Fete de Musique, Sunday, June 21

And it looked like everyone in town had turned out for the performances.

Rue de la Liberte in full Fete.

We got to the town center about 7 pm and the Fete was in full swing.  Nearly every street corner, square and bar had some kind of performers, although we marveled at the fact that most of the lyrics were sung in English (of a kind).  Most of it was amateurish and not very good, although this ska band was putting on a great show.

We mostly just wandered the streets, staying here and there to listen to a song or two from each performer but then, about 9:30, stopped in Place Emille Zola for a pizza and some wine.  The last band of the night in that venue was just warming up and they sounded pretty good so we stuck around.  We were very glad we did.  Best live music we’ve heard in some time.  After their set, we asked if they had a cd or any “merch” we could buy and, in very broken English we were told that they were trying to raise the money to record their first cd.  We told them we were from Los Angeles but didn’t know anybody so we wouldn’t be any help. Watch out for Alambig au Burkina (on facebook - alambig) and remember You Heard It Here First.

Not sure which ones Alambig and which ones Burkina.

In Dijon

A little before 9 on Wednesday we were underway again, ascending the long boring stretch of the canal into Dijon.  Straight as an arrow, flat countryside and a lock about every kilometer. After about 16 kilometers and 14 locks we were secured along the bank in Dijon about 3:30 pm.  We had to make a fisherman move, grumbling the whole time, because he’d set up his gear all over the bollard we needed to use but that’s the way it goes.

We were going to be here for several days as the Solstice was on Sunday and that’s cause for the “Fete de Musique” all over France.  Each town has free live music and Dijon, being a pretty large city, was going to have a wide variety of bands. Because we arrived Wednesday afternoon, however, we were going to have plenty of time to enjoy the city. Since we’ve been here several times before, we almost feel like locals. We don’t get lost….much.

One of our first stops was the Dijon city museum.  Between 1364 and the 1470’s, the Ducs du Bourgogne reigned over Holland, Belgium and major parts of France and were a major force in the art and culture of the Renaissance. Dijon was the seat of their power, although they had castles and gardens all over the area.  The museum in Dijon, in a newly restored section of the town hall/palace, has a wide collection of art and artifacts.  A couple of really beautiful altar pieces from the Champmol Charterhouse, plenty of paintings of important men with big hair and the reconstructed tombs of Phillip the Bold, the first Duc, and his wife Margaret of Flanders.

And, importantly, there is no charge for a visit.

Saturday was another big day for an entirely different reason.  Back in 2009 we had met another American owned barge, Vivante, in Charleville Meziers.  While we were still in the boatyard hell, we wandered over to the St. Jean waterfront and there was Vivante, still with an American flag on the stern.  It turned out the barge had been purchased by another American couple, Tom and Carol Cason from Florida, and they were on their way up to Dijon.  Their son, who now lives in Seattle, had decided to get married and he wanted to do it on their boat on the Saturday before the Fete de Musique in Dijon. 

 It was a very small, private ceremony but we did get a picture of the bride (standing), groom (seated) and a very relieved mother of the groom.

Taking “after” pictures

Off We Go, June 16

The locks on the Canal de Bourgogne are staffed and open at 9 am, close for lunch from 12-1 and then close again for the night at 7 pm.  We didn’t want to push ourselves doing too many locks on our inaugural trip so we figured we’d take two days to travel to Dijon.  The first lock on Tuesday was about 20 minutes from the boatyard basin so we pushed off at 8:45.  Up we went.  It didn’t take too long to get back into the locking mode and we were alone traveling up so all went surprisingly well.  Oldtimer is more than twice as heavy and about 2 feet wider than Odysseus, kind of the difference between and truck and an old volkswagon, so it requires much more care when entering locks. Keeping it slow, we suffered very few bumps.  Two locks after the lunch break we were snug along the bank at Longecourt. We’d done 7 locks in all and it was only 1:45. We walked into town to get our daily bread, passing the chateau in town.  Reservations are required for a tour so we just admired it from the outside.

After our brief stroll about town it was back to the boat for a little r and r after our stressful day.  But first, our first bankside picture - 

It still says Musigny on the side of the boat because we haven’t gotten our official French registration with the name change back to Oldtimer yet.

And the sun set on our first day away from the dock.

Making It Our Home

Launch Day Friday was the hottest so far this summer; in the mid 30’s (look it up!) but if we were ever going to leave the dock, we had to make Oldtimer ours. 

 A massive cleaning job was ahead of us, shelves had to be made, places found for all our stuff, although those would move periodically over the next week, and various boat gremlins dealt with.

The car would have to go back to Dijon on Tuesday so we decided to take a break from chores and take a little drive on Sunday.  Off to one of our favorite Burgundian towns, Tournus. First it was a visit to Caves du Mancey to stock up on some of our favorite wines, then into town.

Arriving downtown we found the waterfront festooned with stalls selling everything from glassware to mounted boars heads, old postcards to silver.  Cathy Jo found a great 1950’s clock for the galley.  Day and date in French! (The day, anyway.)

After lunch at a waterside restaurant it was off on a leisurely drive back to the boat.  On the way we spotted a nice private chateau.  We think we could probably live there.

Tuesday morning it was off to the Dijon train station to return the car.  We didn’t get lost once.  After a 30 minute train ride, we were back in St. Jean hard at work.

