Return steps
We have two weeks left before we depart and the time will be spent at places we have already visited. We left the Seine and entered the Yonne at Montereau.
Though there are many tasks to be competed before we leave the boat, we are relaxing more and are appreciating the experience of revisiting old haunts and taking extra notice of our surroundings. The poplars are starting to colour; we thoroughly enjoyed a magnificent full moon rising just as the sun set. This was at Pont sur Yonne.
On the river the season seems to drawing to a close as the winter gets closer. However, with the onset of autumn, the weather has actually improved greatly and become a very pleasant 25-28degC during the days. There is still quite a lot of rental boat traffic and plenty of commercials carrying grain or sand. Perhaps the companies are offering a special "September" price. At Montereau the marina was not staffed but we could stay there and use the power. No-one but us stayed on the excellent pontoons at Pont sur Yonne where we spent the next night.
We have had some very interesting requests in the last two weeks. The captain of a hotel barge asked us if we had a banana- he had a group of Americans on board, one of them sick and insisting that a banana was what she must have for breakfast- but the other guests had already eaten them all. With bananas here costing less than 2A$ a kilo we were well supplied and very happy to help out.
The next request was from a French woman on a boat, apparently cooking Sunday lunch. She wondered if we had any sprigs of bayleaves or fresh thyme. She didn't seem interested in our jar of dried mixed herbs, the best we could offer.
Then there was a woman who wanted to wash some dishes! One lunchtime on a cool and overcast day, two long distance cyclists, a couple about our age, stopped at the nearby picnic table to have their baguette and cheese. I carefully rehearsed the right French words so that I could offer them a cup of coffee but they said "hello" first, in Aussie accented English. From Tasmania, they had been cycling since July and will cover 3,000kms by the time they leave Zurich in early October. They were very pleased indeed to have a warm cup of tea at lunch. As the camping grounds are closing for the winter, they had not found one open the previous night so also welcomed the access to hot water to allow them to wash their breakfast and dinner dishes.
Even the lock - keepers are asking. We came across a pair of young eclusiers, he manning one lock, she the next (but he came to help). Just before she opened the gates the young lady asked if she could take our photo with them in it too, to put on their blog. They are uni students and are going to New Zealand soon, for a year. The blog was to tell people what they were doing, and, if we got the sense right between their beginners English and our beginners French, to raise money for the trip. Of course we said yes, and produced a tripod and stool so that he could use the remote control on his camera. Then David took a photo with just them, with Anja in the background. We suggested they do a quick trip across to Australia while they are there but this depends upon their finances.
The favours are not all one sided. At Villeneuve sur Yonne, David was cutting and making holes in steel on the quayside when he stood up and stumbled, catching himself just as he partly fell into the river along with the end of the plugged-in extension lead! He knocked one of the pieces of steel in and despite valiant attempts to dive for it in the cold and muddy water, he could not locate it. Just then a barge "Tess" (our youngest daughter's name) pulled in along the quay. Yes, they had a powerful magnet and were willing to lend it to us. Quite quickly the piece of steel was pulled from the bottom of the river thus saving lots of repeated cutting, drilling and re-purchasing of the steel.
Pictures show:
Oh Dear!
Moon over the Yonne at Pont sur Yonne
Old barge puller now pulls children along the side of the canal.
Petanque along side the Yonne. More women playing than usual.
Young kayakers on the Yonne.
Barge and boat filled St Mammas.
Best Regards,
Penny and Dave
