Low Bridge, Everybody Down: Barging in Europe: 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 soufflé.

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 16^th 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.