Kerr Barging Blogs

Hi Everyone,

We are now in France, after a few challenges along the way. We had expected delays once we reached France because of the National strike. People are protesting about new work laws. These are certainly detailed laws because the document outlining them exceeds 850 pages.

Our first surprise was after we reached Singapore. Our flight which was due to depart about 90mins after our arrival was already delayed almost 9hrs until the following morning. Singapore Airlines booked us a room in town and sent us there in a taxi. Upon arrival at the hotel, we contacted Christian who kindly notified the rental car people that we were delayed until the following day. We also managed to find a hotel room near Gare de Lyon. We would have preferred Bercy, but many/most hotels were booked out.

We did manage to get a few hours sleep and headed back  to the airport by chartered bus the next morning. All went well until just before departure, when a passenger became ill and had to depart the 'plane for medical reasons and they had to find his baggage and remove it. Another 30 mins gone!

After that, there were no further incidents and we reached CDG airport without problems. We managed to catch a RER train to Gare du Nord and it was PACKED. Just like commuter trains in Tokyo where you sleep standing up because everyone is jammed in so tightly. Gare du Nord was also incredibly busy and a helpful SNCF guy told us where our next train was to depart from. In fact we needed two more trains because trains were not going their usual routes nor their usual platforms and 2 in every 3 scheduled trains were cancelled.

Finally we reached the hotel and had our first meal in France for this year. This was at a nearby cafe and we had a three course meal with wine, bread and water all for 18 euros each. Excellent! Then at the hotel we checked what trains were actually running to Joigny the next day. There were very few trains indeed. However, we did spot something very strange. Normally we go from Bercy which was 1.2kms walk from the hotel and has the fast trains. Gare de Lyon 200metres away normally has the slow all-stations trains. But we spotted a unique express train from Gare de Lyon with one stop before Joigny. It was terminating at Laroche Migennes, the next stop. This was good news if it really existed.

Next morning, we visited the River Seine which had broken its banks. The railway line and 5 lane Periphique road were under water. Nothing could fit under the bridges becaue of the water height. The Seine is at its highest for 30 years and also, it is very late in the year for such flooding.

Next we went to Gare de Lyon. Sure enough, the "Ghost Train" was listed. Fantastic! But, when we tried to buy a ticket from the machine, it would not let us becauser every train was cancelled and the "Ghost Train" was not listed. So, we went to the ticket office. There a young lady tried all combinations and also could not book a ticket. Finally, we got one from the counter, but they had to use a different train, later in the day, from a different station in order to print tickets! But the train came and our tickets worked (inspectors were not in any case checking them). There was a 30min delay in a suburb while Police removed protestors from the railway track.

We saw many submerged villages along the way and the Seine was very wide in places. Moret sur Loing looked particularly bad and it is interesting we were there and had a peaceful time last year. Now, where we had been, was a raging and wide torrent.

We have done some work on the boat (in the flooded boatyard) and caught up with Christian and Chantal who had lots of good and interesting news about changes in their lives.

Photos are coming but we are tired and this will suffice for the moment.

Best Regards,

Hello everyone and welcome to our Blog for 2016.We are starting a little later this year, but should depart from here on the 1^st of June and arrive in France the day after.

We will spend about a week getting things ready before heading off North.

Our new French credit cards have arrived and been activated already. Our titres de sejour (long term visas) are also waiting for us at the Prefecture. Hooray!

Apart from cleaning, painting and provisiooning, the main task this year is to fit and test a new alternator assembly for the generator/welder. The alternator part can get quite hot (due to the design) so I (David) have re-designed it and have high hopes it will work fine and should give the unit a longer life.

More when we get there. You can see where we are going  from the front page of our website

Best Regards,

David and Penny

Almost a week has passed since the terrible attacks in Paris.

We heard of them quickly because our son-in-law is a journalist and was on duty at the time.

Our hearts go out to all affected by this tragedy. There has been an impact on everyone.

We have come to know the French people and their culture, patrimony, spirit, kindness and other virtues- particularly over the last six years that we have been staying  in France.

We often recall the poignant words of our friend Laurent who in 2010 told us that his was the first generation for several hundred years who had not experienced war in France in his lifetime. We are particularly saddened this has changed so much for him and others. He told us: "....when I woke up this morning, we had been attacked in the night and we were again at war."

We are proud that our own country, Australia, like many other countries, held prayer vigils, lit the public buildings with the colours of the tricolour, held periods of silence and sent our heartfelt condolences. Our Premier said "We are going to find the biggest French flag in the region and place it on the Sydney Harbour Bridge."

