Five Nights, Four Cities and Three Chateaux

It's never quiet for long on Rabelo.  Back for their second season, my brother and sister-in-law Jerry and Arlene came to check out the improvements we've made and have a different type of experience from last year.

We picked them up in Chagny-en-Bourgogne.  For a little town they have amazing food!  There is a Michelin three star restaurant, and two other one star restaurants with equally amazing food.  Le Grenier a Sel (Grill) is perfect for those who crave a simply prepared big piece of grilled beef.  Since that didn't appeal to us, we went to Pierre & Jean the sister restaurant to the Michelin three starred eatery.  We were fortunate to get the last luncheon table without having made reservations.

We greeted Jerry and Arlene at the train station.

The suffering begins on Rabelo with a proper greeting of Kir Royal and appetizers on deck.

 Then the work begins:  Moving the boat, eating, drinking, sightseeing, moving the boat, eating, drinking, sightseeing, you get the idea.  Five nights, four towns, three chateaux, delicious food, wine champagne, French pastries, cheese, baguettes...wonderful!  This is how we suffer on Rabelo.

Sometimes the stars align just right and we have a perfect day.

Chateau de Rully now owned by Count Raoul de Ternay was our first stop.  The historic monument has belonged to the same family from the beginning (1194, Hugues de Rully was the owner), is private property and lived in by the family year round.

The Count (current owner) gave us a private tour of his home.  Fantastic!

The walls are covered with portraits of Raul de Ternay's relatives.  Unfortunately, he only knows who are a few of them are.  I imagine it is difficult keeping track of your relatives for so many centuries.

Charles de Saint Leger (d1584) had a famous drinking cup that holds three liters. It was said he travelled with it and drank it to the dregs.  This is the famous drinking cup.

My lunch was delicious at Pierre & Jean!

Driving thru these little villages you must keep your eyes open and camera ready!  Perhaps this will be a painting one day?

We needed to walk off some of the wonderful food and wine we were consuming.

Then more wine tasting...after all this is Burgundy!

And more food back on Rabelo...

 Chateau de Sully, another private residence owned by a widow, Scottish-born Dutchess of Magenta and her children.  She is in her early 50's and struggling to maintain and hold on to her home.  They are descents of the Dukes of Burgundy and live here all year long.  I can't imagine the responsibility of trying to keep up a home and property such as this.  She has a fabulous sense of humor as evidenced by the written guided tour we were given.  The grounds were magnificent  The chateau is fully furnished and is an impressive medieval moated fortress.

Chateau de Sully

I found this cute guy holding up this column.  I think I'll take him home with me.

The third Chateau we visited was the Chateau de Couches de Marguerite de Borgogne.  This castle is also fortified and a medieval monument.  The current owners make this their year round home.  

When it was time to move the boat, I would take the car to the next town and walk back to meet Rabelo.  Some of the vista's were spectacular.

Do any of you know where the word Barbeque comes from?  France!  When a pig is going to be roasted it is put on a skewer.  It goes in their mouth and out the other end.  Barbe is beard (front end of the pig) and cul (use your imagination).  Barbe-au-cul became barbeque.

Burgundy Keeps Getting Better

So many wonderful things come from Burgundy:  wine, cheeses, escargot, cassis, regional foods, specialized pastries...I'm sure there are things we haven't discovered yet.  But we intend to keep exploring the area for more "finds."  Just the other day we tied up in Verdun-sur-le-Doubs.  Up at the top of the dock was a cheese and cassis tasting!  That's hard to beat for just stepping off the boat.  The cassis is the fruit juice you add to wine and champagne for drinks like Kir Royal.  Tom couldn't stop with one bottle, so we took three bottles back to the boat.  I've discovered adding a splash to my morning smoothies kicks up the flavor a notch.  I had to try the local dinner which was four types of fresh water fish in a wine and cream sauce.  (I didn't know about the cream)  It included cod, eel, sandia and a fish from the local river.  I'm not sure I'd have that again, but it was worth a try.

The weather is so variable.  It is hot and humid, then a storm comes thru and it becomes cool and pleasant.

I love mussels.  What better place to have them than a restaurant that ONLY serves mussels!

Take the picture so I can dig into these escargot.  Can you smell the garlic?

Our friends Jerrie and Abbott came by train from Paris to visit for an afternoon.  We had lunch and a delightful cruise up the Saone on Rabelo.

New friends Steve and Helen own the Bed and Breakfast Barge Jubilant.  We had dinner with them on Rabelo.  If you are in the area of St. Jean de Losne I can highly recommend their B and B.  You won't find friendlier hosts.  (And they speak English!)

The town of Verdun-sur-le-Doubs is built on the old fortifications.  We just walked up the dock to discover the cassis and cheese tasting.  This is truly a medieval town.

A few sights as we cruised along the Soane after leaving Verdun-sur-le-Doubs.

And then came Chalon-sur-Saone.  A city worth returning to for further exploration.  The short time we were there we saw many hotel river boats come thru.

