Tag: French Canals

Part of the pleasure of the boat travel is that it is by nature slow, about 8 KPH on inland waterways.  Traveling at that pace we could actually see and experience the country side.  If desired, some of our party could ride bicycles down the old tow paths and meet with the boat at the next town, or could read while underway while others could draw or take photos.  We were together but able to pursue our own interests.

As we went down the canal I saw many other boats, some rental boats like ours, old barges converted to live aboards and steel dutch cruisers.  My first thought regarding the private boats was the number of rich people who could choose this lifestyle, then I started visiting with them.  It turned out that many of these boaters were British and retired, a common answer to the question as to how they came to be doing this was that it was cheaper than living in Britain, furthermore the weather was better.   When a change was desired you could just move on down the river or canal.

On a sad note, the Canal du Midi is rapidly changing in some places due to a fungus that is killing the plane trees that line and shelter the canal.  To combat this the French government is proactively removing infected trees and are planting new ones of different species to increase the diversity and reduce the chances of this happening again.  There is one bright side to the loss of the trees, and that is a better view of the countryside.

The popularity of the Canal du Midi has also become an issue, especially between mid-June and mid-September.  Only about 4 boats at a time can fit into a lock, so during periods of high use the ability to get to your destination can be limited by the congestion at the locks.  We were on the canal in October and being off season we never had to experience congestion at the locks.  

I learned a lot on our first boating experience on the Canal du Midi.  It introduced me to an option of exploring a Country that provided an intimate immersion into the culture at a pace that allowed me a more complete experience of the sights, not just the advertised highlights. 

One of the most exciting things we were introduced to was a way to affordable spend time in another part of the world beyond that of being a short term tourist.  Part of the expense of travel is getting there, but the bigger part is room and board.  A moving apartment is quite a ticket, the cost of your room is fixed and your board is significantly reduced by being able to cook for yourself rather than eat out all of the time.  Add a couple of bicycles to the boat and access to public transit and your transportation is accounted for too.

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This is the end of the seventh installment in the ongoing series that details our introduction to river cruising on the European waterways and to our purchase and outfitting of our own boat to for travel and living in Europe. If you are interested in being notified of future installment releases, Subscribe to this series in the sidebar on the right.

If you missed the Previous installments they can be found under the category “A New Adventure-Series”

One evening we tied up on the bank of the canal in the village of Argens-Minervois.  On the tow path beside the boat some old men were playing an intense game of Pétanque, a few other villagers were around watching the sport. 

Across the canal was the local wine cooperative.   A couple of tractors with trailers full of grapes drove up to the winery to unload.  About a half a dozen young folks in their late teens or early twenties were crammed into a little car following the tractor.   When they got out they were stained purple, their arms, shirts, trousers along with some streaks on their faces.  Most wandered off after milling about socializing, while a couple helped shovel the grapes onto the elevator.   We watched this process in awe, parts of it were like stepping back in time.  

When their work was completed we made our way to the winery, the lady who had driven the tractor was still on site and putting things in order.  I asked if they had wine for sale.  “But of course”, she spoke English well.   We followed her into the wine cave, it was almost as one would expect, dark, damp, but instead of the wine being laid up in bottles in racks, there were cases upon cases scattered around and wine barrels lined the walls with taps sticking out of them.  After moving things around so that we could see the wine they had to offer, I had a chance to ask some questions.  The first on my mind was who uses the casks along the wall.  “Some of the people who contribute grapes just come here to refill when they are ready for wine that is reserved for them.”  

We didn’t fit into that category, so we just looked at the bottles they had available for sale.  The bottles weren’t dusty they were protected in cardboard cases, most were the usual GSM blends so common in the Laugnedoc region, but they also had a cabernet that had been aged for a couple of years.  We chose a couple of wines including the cabernet and returned to the boat to enjoy them with dinner.

The dinner that night turned out to be perfect.  It was to be our last night on the canal, we had to turn in the boat the next day.  It was a simple dinner, we made a red sauce from some tomatoes we had picked up from the local market along with vegetables, mushrooms and meat that would need to be eaten before the end of the trip.  This along with the last of our pasta, bread and wine made an excellent meal.

I think cooking and eating meals are part of what connects us.  While I enjoy eating out and being introduced to new cuisines of other cultures, it’s not the same kind of companionship as can be found at your own table.  So we do both, eating out to get introduced to the local specialties, and eating in for good company.  