One boat gremlin  to be dealt with was the charger/inverter, the device that charges the 24 volt batteries when hooked up to shore power and provides regular current from them when shoreside power is not available. The one in the boat was old technology, not friendly to current electronics and, since we got a very good price on the purchase and installation of a newer model, we wanted to get that done.

For that, we would have to leave our slip, go through the first lock of the Canal de Bourgogne, site of the three local boatyards.  The installation was complete late Wednesday afternoon so we just stayed put.  Thursday morning we traveled back through the lock onto the Saone River for a little extended sea trial.  Besides, it was hot again and there’s no better place to be than on the river with it’s cooling breezes.  We headed up the river about half an hour, then back down to a pontoon at a campground just above St. Jean.  They have a great little restaurant there and it seemed like a good day for a full French lunch. You know the drill - starter, main course and desert with a half liter of wine.  €30 and a “rest” afterwards. Then back to the dock.  

For our first excursion of the year we decided to head up the Canal de Bourgogne, the site of our first ever barge experience with John and Patti Hardman back in 2006 and then in 2011.  We needed to knock the rust off our locking skills and 21 locks in the first 20 kilometers should accomplish that.

We had thought to leave on Saturday or Sunday but first, another electrical gremlin.  The new charger/inverter wasn’t seeing the generator to recharge the batteries when away from shore power.  Since, unlike Odysseus, Oldtimer has a regular refrigerator and hot water system, the generator, while not absolutely necessary, is real handy.  And the Mr. Wizard responsible for installing the new inverter said he could look at it Monday.

Sunday evening the heavy rain that had been predicted for the last couple of days finally arrived and Monday morning we once again locked through lock #76 onto the Canal de Bourgogne.  Phillipe (Mr. Wizard) brought his laptop down to the boat, made an adjustment to the inverter and voila! Power whenever we need it.  And there’s a reason it’s called a “Whisper” generator.  It makes very little noise and, with our large battery banks, will only have to be run if we decide to sit bankside for three or four days with no shore power.

But, hey, it’s still sprinkling and the forecast for tomorrow sunny and 23.  This is a good place to sit and wait out the rain.  We’re in no hurry to be anywhere!

Back in the Water, June 5

Thursday morning the yard guys were back for the second coat of paint and we were back to Ikea to return some things that didn’t work out.  We returned about 4 to find the boat all freshly painted and ready for launch.

About 11 am Friday the guys with the launch trailer showed up a lifted the boat off the stands so paint could be applied where the boat had been resting.  Then it was off to the ramp.

And back into her native element.  Floating at last!

After a brief kerfluffel with the steering making Don look like a rank amateur, we arrived at our slip for the next year, E-5 and the H2O marina.  A couple days of serious cleaning were called for, the car had to go back to Dijon on Tuesday but We Were In The Water!!!!

Bottom Paint Saga Continues

H2O was really concentrating on getting the job done.  When we arrived back at the boat on Thursday, five people were working on the boat, laboriously chipping off  the failed epoxy by hand.  Some of it had come off easily but in other places it was well stuck. Monday morning came word that on Tuesday a man would be coming up from Lyon with a “gomage” machine; basically a sophisticated sandblaster that uses a mixture of air and  a little water to propel the sand.  It’s much more precise and, since there’s water in the mixture, doesn’t have to be done in a enclosed space because the sand doesn’t fly all around. Phillippe, the yard general manager had been wanting to test out the machine for awhile and, along with our boat, there was another he wanted to try it on.

Tuesday was a disappointment. The “Gomage Man” hurt his back and couldn’t make the drive up from Lyon. However, the rep from International Paint turned up and tested out some sections of the hull to make sure the prep was being done properly and to make sure that the magic machine would appear on Wednesday. About 1 pm we hit the road to Dijon for some serious pillaging and the Ikea.

Angelique, the yard paint supervisor and the International Paint Rep consult

Wednesday morning the machine did appear and after a brief test on another boat at the other end of the yard, it was Oldtimer’s turn. 

After about 15 minutes working on the bottom it was apparent that this was the solution to our (and the yard’s) problems.  Phillippe appeared to check out the process and gave it a thumbs up.  The only question was wether the paint could be applied over the very thin film of rust left on the hull by the water used in the process.  Phone calls were made to the paint rep but, this being France, he was at lunch and couldn’t be reached until after 2.  Phillippe said he would call us when he got word but, when no call came, we headed off to the grocery store.  The wine supply was getting low.

About 4 pm while in the store the phone rang.  It was a message from Phillippe.  The rep said no problem with the paint but they shouldn’t let the hull sit unpainted overnight so they were blasting and painting the hull now.  We hurried back to the boat to find sandblasting well underway.

During the test

We escaped the noise to town for a beer, picked up some friends from the train station about 6 and returned to the boat.  They were still working! How very un-French!
We invited ourselves over to Jean Francoise and Dianne’s boat for an aperitif because staying at the boat would be impossible.  About 8 pm we returned to find the 4 yard guys just finishing up the first coat of paint. Another coat would be applied on Thursday and we would be in the water on Friday.  Happy dance!

It’s Not All About Boats

 Great fields of blue blooming something outside St. Usage.

Poppies and Bachelor Buttons among the wheat on the road to Lechatelet

 The house was just attached to this section of building that looks like it was built in the Renaissance.

The view across the boatyards back toward St. Jean de Losne.