on to St. Jean de Losne and up the canal de Bourgogne (242Kms & 190Locks) to Paris. Returning to Lagarde via the Marne River and then the Marne au Rhin Canal.