Sunday, August 28, 2016

French Canals and Food

Rabelo and Apres Tout met on the Burgundy Canal.  It was only a gentle kiss.
The canals in France are narrow!  Very narrow!  After all, they were dug by hand starting back in the 1600's.  Why make them any wider than absolutely necessary!  Some were made originally to develop the grain trade and reduce food shortages.  Now they are still used for the transportation of goods and people.  The Canal de Briare is one of the oldest canals in France.  They used between 6,000 and 12,000 workers to construct this canal in order to connect the River Loire and the River Seine.  By the mid 18th century wine barges were being used to transport wine from the various wine regions around France.   We enjoy cruising the Burgundy Canal with its verdant hills, contentedly grazing charolais cows, great restaurants, amazing wineries, chateaux and more.  Of course, so do many others which makes it popular with the hotel barges.  Rory and Caroline own and operate the beautiful Apres Tout, a high end hotel barge.  We knew our paths were going to cross.


Alban was holding a bumper between the two boats to avoid any damage as our paths crossed.  We were aground and couldn't get any closer to shore.  Apres Tout draws more than we do so they had to be in the middle of the canal.

This was how barges  originally travelled along the canals.  Sometimes women and children pulled the barge.
River cruising offers different scenery from the canals.  

Here we see contented charolais cows and happy birds along the river.

We also see beautiful homes as we cruise along.

To get from the Saone River onto the Canal du Centre we had to use this huge lock which took us up 35 feet!
Getting together with our chief friend Alex Miles and his wife Elizabeth is always fun.  This time Alex drove us to Nesle-et-Massoult to see the artist Karin Neumann at her Atelier.  We found her work interesting.  The one painting we were contemplating purchasing had already been sold.
Tom, Elizabeth, Karin and Alex in front of her Atelier
 After the long drive to see Karin's art it was time for a snack. We stopped for coffee/tea and a small bite to eat at an interesting curio shop.  The owner has been collecting dead things since he was a small child running around his parents farm finding curious objects, many left over from WWII
View from the patio of the curio shop.
A small part of the collection.
The collection has been expanding.
More found objects.



Food seems to be a recurring theme in my writings.  Perhaps because so much time is spent searching for food, purchasing food, preparing food, eating food, as well as going out to eat.  Most of the time we eat on board Rabelo.  That means I'm preparing 2-3 meals a day.  For some reason I can't keep things simple, quick and easy.  
In Dijon we tried a new restaurant which was in a crypt.  Great atmosphere.

The wine was decanted into this giant wine glass.
 There are certain restaurants that we keep going back to.  In Burgundy we return year after year to Au Clos Napoleon.  It has a traditional Burgundy menu with some changes to go with the season.  One thing that doesn't change are their escargots which I always order.
Escargots
While I love their oeuf en meurette (eggs in red wine), having that is a meal for me.  But Tom enjoyed it as his first course.  He didn't even save me a taste.

I'm trying to be "good" so I had their fish with a delicious sauce and vegetables.

Tom decided to try their goose.
My dessert was heavenly.  I'm in France...I can't skip dessert.

This was my neighbor while I dined.
 We returned for a night to Santenay.  From where we tie up we could easily walk into town.  This year they added flowers on the bridge.  We even treated ourselves to a dinner in town.
Santenay with beautiful flowers on the bridge.


The train runs right by the town.
 I've been trying new recipes this season.
We were very pleased with this layered vegetable tort from the NY Times.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Bayeux, Langres, Luzy/Marne, and Dijon

Dinner at restaurant Le Livre de Mets in Bayeux in their private dining room.
Duck with kalamata olives at Le Livre de Mets
A simple lunch on Rabelo with an assortment of cheeses, pate, smoked duck, salad and watermelon.  Baguettes on the side.
Independence day American dinner on Rabelo with baguettes instead of hamburger buns.
A salmon dinner on Rabelo
As you can see, food is a recurring theme on Rabelo.  We seem to navigate from one meal to the next.  Here we were about to dive into my Shakshuka.

Before leaving Bayeux we went out with Bruce and Tess for a lovely dinner at Le Livre des Mets.  We had a gourmet French meal that included Duck Foie Gras, Duck Breast with Kalamata olives, and finished with a soufflĂ©.  

After eating out every meal while we were traveling in Normandy, it was nice to get back to Rabelo where our meals could be a little lighter and hopefully healthier.  Of course being back on the boat can mean things don’t always go as planned.  Our pilothouse broke.  Bruce was a good sport trying to help Tom tear the pilothouse apart to find the problem.  Tess and I tried to stay out of the way. 

Bruce was a great help to Tom who was trying to take apart our pilot house to find the problem.
With our pilot house temporarily disabled and in its lowered position it was more difficult getting in and out of our cabin.
There are a variety of locks along the canals.  Here Nathalie is helping open a manual lock.

One of the perks of cruising is exploring by foot the various villages along the way.  Bruce and Tess found a ceramic artist, Christian Feyl in Luzy sur Marne.  He is talented and his work was beautiful as well as unique.  We went back later to view a demonstration of how he fires his pieces.
Ceramic artist Christian Feyle giving us a demonstration
One wall of Christian Feyle's beautiful work at his atelier.
Our goal was to get to Langres with our friends.  As many times as we’ve been to Langres we always enjoy this fortified city with its 12 towers, 7 gates as well as several bell towers.  The 3.5 kilometer rampart path has been standing for centuries.  We were surprised when the woman from the tourism office insisted we go see the Navarre and Orval Towers.  We thought we had seen everything the town had to offer. 

One view of the fortified town of Langre
View from the rampart of Langres showing a tower from approximately 1565.  This was the first polygonal shaped tower to be built in Langres.  Tis structure which was filled with earth was cheaper to build and much better at absorbing the impact of cannonballs.

The Navarre and Orval Towers were inaugurated by Francois1 in 1521.  This spectacular 16th century stone defense ensemble has arched rooms and a monumental structure.  With lights, audio guides and video screens the tour brought to life the stories of Langre and the history of its fortifications.
Navarre and Orval Towers
Valted ceiling of the lower hall of the Navarre Tower.
Original construction of the roof of the tower.

We wanted Bruce and Tess to get a little taste of Dijon.  With limited time we did a quick walk through the town.  We found an ancient church that was being used as a museum while at the same time being restored.  The Ancient Church Saint Ethienne has a long history from the V Century to present.

Huge sculpture in a museum/old church in Dijon
Ancient church Saint Etienne with a long history beginning in the V Century.
Old Watch Tower in Dijon
It's always good to have a camera ready.
Variety is the spice of life as they say, so while Bruce and Tess were with us we explored history, admired the natural beauty of France, visited an old fortified town, and then we decided to throw in a garden for good measure.  Not knowing reservations were needed we simply showed up at the Jardin de Siliere.  Fortunately the owner appeared and graciously gave us a tour of his gardens which included some history and a little bit about the plant life. 
Jardin de Siliere family summer home with additions done during its long history.

Bob, the owner of Jardin de Siliere giving us a lecture about his home with an old guy looking on in approval

Another view of the garden.

The owner brought in an artist to repair part of the garden wall which had collapsed.

Ever changing scenery

Cruising along the canal.

Peacefully grazing happy cows.
Tom was worried when he returned to Rabelo and found 5 fire trucks and paramedics by Rabelo.  He was relieved to see me show up on deck.