Kerr Barging Blogs

With no immediate prospect of the Yonne River towards Paris being open soon we decided to visit Nice, which we had on our 2016 list as our "non- barge" destination.

View along Promenade des anglaisWhen Annette left for the airport for her onward trip to Rome we left too, catching the TGV direct from Paris to Nice, 930 kilometres in five and a half hours. We had found some difficulty in finding accommodation at the last moment and belatedly realised why when we discovered that a match of the European Soccer Cup was to be played in Nice the next day between Spain and Turkey. They were taking no chances on the train: there were half a dozen train security guards and no alcohol was being sold. In actual fact the trip was calm and pleasant and we arrived in Nice very relaxed and caught a bus to our hotel. Considering the last- minute booking we were very happy with its position, with an uninterrupted view of the waterfront looking towards the port and the mountains beyond.

The view from our hotel room
Next day we set out to explore the town relishing a sunny warm day after all the rain we had been experiencing. Our first observation was that the beach in Nice is very uncomfortable, consisting of huge stones. No wonder there were so many people offering hired sun baking chairs. Walking or lying on the stones looked most uncomfortable- though many people were doing it, with just a towel betwen them and the stones. The only two children we saw there were filling their buckets with stones and throwing them into the nearby storm water drain. No chance of building a sand castle! We were glad we had not come to Nice for the beach.
Walking along the "Promenade des Anglais" gave us a great chance to enjoy the ornate, well- kept buildings along the waterfront, with the promenades  bustling with activity. We first noticed the "fan base" for the Football, then reached the flower and general markets and the Old Town with its tiny lanes and old houses. At the end of the Old Town is the site of the original Nice settlement on top of a hill and we were grateful to discover that a free lift would take us the 92 metres to the top. From there we had an excellent view over the town with its terracotta roofs and shiny Church domes. In the other direction, the port was full of boats large and small, sailing and powered with the mountains beyond. The Club Med II was in port, with its five masts. It carries 26,000 sqft of sail and must be one of the largest sailing ships in the world.

Nice Port- with sailing ship, CM2
There was originally a Chateau in this park and its remains and those of ancient fortifications and old Roman buildings could be seen here. Back in the old town we visited the beautiful Cathedral of Saint Reparata, first built in the 11th century but rebuilt as a Cathedral in the 17th century. It is unusual in its dedication to a Palestinian woman who was a Martyr.
After lunch in the square we caught the bus to the Matisse Museum, where most of the works were donated by Matisse or his family and traced his artistic development; then to the archaeology museum next door on the site of the Roman city of Cemenelum founded by Augustus in 14BC.
In two happy surprises, we found that a 10 euro entry fee to a museum allows free entry to virtually all other museums (i.e 20) in the city for two days and that  all buses are free in Nice on the day of European Cup Soccer Matches there.
That night we watched the football match in our hotel room. It was fairly one sided and we were just as happy not to be in the crowd of 35,000 at the match.
On our final day we wandered through two more museums, both housed in beautifully decorated and ornate buildings, the Musee des Beaux- Arts which introduced us to many of Nice's famous artists, and the Villa Massena which displayed many interesting artefacts of Nice's modern history. We realised more fully how important tourism has been to Nice for several centuries, which undoubtedly helps to make it a very comfortable city for outsiders to visit.

"The kiss" by Rodin
Our TGV return trip to Paris stopped at Antibes and Cannes which gave us a glimpse. The beaches there certainly looked much sandier and the general architecture quite similar. We arrived in good time in Paris at Gare de Lyon. Our second train was already in the nearby Paris Bercy when we arrived there so we had an uneventful trip home to find Anja as we had left her, still high and dry but quite safe.

The river had dropped to the level of a week before but the critical downstream locks were still closed.

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave

In our last blog we were hopeful of soon being able to be lifted into the water. Sadly continued rain kept the levels high and the current fast, so on  we remained on land for another ten days.

Pontigny Abbey- on a VERY wet day
We made use of the last day of car rental to explore nearby attractions, the ancient Abbey of Pontigny and the famous wine town of Chablis.

