Barging in Europe

Here we are back in France.

We had a great time with the girls (and Steve) in Guernsey. We saw some of the additional sights missed on our previous visits and also had a good time relaxing.

Then on Tuesday, Liz took us to Guernsey Airport for our flight to Geneva (via Jersey). The 'plane went unserviceable, delaying us for an hour but we made up time and landed in Geneva only 15mins late. It was somewhat warmer than Guernsey and our rental car was ready for us. Surprisingly, rental cars are about three times more expensive on the Swiss side than on the French side. We had to "cross the boirder" to pick up the car. It was rather easy as the border was unmanned (or unwomaned).

Geneva was much busier and crowded than we expected. We drove around the city and also along the lake. Very pretty!

The hotel proved difficult to find but we got there. A couple of days before we left Guernsey, we got a note that Nokia was now providing GPS maps FREE for the whole world FOREVER! We had downloaded Switzerland and France into Penny's phone and it proved invaluable for finding our way around Geneva. Dave's phone (with Route 66) is fine for France. The Nokia navigation system is not quite as good as Route 66 but for zero dollars it is wonderful.

The hotel was fine and this morning we set out for St Jean de Losne. The 245km was much quicker than we expected as the road is very straight and goes through most of the mountains and over most of the valleys. St Jean de Losne proved to be a pretty and small river on the Losne River. We went to the local Credit Agricole Bank and picked up our French credit cards and cheque books (cheques are used a lot in France). This was simple even though we had to do it all in French and the fellow could not find one card for a while.

We also checked out all the interesting barges for sale and two probably meet our requirements. Tomorrow we will go to Migennes to look at some other ones with a different company.

We shopped at the Marche and then went to La Bussiere sur Ouche where we are stgaying at Jo's place for a few days. Jo will drive down from Basel in Switzerland tomorrow to be with us and check her home is ready for renters in the coming weeks.

The weather is GREAT- about 26deg today. We won't tell you what we had for dinner because you'll be too jealous.

That's all for now.

Dave & Penny

Guernsey is very quiet (compared with Paris) and about six degrees cooler. Pleasant clear days with cold nights.

The volcano has continued to cause havoc with the air travel and the count of cancelled flights is now about 150,000. We are hoping Blue Islands will hve resumed normal services in time for out flight to Geneva next Tuesday. Then on Wednesday we will drive to the Dijon region of Burgundy to pick up our French credit cards, cheque book etc and start looking at barges with a view to purchasing one. Then the following week, we will again take the TGV (Train Grande Vitesse) via Paris to Saint Malo and then on to Peter and Jeanne's barge which is on the Brittany system.

We had a very pleasant dinner with "the kids"- hosted by Jeanne and Peter- and met their daughter Gen.

That's al for now,

Dave (& Penny)

We completed all the remaining touristy things we had planned for Paris. We did not get to climb the Eiffel Tower because of the vey long queues and waiting time but we an do that next year.

Several more scenic and historic walks were good and we tested out more of the local Bistros. 

Monday morning we were packed and ready to go "apres petit dejeuner". Michel had popped down to the Boulangerie and brought back fresh Brioches, Baguettes and Croissants- which he did every morning. Another discovery was Mirabelles jam- a bit of a delicacy from the North of France. Yum! Overall, the Chambre d'Hote had been excellent. Great and clean house, excellent service, close to Metro and Le Bus.

Anyway, off we went with out 56Kg of luggage. It has wheels which made things easier and it was mainly downhill to Corvisart Station. Unfortunately, the Metro was packed. A combination of Paris school holidays, the volcano and workers. We let the first train go and squeezed onto the second. People stood up from their folding seats to give us some space- very good of them. It was just 6 stops to Montparnasse station. We were looking forward to the World's Fastest walkway but never saw it. We had quite a lot of stairs to traverse but made it okay to the TGV platforms. There was a comfortable lounge and things were all very organised.

The TGV left exactly on time and was comfortable and fast. We were surprised there were no electronic displays of speed etc (as in Japan). So, I (Dave) put on my phone-GPS system. Very embarassing - the unit started going "boing, boing" and flashing up a big 285 in a circle. We were exceeding the speed limit of 110. In fact, the system can only be set for speed limits of 250Km/hr. Anyway, we cruised along at 310Km/hr much of the time, dropping down to 160 for the suburbs of Le Mans. From Le Mans to St Malo, was a bit slower at about 200Km/hr and we spent about 30mins at the station in Rennes. We arrived on time in St Malo in just under 3hrs and having averaged about 190Km/hr for the time we were moving. This was less than half the time to drive.