Part of the joy of cooking while traveling in Europe was the opportunity and challenge cooking of with the fresh foods that are available at the market.  In the Markets I found foods that are in season and of the highest quality. Because of there seasonal nature of the markets, we had to cook with what was available at the time, but the reward was freshness.

A last comment about the galley on our rental boat, its small which is to be expected, but it was equipped well and had every thing necessary to cook with.  When my parents had their 50th wedding anniversary we rented a house on the beach on the outer banks of North Carolina.  It was a VRBO advertised as having a gourmet kitchen.  While it did have a Wolfe Range, a Sub-Zero fridge and a crab steamer, it didn’t actually have all of the tools needed for cooking.   It’s obvious that the French understand and have an appreciation of cooking good food.

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This is the end of the sixth installment in the ongoing series that details our introduction to river cruising on the European waterways and to our purchase and outfitting of our own boat to for travel and living in Europe. If you are interested in being notified of future installment releases, Subscribe to this series in the sidebar on the right.

If you missed the Previous installments they can be found under the category “A New Adventure-Series”

As we are flying into Paris I notice the Picardy countryside passing under the plane.  A mosaic of small fields in differing shades of green, regularly punctuated by small clusters of habitations I take for villages.  Then every so often a larger town or small city with a old town center.  For the most part my initial impression is of  a pastoral society, which hasn’t changed in a long time.  I had known and indeed expected to see some old villages, but I expected them to be like in the U.S. with more sprawl, along with more houses scattered across  the countryside.   Here there appears to be only an occasional house or chateau on the land. Furthermore I didn’t expect to see so many villages, only a few kilometers apart if that.  I live in Montana where it isn’t unusual for there to be 20 to 30 miles between towns. 

This is not what I expected.  I don’t really know what I expected, I hadn’t really thought about France before.  In fact I had never really had any desire to go there.  I’m not sure why that was, I had thought about Ireland, Britain, Scotland, Spain, Italy and Germany, but never France.  Perhaps it was a sub-conscious prejudice, from where I don’t know and certainly unwarranted.

I had always thought of Europe as more industrialized than the U.S., so while the country side made sense it was a change in my expectations.  I remember growing up in rural southwest Missouri, I had the idea that New York State must just be a suburb of New York City, at that time the largest city in the world.  When I traveled there in my teens I was surprised to find that upstate New York was predominately rural.  Once I saw it, I had to wonder  how I could have had such a misrepresented view.

After arrival at Charles de Gaul airport we took the train into Paris arriving at Les Halles, a train stop in Paris.  We were a little early to meet the caretaker of the apartment, so we parked ourselves at a sidewalk cafe to pass a little time.  We were at the end of Rue Montmartre, an area closed to traffic to allow an open air market.  Even exhausted from the flight and jet lagged, I found the city exhilarating and laid back at the same time.

I didn’t expect much from my visit to Paris, just staying long enough to see some museums and monuments and move on.  I’m not a big fan of cities.  I like New York and San Francisco but don’t have much desire to spend a lot of time there. 

Paris was a surprise.  We had an apartment in the 2nd arrondissement on Rue Montmartre one of two remaining market streets left.  It was alive as a community, like it could have existed without the rest of the city.  Over the course of the next few days as I ventured though the streets and alleys of the city I found numerous other neighborhoods to each have a feel of their own.  

We, of course, started out with a laundry list of sights to see, but after a day settled into slowing down and pretending to be Parisians.  Each day making the rounds to shop for the days meals, but taking time to stop at a brasserie for a cup of coffee in the morning or lull away an hour for lunch watching the world go by at a cafe with a pitcher of wine, referred to by the Parisians much more eloquently as a Pichet. 

I had hoped to practice my French in the city a little prior to arrival in the countryside where they speak less English. I did’t get much practice, I would start speaking to a shop keeper in French and I presume after hearing me butcher their language they would usually reply in English. Oh well, the stop in Paris was a still a good primer on France prior to departing to the boat.

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This is the end of the Third installment in the ongoing series that details our introduction to river cruising on the European waterways and to our purchase and outfitting of our own boat to for travel and living in Europe. If you are interested in being notified of future installment releases, Subscribe to this series in the sidebar on the right.

If you missed the first installment it can be found under the category “A New Adventure-Series”