Pontigny Abbey was a Cistercian Abbey, founded in 1114 and still in use today. It is a most impressive building with the main Nave of the Church 108 metres long, and a very ancient organ now refurbished and still in use. A concert was to be held that night. This abbey has a long history of giving refuge to English priests in danger including Thomas A'Beckett (later murdered in Canterbury Cathedral) and Stephen Langton, who worked on ideas for the Magna Carta while he was there. He was its first signatory.  

Chablis is a very attractive old town noted for its white wines, all made from Chardonnay grapes. A thriving market was on when we arrived. We had learned that the current vintage has suffered from adverse weather events (early growth then severe frost and also hail). We decided that the house Chablis at the Restaurante de la Poste was the right choice to accompany our lunch there and were not disappointed.
The trip to the airport to meet Annette went very smoothly thanks to the published list of trains still running during the strike. Because we missed peak hour the trains were not too crowded. It was good to catch up and give Annette some time to relax after the long journey from Australia. We would have preferred that she need not climb the steep ladder to get onto the boat and to visit the bathroom when required, but she took these inconveniences in her stride. It was better than in 2013 when she arrived during even more severe flooding when the boat ladder was knee- deep in flood water.
During her three day stay Penny and she traveled to Joigny and visited the birth place of the foundress of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart who conduct the Rose Bay Convent in Sydney. We were given a very special tour by a Sacred Heart Sister. She and Annette had several acquaintances in common, as both had held leading positions in their Religious Congregations. We also enjoyed the old wooden buildings and historic Churches of Joigny.

Best regards,

Penny and David

....but the Yonne River is not ready!

We were supposed to be craned into the river yesterday but the river is still closed, at a high level and with a very fast current. The main problem is the huge amount of water coming from the Armancon River which enters the Yonne just a few hundred metres upstream of where we are in the boatyard. A heavy storm 60 hours ago raised the Armancon level significantly and it is only now back to the level of a few days ago.

The new plan is to go into the river on Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

The week has gone well with paint touchup, provisioning, some varnishing and generally unpacking and cleaning things complete. We have worked very hard and been tired each night, which has been quite good for sleeping and overcoming jet-lag.

After some small hiccups, the rewound stator for the big alternator/welder is installed and working and the second (spare) back of the alternator also modified and tested. So now the big generator-welder alternator should run much cooler giving it a longer life.

The tiles are back in place in the bathroom after the problem with the pipe join freezing in winter and we are having discussions with Simon about the winterising to ensure it does not happen again because the problem created many hours of extra and unnecessary work.

We have the flowers and herbs for 2016 and Penny has potted them. They are sitting under the boat until just before we are launched.We have had our last sleep at "Les Chouettes" and said "Au revoir" for now to our dear friends Chantal and Christian. They have sold Les Chouettes and are retiring from running the Chambre d'hote (B&B). So, this was our 6^th and final stay at their beautiful house in the country. They have bought an apartment in Auxerre and will have a less busy time there.

Penny is travelling to Paris on Monday to collect her sister and return to the boat. This will be a challenge because of the ongoing train strike. About 2/3^rds of the services are cancelled each day. Fortunately, a law passed in 2007 ensures that some essential trains must run each day and we have access to the revised timetables the night before. This makes things somewhat simpler but they will have an interesting time on very crowded trains.

Best Regards,

Dave and Penny

To those who are subscribed by email: My apologies as the notification emails have not ben going out for the previous two blogs. Hopefully now fixed.

Regards,

Dave

Hi All,

Things are going well and the water has left the boatyard and returned to the river which is now 4cm below the top of the quay. So, it has about another metre to drop.Five lanes of the Periphique under water- 24hrs before the peak!

Afternoon tea today was a penguin. Perhaps the boulangerie thought that penguins would be appropriate for the very wet weather? It was delicious!

We experienced a hiccup when we recommissioned the water system. Somehow, water was left in a section of the hot water pipe when Simon did the winterising last year. The water had frozen (perhaps several times) during winter and damaged a pipe fitting. So, we needed to remove a section of the tiling and another panel and repair the problem which was behind the wall of the shower. There was very little space in which to work but it is now done. Tomorrow the tiles will go back and we will reseal them. Fortunately, we made it possible to do this in 2011 when there was a problem with pipes freezing in a section of unused pipe which was blocked off and impossible to drain. After that, we need to clean about about 50litres of water which have gone into the hull. Fortunately it is not salt water which would cause a rust problem.

Best Regards,

Dave and Penny