Sunday they have a fabulous open air market beginning in the town square and going on for blocks.

The half timbered buildings are picturesque.

One of these days I'm gong to try the Paella which smelled wonderful.

The Calm After the Storm

Wet diapers. Dirty diapers.  Saggy, baggy, hanging to the knees diapers.  Children are climbing over, in and under furniture.  Trying to climb overboard.  Screaming, crying, yelling, singing, talking, eating, eating, eating...OH MY!  12 people on Rabelo!  When my nephew arrived he asked if we were ready for this.  No problem said I!  I raised 2 boys!  Would I have them all again?  In a heartbeat!  Just let me get Rabelo back in order first, please.

We have had ideally glorious days!  Blue skies, puffy white clouds and perfect temperatures.  We couldn't have asked for better weather.  We've gone exploring by car while the kids rode bicycles around the town and countryside.  We've toured a cheese factory (and saw where the cheese Epoisse is made).  We visited a castle/chateau, went to a museum,  hiked up to Three Crosses where there were 360 degree views. We ate lovely lunches in little villages. This is what we dream of barging life to be.  We are loving Burgundy!

Walking around Dijon, I was drawn to what I thought might be a concert.  In a way it was.  We found these very unusual street musicians.  They were excellent.  I could have listened all day.

My nephew David with his wife Cecile and two boys Julien (2 1/2) and Remi (14 months) joined us for a few days.  Somehow we managed to accommodate 12 on board Rabelo.

Rabelo turned into a playground. They had to be watched constantly.  Remi decided to try climbing over the life line...over and over again.

Randy (the organizer) found a bike rental place so that the parents and kids could all go sight seeing around Burgundy by bicycle.  Tom and I took the car.  We found Chateau de la Rochepot which was originally built in the 1400's by two Dukes of Burgundy. 

It was beautiful and definitely worth the visit.  It was one of those absolutely picture perfect days.  The temperature was mid to high 70's.  We couldn't ask for a more ideal day.  And we would keep saying that about the next few days as well.

I can't resist:  Talia, Julien, Zoe and Remi

Dinner on Rabelo

It was like herding cats, but they are about to go off on their bicycle adventure.

Ahhhh Family :)

Dijon has a wonderful covered market.  It is best to get there early before it gets too crowded.

They're gone :(  Randy, Lexi, Talia, Zoe, David, Cecile, Julien, Remi, Wilco and Marscha.  The silence is deafening.  Rabelo is empty, silent, lonely...

The Kids are Back in Town!

The kids are back in town and it feels like it was just yesterday that they were here.  Yet, Zoe at 2 1/2 years is talking up a storm and now has a head of curls.  Talia (now 5) is a little lady wanting to help with everything.  Of course that's when they're not screaming for whatever it is they need to scream about at that particular moment.  It is wonderful being able to spend time with them here.

It is worth trying to get up to enjoy the early morning with its soft, caressing air before the heat and humidity hit full force.  We hear birds, geese, chickens and roosters.  The occasional fish splashing. The beautiful calm and gentle promise of what the day will bring.

A short bike ride from the marina where we were tied up in St Jean de Losne we could see grain being loaded into barges.  Those barges hold a LOT of grain.  That should take care of at least a few boulangerie's with their baguette and croissant making.

Once the kids were on board we wanted them to do a little sight seeing.  We drove to Beaune which is a lovely, busy, bustling town and popular tourist destination. We didn't get to spend much time there but had a nice lunch and caught up on wifi (always important).  We then did a quick tour of Hotel-Dieu (a hospital) built in 1443.  The colorful tile roof on one side of the courtyard and slate roof on the other side provide a nice contrast to each other.  Included in the price of admission is a private guided tour you can listen to at your own pace.

Each bed in the hospital was designed to hold two patients.  Cozy!

Back in St Jean de Losne it was hysterical watching the geese trying to climb up the bank to get out of the water.  Hardly what we could call graceful as they kept trying to jump up onto the slope and slide back into the water.  They were very polite about taking turns.

This is what the "marina" looks like where we are tied up.  We have put our name on the waiting list hoping to get a permanent slip in the next few years.  The location is central to so many wonderful barging areas.

Once Randy and Co arrived it was time to cruise on to Dijon.  We stopped along the way and found a little village slightly larger than what we normally see.  Tom, Randy and I went in search of a boulangerie and whatever else we might find.  (Randy was craving pizza)  We were very excited to find a boulangerie only to be disappointed when we discovered they were closed.  It's August and half of France is on vacation.  The mass exodus from France is so dramatic that the first Saturday in August is called Black Saturday.l  All the roads are jammed with the French heading away from the cities.

Randy wanted his turn at driving Rabelo.  Here are my two guys smiling with the roof down after going under a bridge.  That's quite an array of solar panels surrounding them.  It has made a huge difference in how we manage our power.

My little darlings sharing a stroller.

Rabelo tied up in the heart of Dijon.