Saint Jean de Losne, France

We went truffle hunting.

We were supposed to be moving the boat Thursday but discovered that the crane motor was broken.  No crane, no car, no land transportation…you get the idea.  We needed to get it repaired, so Tom and Kevin (our new captain) went into town only to discover that Thursday was a religious holiday, Ascencion.  Being that this holiday fell on a Thursday, and we were in France, our guess was that nothing would be open the next day.  That meant we couldn’t move until Monday.  

We got lucky.  Between our neighbor who is an amazing electrician, and Kevin they spent the day tearing down the motor for the crane, oiling, greasing, and doing whatever people do to motors.  By evening we had a working crane again.  Amazing.  With strong winds and some rainy weather coming through we decided Kevin should have a long weekend and Monday we will leave Saint Jean de Losne.

Let me tell you what we have been doing to amuse ourselves for this last week.  We enjoyed a BBQ with the marina residents, which gave us the opportunity to meet some new people.  We went to dinner with our immediate neighbors Bobby and Linda as a thank you for watching our boat all winter.  Then we had cocktails and a long get acquainted evening on the boat of John and Sandra.  Sandra is a quilter, knitter and painter.  John also paints although lately his painting has been focused on his 1906 boat, which the two of them lovingly restored over four years.  We then had them over another evening for dinner.  We never ran out of things to talk about, and didn’t even touch on quilting, knitting, or painting.

We went Truffle hunting!  While we enjoyed doing it once, this operation needs work in being more English-speaking tourist friendly.  While I think our host was knowledgeable about truffle hunting; his English wasn’t strong enough to convey much information to us.  We still got the idea of what is involved and have a better understanding of why they are so expensive.  The dog that was used loves truffles and probably ate half of what he found.  We did buy some truffle infused products to enjoy on board Rabelo.  After truffle-hunting Kevin took us wine tasting.  Of course we had to buy wine since our wine cellar was a bit light after last season.

Alf with his summer hair cut.  Ready to search out (and eat) truffles.

Alf has found a truffle but who gets to it first?

After a hard afternoon of truffle hunting we need to sample the delicacies available for purchase.  They were delicious!

The Truffle Farm

Thanks to Kevin I now have a real French phone, which means Internet service (when it’s available).  I don’t recommend trying to call us since I rarely have the phone with me, and I am not set up for messages.

For my birding friends I think you would love it here.  Judging by all the different bird sounds we are hearing there must be a whole slew of different types of birds.  Let me tell you what happened!  I thought someone must really like cuckoo clocks since they kept going off at odd hours all day long.  I was mistaken.  This place is full of cuckoo BIRDS!  For real!  Here is a little education about cuckoo’s:  This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia and winters in Africa.  The cuckoo is a brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nest of other species and will provide no parental care of its young.  There!  Now you know almost as much as me about cuckoo’s.

Finally, our 4^th season and I have an herb and flower garden.  Kevin and I went shopping/errand running and left Tom behind on Rabelo.  That was a good move.  He wasn’t around to tell me I couldn’t buy those wonderful pots with water reserves on the bottom.  Kevin and I had a very successful day with the post office: buying stamps and mailing cards, getting a French phone, planters and plants!  We could have done more but it was time to return to Rabelo and prepare dinner.

Here I am planting my new garden in my shed.

My new herb and flower garden.

Tom and I made a quick visit to Dijon thinking we were going to open a French bank account.  Unfortunately our papers hadn’t arrived yet.  I’ve grown to love Dijon.  It helps knowing where things are in a town.  With very little time before everything closed for lunch, we went to our favorite bakery and then wandered through the covered market.  The cheese stand was still open and the woman (who spoke a little English) guided us in selecting cheeses that were made no more than an hour away from Dijon. 

With Kevin off this weekend we had a little excitement.  First, the weather has changed daily.  A few days ago we had the air conditioning on because we were sweltering.  The mistrals blew in and brought rain and cold with them.  Now it’s warming up again.  I’ve gone from sleeveless tops to my down vest in a short time.  It’s crazy.  Because it got so cold Tom had to start up our heaters.  There were problems!  Ultimately he figured out that the exhaust vent is a good nesting place for birds.  Having a boiler system blocked isn’t a good thing.  With the vent belching black smoke and then creating a small explosion, Tom figured out what the problem was and got things cleaned out and running.  The birds didn’t understand that their home was under attack and returned the next morning. 

In the food department I’ve made the Ultimate Roasted Potatoes from Cooks Illustrated.  Using duck fat they came out incredible!  We are also making ice cream again.  I bought The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.  So far it’s a winner.  I also love following his blog.  His recommendations for restaurants thus far have been spot on.

I finished the book When the Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin.  It is extremely well written and very informative.  If you’ve ever been to Africa, are planning a trip to Africa, or are just plain interested in the history of Zimbabwe during our lifetime I strongly recommend this book.

Check out Tom Miller’s book The Wave.  It is the second in the Chuck Palmer Adventure series.  It is now available as an E book.  Having been re-edited it is a winner and a great summer read!