contentedsouls

After all the hoo ha and panic, we arrived at the confluence of l’Yonne and La Seine in leisurely time, with a week to spare before the closures. The town that sits on the junction is Montereau–Fault–Yonne and we were joined there for the weekend by our friend Malcolm off of barge Rachel – although they winter in the UK, he came out to do a bit of work on the boat and decided to drive out and spend a couple of days with us. Mates are always welcome and particularly so at this time of the year when company is rare – having said that, we have had a rather nice little glut over the last 10 days!

The man on the market was intrigued by my fascination with the pop up bourn’s for the market traders – when I explained that I lived on a boat, he immediately twigged and was all jolly and chatty. Wouldn’t it be nice to have one of these at every mooring!

As Malcolm came by car, we suggested he drive us out to Chateau Fontainebleau on Saturday – a perfect sunny day for a road trip and warm enough to sit out with a beer. I’ve never seen so many bridal parties in one area!

As Malcolm and I returned from walking Muttley, we saw this shiny new Piper barge arriving; Bella Fortuna. The owners were Voirrey and Andy and we rafted them up alongside us where Daisy made fast and loose with their boat which was a bit mean as they had 3 beautiful cats on board that could do nothing to defend their territory – she wouldn’t have been so bold if they were out on deck! Voirrey and Andy bought us a box of cakes to say thank you for helping them – Malcolm had left at that point, so G scoffed the lot over a couple of days (I’m more of a savoury girl). They popped round for a drink in the evening and were great fun.

We fully intended to move on Monday morning but it was chucking it down with rain and we couldn’t be bothered. We let the neighbours know that we wouldn’t be disturbing them and they asked us round for dinner – an excellent dinner it was too. They are wintering just outside Paris, so we should see them again when we head down the Seine and I can return their hospitality then – we may stay in the same port as them for 10 days over Christmas and New Year; but plans are still jelly.

In the meantime, we decided to head up the Seine to see if we could get up to the top at Marcilly. A fair bit of birdlife around here – if you look very carefully you can see a green woodpecker in the grass. Shame the fog hadn’t completely lifted.

This stretch of water is busy with heavy traffic and we often have to queue at the locks. I find it quite fascinating.

The locks are 180 metres long and this photo gives you some perspective. The two boats ahead, side by side, are big gravel barges – they look like little pleasure boats way ahead of us.

Favourite photo today