Boating Business in Burgundy

We arrived in Beaune on the evening of 19 March, bringing with us from the week skiing happy memories and a couple of viruses, courtesy of the kids in the chalet..... Mike succumbed first with a sore throat quickly becoming a rough, chesty cough and I followed suit a few days later.  So our next phase of travel was interspersed with afternoons resting and trying to keep warm dosed up with various cough mixtures and medicines.  It wasn't so much a wine tour of the Burgundy Region, but a Pharmacie Tour, visiting the Pharmacie in most of the towns we visited.  On a plus note, I am now fluent at describing different types of coughs in French....... Fifteen days on I am still coughing but now managing to sleep through the night.  Anyway, back to Beaune.  It's a very nice town and we enjoyed our couple of days there doing the tourist stuff, before hiring a car to explore the Burgundy Canal in the surrounding area.

The Wonderful Hotel-Dieu at Beaune with traditional tiled Burgundy roof

Kitchens

The Hotel-Dieu was founded to care for the needy; sick, poor or both

Oooooh - a historical Pharmacie - anything for Toux Grasse!!!

We did a wine tour and tasting at the Patriarch domaine, and though we tasted really hard to try and like the Burgundy wine, we just didn't :(

Caves and caves of wine we don't like :(

Exploring the Burgundy Canal - The Basin at the pretty town of Pouilly-en-Auxois

The canal tunnels under Pouilly-en-Auxois for 3K.  It's managed by lights and a barrier as it's only wide enough for one-way wide-beam traffic.

The tunnel entrance under Pouilly-en-Auxois

A regular haunt for us on our trip - the laundrette!  This one in Beaune.

On Tuesday 22nd we boarded the train heading for Auxerre with changes at Dijon, then Migennes.  The Dijon-Migennes section should have been an hour and a half, but they had replaced the train with a coach and it took three and a half hours!! We were losing the will to live by the time we got to Migennes, but Mike summoned up the energy to walk along the platform to look at what he could see of the port from the station.  We were excited about this part as information from the boatyard at Migennes would allow us to decide when to bring the boat over, depending on when they could fit us in.  We picked up our hire car and headed to our accommodation at Auxerre, the lovely, rural La Bichonnerie.  The hosts were lovely and directed us to a close-by pub/restaurant where we could pick up a quick dinner or pizza, as we were a 20 minute drive from Auxerre, which we didn't really fancy. So we ate very averagely at the local place and were bathed and tucked up in bed by 8.30 - rock n roll!!  The next morning our host asked us how we were, "not great...." We coughed back.  "Yes, the other guests said they heard you coughing all night........"  Oops :(  Thankfully we were the only guests for the next couple of nights so would only be keeping ourselves awake.  The next day we headed into Auxerre where we spoke to Lesley and Mike who run the port there.  It would be no problem to fit us in for a winter mooring at the end of this year - woohoo!  We had a look round the port and were invited onboard for a cuppa by Bill and Jane on WB Lazybones.  We had a good chat with them and they said it was a good place to moor for the winter.  We then wandered around the town which was very pretty and had all the amenities you'd need.  Then we went back to the b&b for a hot bath and bed.

I'm afraid we felt so crap and the weather was so poor that we have no pics of Auxerre or Migennes apart from this one.  Me with a toilet in Auxerre.  My favourite subject!!
At least it makes the one of the laundrette look interesting.......

 Mike was beginning to feel better, but suffering from lack of sleep, whilst I was still getting worse, but we headed into Migennes the next day to find out about getting the boat craned in at Simon Evan's boatyard later this year.  Again, no problem.  Just let them know when once we have transport arranged at our end.  The only problem might be if the river is high.  They would still crane us in, but we might have to stay at the yard until we can get safely down to Auxerre.

After a cuppa on Stu's boat DB Vagabond, we headed back to the b&b for the afternoon,  stopping off at the Pharmacie on the way to restock.

On our last day there we drove around some of the little towns and villages, and visited the Pharmacie in Chablis.  We sat in the car park in Chablis for a while to catch up on emails etc. as we were struggling to get a decent wifi signal at the b&b then headed back for our bath and bed.

Saturday 26th saw us boarding the train again, this time bound for Paris.  I wasn't sure if my excitement was for Paris or the fact that suitcase living was drawing to a close!

We checked into our hotel near the Place de Republique and headed out to explore our surroundings.  Our first stop was the Canal St Martin, which we will cruise when we bring the boat to France.

Canal St Martin - Drained for repairs.

Empty locks on the St Martin

Our first dinner in Paris was at a restaurant called La Pharmacie, 2 minutes from our hotel.  I hoped their house wine would provide a cure, but whilst Mike was in full recovery mode I was still coughing constantly to the point of gagging, which was most unpleasant.  One episode on the underground had me gagging away and a Chinese tourist offered me some water.  I declined until she also produced a stack of paper cups in which to dispense the water which I then gratefully accepted.  The flow of water down my throat seemed to stem the coughing, which started again as soon as the water stopped.  So I sipped and sipped trying to keep the cough at bay and make the water last.  Thankfully the Water Lady and her family had left the train by the time my nosebleed started....... I was a bit of sorry state.....

Our second day in Paris took us down to the river, for further viewing of where we will be bringing the boat.  It was a completely industrial section where we couldn't get near the river, so we started to walk back towards the city centre.  Then the rain started and we got soaked - yay - fantastic for my cold!!  

The Arsenal Basin in central Paris

Other side of the Arsenal

We managed to do a few touristy things in Paris, but I found the dry air of the galleries a real struggle with my cough, and the cough itself exhausting, so whilst we managed the Musee D'Orsay, we had to duck out of the Louvre at the last minute.  We made use of the Boris Bikes in Paris, which were great and there are superb cycle lanes throughout the city that made navigating the busy roads a bit less stressful.  But I was gutted that we didn't manage more, as a few afternoons were spent in bed coughing :(  I loved Paris, it just had such a great feel to it and I can't wait to go back and do what we didn't this time.

Notre Dame

The Seine, from the Batobus, pulling in to let the working boat pass on the other side.

Paris from the Batobus

Yikes!!!!!  How big??! How fast??!!  How close??!!!!!

Museum D'Orsay clock

Cafe in the Musee d'Orsay

Vince

Preferred mode of transport in Paris

I felt sad leaving France on Thursday, it's a really great country and I've loved our three months exploring.  The only area we have crossed out for potential living is the Burgundy region.  We don't like the Burgundy wines :(  They are too acidic, too lightweight.  We prefer the heavier, fuller grapes of the South - and the weather ;)  

We are now at Chez Mum's and my cough is finally on its way out, although it's taking its time!!  Mike is heading back to the boat tomorrow and then heading to York for the weekend where I'll meet up with him and finally both back onboard next Tuesday 12th and hopefully ready to set off down the River Nene by the end of that week.  CAN'T WAIT!!!