So, our own hearts and prayers go out to you, our French cousins and we are sure that all of our readers share the same sentiments. We know that your strengths include the way you work together , your great and strong spirit and your passionate love for your country. These and other strengths will help.

Best Regards,

David and Penelope

 

 

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the delay in posting the remaining section of our 2015 barging adventure on Anja. We have been super busy and some sicknesses have intervened.

Moret on the Loing RiverWe really enjoyed out leisurely promenade to the top of the Seine and back, exploring parts missed last time and we also enjoyed the lack of fierce current which made things more challenging on the previous visit.

The bridge at Moret sur Loing

We came back to Moret sur Loing and stayed for a week just near the meeting of the Loing and Seine rivers. We had explored Moret sur Loing previously, but this time experienced more of its beauty and interesting history. The famous painter Sisley lived here and he was friends with many of the Impressionists whose paintings we have enjoyed in other parts of France, but particularly the lower reaches of the Seine. Our eldest daughter and family joined us and we had a great time with them, including one of our grandsons who kept us very entertained and occupied.

The old mill, now museum at Moret

After our sojourn at Moret, we headed back to the confluence of the Seine and Yonne for the final leg of about 100km back to Migennes, the winter resting place for Anja. We also finished off some improvement tasks- in particular, repainting the decks. We re-did the upper deck in 2011/2012 and it simply needed a light sanding and another coat of marine enamel. The decks where we walk needed a lot of scrubbing, sanding, fixing some of the non-slip surface and then repainting with a different paint intended for garage floors, driveways and car traffic. We did this because the International brand deck paint had not proved to be good for heavy wear. On top of this, we have our decks white to reduce the temperaure on hot summer days and white is probably not the ideal choice for keeping clean. We also sanded and varnished the port (left) side of the wheelhouse. This completed a long term project to remove all the "gunk" applied by the previous owners to the excellent wood of the wheelhouse and return it to a natural, varnished finish. So, Anja was looking particularly pretty and probably the best since we acquired her.

Spick and SpanThis all went remarkably smoothly as did the trip up the Yonne. We have been up and down the Yonne so many times and are very familiar with all the places. The lock keepers are good and seem to remember us and always had things ready for a quick passage. We were surprised at the busyness of some of the places. In some, we could find no space to stop and therefore made use of places like Silos for some overnight stops. This is fine a long as you keep out of the way of commercial traffic. Also, the silos were ramping up for the harvest but were not yet fully busy. It is possible that the pleasure traffic has increased on the Yonne or maybe it was because we were there in peak season, rather than our more normal early/late timing.

The Yonne region was unseasonably dry. In fact, when we were there, it was already the driest for about 50 years and summer was a long way from over. Fortunately, the Yonne and Seine RIvers are not affected by lack of water, unlike many of the other rivers and canals which were affected by closures and restrictions.

We arrived at the boat yard  the day before our departure to Australa. Everything on the boat was clean and tidy. We were rafted up to a couple of other boats and would leave Anja there so that Simon could lift her out when ready. Penny was really pleased that Simon wanted our geraniums which were still looking excellent and we did not want to just throw them away.

After about six weeks of little or no rain, there was a huge storm that night! Somehow, this managed to sink one of Simon's barges that was moored nearby. This submerged the power cord and basically shut down all power in the shipyard, including to us. We awoke in the dark and at about 4am prepared for our departure (we did not want to use the boat batteries as the boat would be put away for winter). We sloshed through the totally dark, muddy and waterlogged boatyard pulling our wheeled suitcases. It was still pouring with rain. We got to the railway station in plenty of time, only to find that our train had been CANCELLED! The next one was not for about three hours and was a slower train! The stationmaster was very good and confirmed our changed itinerary would work with extremely tight times to make connections and the flight. We asked him for a letter in case we missed the flight and needed to claim on insurance. He and another man searched the computer system for a template but could not find one. So, we wrote us a long, personalised letter with all the details of our old reservations and the new times, with precise arrival and connecting times. Fortunately, we did not need it because we arrived in Paris on time, David ran ahead and got our RER (train) tickets, we got off at gare du nord and sprinted to another train which took us to Charles de Gaulle. There we had an anxious couple of minutes wait for the train shuttle followed by a run to check in. We had made about three train connections with only one mintute between each one. We got through tcheck-in and they took our bags. Security was crazily slow but they finally put on extra staff and we made it to the 'plane not long after they started boarding. We were tired but had done it and the remainder of the trip back to Sydney, Australia was uneventful.