We then caught a taxi to the Ferry Terminal and they kindly allowed us to check in our bags very early. Then a walk to the mediaeval walled city of the old St Malo- unfortunately severely damaged in the war but now restored. The heavy fog we had experienced lifted to a crisp sunny day.

The ferry terminal was a zoo- full of people- many escaping the the chaos caused by the volcano. So, we were a bit late leaving but arrived okay in Guernsey to be met by Liz and Bernadette (daughters 1 & 3) and a delightful dinner at Bern's place.

All the best,

Dave & Penny

Well, "Bernadette's Volcano" in Iceland is certainly causing bedlam in the UK and Europe. We were certainly fortunate to just beat it by a couple of days.

Today, we went on a long and hilly perambulation through Montmartre ending up at Sacre Coeur which is very impressive.

Today was the first day of holidays in Paris and it sure was busy on the trains, buses, streets and footpaths. We are leaving for St Malo on Monday but if it was like today, we could not possibly have got onto the Metro with our luggage. Michel from our Chambre d'Hote assures us that Monday will be better. He has been correct with everything else so is likely to be right again.

This morning, we organised our local mobile phone SIM plus internet access for the remainder of our trip. We also purchased our Carte Seniors and TGV tickets to St Malo on Monday. This was done all in French and we were assured our French was "tres bien" but I think this was more than we deserve at the moment. Due to the volcano, most of the available seats on the Paris-St Malo trains disappeared overnight. We have taken up a special offer from SNCF to upgrade to First Classs for 13 euros. This should be a treat on the ultra-fast train. It will be interesting being on a train capable of 575km/hr (max recorded in 2007) though on our trip it will probably only get up to 300km/hr. WOW! It is also great that Penny booked our Ferry to Guernsey to see the kids several months ago. All Ferries are booked out everywhere.

As well as a number of other things, we visited the Musee d'Orangerie today. Saw a large number of Monets, Rodins, Picassos, Matisses, Cezannes, Klees, Gaughins, Renoirs, Modligianis etc etc. What a feast! Tired we came home and chatted to Michel over a coffee. Then we tried a new restaurant (we are right next to an excellent few streets full of great bars and restaurants). Three course meal including Rose for 11euros! Wow- and this is in Paris! The waiter asked if we spoke French- we said "a peu" (a little) with which he said "then we will speak English" but he did not. All French with a few corrections of pronunciation which was great- just what we need. We added a nice bottle of Bordeaux and rolled down the hill to "home" and are ready for a sleep.

Off to the Bois de Bologne and the Eiffel tower tomorrow.

Someone has to do this, so it might as well be us.

All the best,

Dave and Penny

We are in Paris. The 380 ride from Singapore to Paris was uneventful but good. A quick trip through Customs and out into the 6deg morning. A trifle cooler than Singapore. Then a peak hour trip on the trains out to Corvisart with a couple of changes. The heavy bags were a bit of a pain in a couple of places where you had to lug them down many stairs then up again on the other side getting from one platform or line to another. Paris would be a nightmare in a wheelchair.

Our host at the Chambre d'hote was ready for us and made a good cup of coffee and was a mine of information having lived here for decades.

Then we headed off by bus (only a 10minute ride) to Isle de France, the Palais de Justice, Notre Dame and the Arsenal Marina. There we caught up with the Pereys (CCCA club members) who own a third of a barge. They are about to head off to Belgium and the Netherlands. We came back via the Metro- this time without bags which was easier.

Now we are back "home" unpacking and staying awake for dinner. We hope to do better than lunch which was below average for a meal in France. Fortunately there are heaps of places nearby so competition will hopefully mean the quality is okay.

Well, that's it for now. Next time we'll ad some pictures.

Dave and Penny

Things went well in Singapore. We took the MRT (Mass transit train) to town and a walk in the rain & 34degC [at 6pm!] to the hotel which was fine. Had a light dinner at a local eatery. Today we explored the Singapore Museum and had a look at the local Cathedral. I'm now at Changi airport and Penny has taken a bus ride around the island (I've been around it a couple of times previously with work).

We did discover something new- we can have free internet in Singapore by showing passport and boarding card at the airport. Didn't know this before.

Another novelty- The Art Museum has established a "Flirting Area" on their front lawn. Statistics show that flirting can lead to marital strife and that a lot of flirting occurs in museums. So, they have recommended that all flirting occur in the designated area but not inside! A very Singaporean style joke buth their seats are comfy.

Regards,
Dave

The trip begins. We are at the airport about to board for Singapore. D&P