Juniperadventures

Lavior  Wooden buildings from the 13th century and continue to be lived in. Rose window from the Cathedral in Clamecy

 From Clamecy, we all got on the train.  Ann is off to Paris, a day early as we didn't realize how disruptive May 1st would be in France.  It is Labor Day, and there are always lots of protest marches and strikes that can effect the train service.  Next time we are in the Spring we will be sure to have guests avoid May 1.  There are a lot of holidays in May. Bill and I rode to Cravant, and then walked to the boat.  Missing Ann already.  She loves to travel and is a great champion of all things.  We hope she comes another year as well, when we can actually drive the canal boat more places.  Glad she got one day of travelling to see what it is like.  Ann had a good couple of days walking Paris. Next order of affairs is to get Juniper back to running!  Trips into Auxerre on the train are quick.  We got the heat exchanger to Mike at Aquarelle, and he had it tested for us.  Not the problem luckily as they are hard to find.  We have an appointment with Boris, the mechanic for the next Tu

 As we neared the end of our time with Ann, Bill drove us to Clamecy.  We had intended to be there on Juniper, and didn't want to miss it.  We checked into our hotel at the  Hostillerie de la Poste.  Nice rooms and comfortable surroundings.  It is only two blocks from where the boat moorage would have been.  Bill then returned the rental car and took the train to Clamecy.   Ann and I went up to the Saturday Market held in a large building opposite the Cathedral.  We so enjoyed all the sights and sounds, but unfortunately couldn't buy any food being in the hotel.  It is our favorite Market.  I did find a nice sweater. After Bill arrived, we went to the Clamecy Museum.  Truly a gem.  A large variety of exhibits, including Charles Loupot, an avant garde artist who did amazing advertising posters and lived in Chevroches.  There is also a floor dedicated to the Flottage of wood to Paris.  Clamecy was the center of the industry that created the Nivernais canal to float large quantiti

 Druyes-les-Belles Fountain Karen, Bill and Ann in Sancerre! Cave painting. Grotto Arcy sur Cure. 28,000 years old.

 We left Druyes-des-Belles-Fountain and continued on towards Sancerre.  This town overlooks the Loire Valley.  It is a Medieval hilltop town and provides expansive views. Ann, Bill and I wandered around the town and the historic buildings. Sancerre is famous for it's white wine made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes. We found an interesting wine shop, had a nice tasting and purchased a few for the boat.  The shop keeper was fun to talk with.  And we enjoyed our time there. Heading back to Vincelles, where Juniper is awaiting repair, we watched our swan swimming about and chasing off any other swans that arrive.  Lovely sunset and dinner on the boat.  We all agreed it had been a special day, especially as we had such lovely encounters.

We managed to get a rental car, even though Enterprise said that they don't rent for the same day you call in, it worked!  Bill rode the bus into Auxerre to pick up a snazzy looking Citreon, 6 speed. Ann, Bill and I left to go to Sancerre, a wine town overlooking the Loire Valley that Bill and his brother, Tom, had visited in 2019.  We drove through many fields of pure yellow, which we later figured out was grown for canola oil.  It was amazing how vast the fields were and the contrast to the hay being grown, and the wine grapes not quite in leafed out. The spring colors have been impressive with more trees leafing out every day.  It is not long after you leave a town that you are seeing these vast fields. We stopped and looked at an old windmill along the way. We were intrigued by a Fort in the town of Druyes-les-Belles-Fontaines.  So, we parked the car and hiked up the hill to explore it and see the view.  The Chateau-Fort Des Comtes de Auxerre was impressive and had a community

When we planned our time, prior to the stoppage of Juniper, we had purchased tickets to go to the Grotto at Arcy sur Cure.  We were able to delay using our tickets, luckily, as we needed to get the car to go there. The Grotto at Arcy sur Cure are the third oldest caves in the world. These caves, according to the guide, are better able to handle visitors as they are large and have high ceilings to make it safe for both the people and to protect the cave.  We were with a group, and our guide spoke English as well as French.  The tour was impressive and very affirming of the creative processes of human beings, going back some 28,000 years ago.   The cave paintings are far back at the end of the cave, and were discovered as a result of wanting to clean up the caves from all the soot of torches over the years.  Using pressure washers, when red paint started washing out they realized that they were destroying paintings, circa 1970.  Since then, the have uncovered the paintings of animals, ma

 

 Before we left for the Nivernais, we rented a car and went to Vezelay.  This is a sacred Church of Mary Magdellen that is a Unesco World Heritage site.  Beautiful day and a most lovely time. Such a special place and overlooking the valley below.  Back to Auxerre for the evening.

 We welcomed Giles the next morning and he and Bill set to finding the problem. Ann and I decided to go for a bike ride.  Something Ann hadn't done in a long time, and I hadn't done since last Fall.  We went to Cravant and explored this lovely town.  They have three gates and many signs posted around the town explaining the tower, the Church, the wash house, the history and the wars.   Talking to Bill we decided to go for a longer ride to find a cash machine in the next town so we could pay for the repairs and get a new part.  Google led us a bit astray and we ended up riding eighteen miles that day!  Did get the cash and saw Accolay and Vermenton in the process.   Back to Juniper and Bill, Giles and Giles son had towed her into the town of Vincelles. We walked around town after dinner together and watched for the partial eclipse of the moon.  Vincelles is well equipped with two boulangeries, a cafe, a store and a laundry!

 We took off for our lock appointment and were going along fine until approaching the second lock.  Tied up to a platform to see why the engine was overheating.  Nothing to see for a while, then we noticed that two of the hoses were split.  Repositioned the hoses past the splits, filled with water and off through the next lock thinking we were on our way. Unfortunately, the problem persisted.  So, we wild tied to the bank just a bit after the lock, and looked again at the engine.  After finding nothing, we walked into the town of Vincelles to talk to some poeple on boats there.  The first boat of English people referred us to the second boat with an Englishman aboard.  Giles has been around boats and been captain of hotel boats.  He agreed to come to look at Juniper the next day. Thus began a longer period than anyone would have suspected to repair Juniper and the overheating problem.  

Beginning of the trip this year on the Nivernais.  We had thought we would travel on the Bourgogne, but the work the VNF was doing on that canal is not finished.  It is closed until just after we come back in mid June.  The Nivernais is where we were last year and it is a lovely canal with several nice places to visit. First one to visit after several locks is Bailly.  There is a cooperative there that was started in 1972.  They created a champagne type Cremant and become an appellation as in an area that is designated for a certain type of French wine.  We had a nice tour into the caves, which house six million bottles of wine.  The caves were dug to quarry limestone, which was used to build the many wonderful buildings in Paris and London.  It is called Bailly La Pierre.   We walked into the town of Bailly and all the lilacs were blooming.  We saw a grebe type bird with a baby bird sitting on her back. A lovely day with warmer weather.  

 Back again to the canal boat after six months away.  When the rotations between Fall and Spring are closer than the other rotations.   We arrived in Paris with our friend Ann Beck, had an overnight and a morning to walk around the Latin Quarter.  Saw gardens, Notre Dame continuing to be repaired, and enjoyed a sunny spring day.  Train to Auxerre that afternoon and check on Juniper.  Staying in an Airbnb for two nights while we get Juniper ready and stock up at the store. We got a new hot water heater over the winter that looks good.  Ann, Bill and I did a lot of scrubbing and organizing. Auxerre exploring with Ann after we got Juniper cleaned up.  Such a beautiful city. We had a good dinner at a Couscous restaurant and discovered Meurgesy sausages! Lots of citron desserts and croissants, as well as good bread and pates, cheese, and wine.  A good time was had by all!