An Irishman's boating diary
Well all that snow and ice that you saw in our last blog has melted now and
the temperatures are generally well above freezing, 6 degrees today but there is a very cold wind out which makes it feel a lot cooler. We took the local bus to Gien our largest neighbouring town yesterday, it was the first time that Mar and myself had been out of Briare without proper adult supervision but we managed not get lost or get into much trouble.
Well Christmas is over and we are well into one of the coldest winters in decades. We certainly picked a tough year to spend our first winter on board our boat. It has been quite cold and that has posed new challanges for us but we have enjoyed every bit of it.
Christmas in Briare
Christmas 2009 was a cold one. We spent Christmas in Briare and it was a wonderful white Christmas too. At home in Ireland it’s very seldom that we get any snow before January and the bookies always make a fortune off people betting on a white Christmas.
Winter is here now and it’s getting very cold. The last five weeks have been a whirlwind. We had my parents over, and then we met Brian, Billy, Sean and their three wives who were away for a month’s holiday on board “Waterman”.
The weather here is still holding out, we get a wet day here and there but by and large it only rains at night. Leaving the days clear and crisp for long walks or whatever.
Canal Lateral a la Loire as its name suggests runs parallel to the Loire river and every now and again the two are linked by branch canals.
Below we have some video of the aqueduct at Le Guétin over the Allier. We passed over this aqueduct in lovely sunshine and could see the beautiful Allier river in all it’s glory.
Continue reading “The aqueduct at Le Guétin over the Allier”
Briare is where the famous aqueduct designed by Gustav Eiffel crosses the Loire valley. And what a sight it is too. Don’t ask Mar what it’s like. Mar can be a bit nervous sometimes and on tall aqueducts is one of those times. So Mar spent the trip across the 662 metre span in bed and under the quilt. Still she did look at the picks later without even shaking.
The Seine is certainly a beautiful river, it’s especially beautiful south of Paris. Moorings are not very plentiful so you need to plan ahead that said it’s well worth the effort. The Canal de loing joins the Seine at St Mammes here the pace of life gets more relaxed. Over a few days we meandered south in so much as one can meander when you have to keep between two hedges.
It’s really difficult to upload pics or video because our connection is both intermittent and slow. We got wifi in Port Arsenal and after the near death experience with the barge in the lock we decided to lie low for a few days. The Port-Arsenal in Paris is a lovely spot to stay.
Well we have had a few experiences since our last report, some good, some not so good. Firstly we arrived into Paris. What an experience that was, I have some video of it and I will upload it as soon as I get a fast conection. We stayed in the Port-Arsenal which is just beside the Plass de Basteel in the centre of Paris. We did the open top bus thing and
A wee bit of video
A barge passed us today (Thursday 03-Sep-09)
I wonder what the heavy metal brigade in Ireland would make of this. BTW the one in the video is only a 350 tonne barge, the one in the pic above is a two storey car transporter being pushed by another. This pic was taken on the Seine, it pays to keep out of their way…