This year, we completed about 1,800 Km which was shorter than our more normal 2,500-2,900Km but it was very relaxing, wth good visitors and we filled in gaps from previous years.

 

Best Regards,

Dave and Penny

 

 

 Walks with the family in Fontainbleu Forest and ChateauSinking on the Yonne

Loading a commercial sand barge on the Petite (upper) SeineSoon after the last lock on the Canal du Loing we turned onto the Seine River, this time heading away from Paris. We were keen to explore again the Petite or Upper Seine, last visited in flood times in 2012. That trip was quite quick and stopped at Nogent sur Seine: We were keen to go further if possible, perhaps even to Marcilly, which our chart guide indicates as the head of navigation.
So it was back to the world of large commercial barges and huge locks. The trip went very well. We used to be worry that the lock- keepers would be a bit disdainful of pleasure boats when they were mainly dealing with huge commercial barges, but on the contrary we have found them very friendly and helpful. Several times we have had the keeper lean out of his office, high above the lock, or come down from it to talk to us. In 2012 we were using a mobile radio with limited range and our understanding of the language was in its early stages. Now that we have upgraded to an excellent radio and David at least can communicate well. This means that we can contact the lock ahead to announce our arrival and to get some idea of what is happening so there are fewer last minute surprises. We travelled up the river during the weekend when there is less traffic. The journey back was quite slow because some laden barges travel at about 2 or 3 kilometres an hour, and also take up the whole lock, so there is a lot of waiting for everyone. There was one extra delay in a "derivation", a canal which traffic uses as an alternative to the river to cut off bends or to approach a lock. This is a particularly narrow derivation, and it seems that there was simply not enough water depth for the two boats to pass, so one ran aground. It took about 45 minutes of fiddling about to get them moving again. Meanwhile there was quite a build-up of traffic behind. Still, everyone remained very calm, at least outwardly.  

"Betty Boop"- on the left- is firmly stuckThe main towns along this part of the Seine are small but full of interesting history going back to the establishment of the first mill in Nogent in the 9th Century, visits by such kings as Henry 1 and Henry IV (the house where the latter visited his mistress is duly recorded) and events from the Napoleonic Wars in most town. Here Napoleon stayed; here stayed the Tsar  Alexander. In fact, in Pont sur Seine and Bray sur Seine, the same lodgings, still standing, were chosen  by both Tsar Alexander and Napoleon (in turn) as they passed through. It is quite common to find houses built in the 14th or 15th Century still in good repair and the churches date from the 11th or 12th century. The towns in this area were also very involved in World War II and a memorial in Bray has a long list of names of those who died fighting in the battle that freed the town in August 1944.

The grand Mill at Nogent- first one was in 858!
We were a little disappointed when we reached Nogent to discover that the river is no longer negotiable beyond that point. Instead we hopped on our bikes and cycled as far as Pont Sur Seine. We could see that the navigation was shallow though the locks seemed to be in good repair. Nogent itself is the second busiest cereal port in France. There is a also a lot of sand dredging so a great deal of barge traffic downriver from Nogent, but no commercial barges go beyond so there is no financial imperative to keep the river dredged. Sadly there seem to be very few private boats using this stretch. We are here at the height of the tourist season and we are the only pleasure boat to go to Nogent in more than ten days.
With so many boats coming and going, life can be quite interesting. The first incident however was even more surprising on a busy water way: a deer swam across the river in front of us. Its antlers first alerted us to its activities. Another sight was on one of the huge barges passing with about 1,000 tonnes of sand, 70 metres long and about 8 metres wide. Three little children  on board were really enjoying access to their huge travelling sandpit. Most of the barges with little ones also have an inflatable swimming pool on board, good for these hot days. We have noticed though that the children are often to be seen travelling with their parents or grandparents in the cabin. Perhaps they will be the next generation of bargees. 

The weather continues to be very pleasant though there is talk of drought and water restrictions have been imposed in about half the departments of France. We are pleased that the remainder of our trip this year will be  on rivers rather than canals, as they are less affected by water restrictions. It is ironic that the areas which were affected by flooding at the beginning of our time in France are now suffering from lack of water.

A travelling sandpit

Henry IV house

Pont sur Seine- Penny on her bike

Park of the Giants (Plane trees)- good stop for Anja in Bray500 year old wooden house in Bray sur Seine
It is best to have respect for 2,500 tonne bargesBest Regards,

Penny and Dave