Waking The Bear…

I always know when Donna’s insomnia research sessions hit pay dirt.  I’ll awaken to the sounds of pots and pans banging, doors shutting with extra gusto, and a lot of barefooted stomping.  I am a sound sleeper and always have been.  As a five year old I slept through a five alarm fire on our block.  Imagine all that moved into your kitchen.

If Donna is crashing around at ungodly hours I have learned to make sure I am only cursing in my head. In travel planning mode it means she has come across something spectacular.  A five star restaurant in Italy, or a Pousada in Portugal.  I try to wake up as gracefully as possible.

We’ve stayed in royal hunting lodges, quaint beach front hotels, farm houses in wine country, and chic boutique apartments. She always seems to find the best restaurants and housing in town.  When she finds them it doesn’t matter what time it is.  Donna gets excited and can’t contain herself.  Sometimes this calls for a more direct approach.  Crashing around takes too long. So, she sits down on the bed next to me and fidgets.

“What time is it?”

“It’s 6:30.”

“No, it isn’t!”

“Well, almost.”

With one eye opened to a slit I roll up on one elbow.

“OK, what?”

“I found this famous restaurant a block from where we are staying in Paris!”

“Are we going there for breakfast?”

“Listen to the review.”

A quick look at the clock confirms it isn’t 6:30. It’s 4:45 AM!!!

“I’m putting a pillow over my head.  Nice restaurant.  Sounds good!”

“I couldn’t wait!!!”

“I know.  I love you!  I’m going back to sleep!!!”

“Pretty cool restaurant!  Should I make reservations?”

Six months later I’ll have the best meal of my life.  Does learning about it six months in advance at 4:45 AM enhance the experience?  Well, it kind of does.  If it’s worth waking up the bear, it’s going to be good!

CHATILLON-SUR-LOIRE TO DECIZE : DONNA’S 3 AM NOTES

Chatillon-sur-Loire to Briare…Boat check out, buy provisions, shakedown cruise to Briare, Saturday night dance, Sunday market

Restaurants in Chatillon

Terre de Loire, 10-14 Route de Beaulieu, Belleville-Sur-Loire

Le Relais Mantelot, 45360 Chatillon-Sur-Loire

Les Gourmandises (simple but good), 46 Grand Rue, Chatillon-Sur-Loire

 

Chatillon-sur-Loire to Beaulieu …First lock!  Takes about two hours (5 km)

Beaulieu to Lere…2hrs 16 minutes (5.72 km), moor in Lere  (water and electricity hook-ups)

Restaurants in Lere 

Le Gaite Lereene (renowned for traditional French cuisine, highly recommended, closed on Mondays)

 

Lere to Menetreol…4 hrs and 38 minutes (11 km) From Menetreol it’s a brisk uphill walk to Sancerre, book wine tours of the regions best wine cellars, sweeping view of the Loire valley, supermarket in Saint-Satur is 20 mins. by bike.

Restaurants in Menetreol

Le Florine (the harbor master runs the front of the house and holds the keys to the water and electricity for the moorage spaces.  This is where workmen and delivery truck drivers eat. The cold buffet is noted and the desserts are often house made.)

Other noted restaurants were no longer in business.  There is a storefront bakery a few doors down from Le Florine.

Restaurants in Sancerre

Le  Bouchon, 4 out of 5 stars, outdoor seating, decent well-priced French food, excellent cheese plate, opens at 1 PM for lunch

Les Augustines, 3 1/2 stars out of 5, $$$, French, European, great view

Auberge l’Ecurie, 4 out of 5 stars, Italian, French, European, pub food and local cuisine

Le Taverne du Connetable, 4 out of 5 stars, French, Pub, fast service, large portions

La Tour, 4 1/2 stars out of 5, $$$$, French, European, excellent degustation menu with lots of local wines, wide variety of cheeses

 

Menetreol to La Chapelle-Montilinard…5 hrs and 10 mins (12 km), moor next to the grain silo, water and electricity are available, walk 2.5 km to La Charite-sur-Loire where there is a Saturday Morning Market

Restaurants in La Charite-sur-Loire

Auberge de Seyr, 4 out of 5 stars, reserve well in advance, fine French food, moody service…but well worth it

La Pomme, 4 out of 5 stars, $$, French, simple food, diner-like ambience

La Bouchon de Loire, 4 1/2 stars out of 5, regional French

Chez Babette et Eve, 3 1/2 stars out of 5, French, farm to table, quirky ambience, No Longer Serving Dinner

 

Le Chapelle-Montilinard to Marseilles les Aubigny…3 hrs  (3.35 km)

 

Marseilles les Aubigny to Cours-les-Barres…1 hr 20 minutes (3.35 km)

Restaurants in Cours-les-Barres

Auberge du Canal, 2 1/2 stars out of 5, not to be confused with Auberge du Pont-Canal!!!

La Bonne Franquette, 4 1/2 stars out of 5, rustic French food, nice terrace, reasonable

Auberge de l’Ecluse, 4 out of 5 stars, outdoor terrace, classic French, closer to Nevers

 

Cours-les-Barres to Le Guetin…3 hrs 20 mins (11.6 km), There is a double lock in Le Guetin that exits into an elevated canal. Apremont is a 6 km bike ride from Le Guetin.  It is considered to be one of the most beautiful towns in France.

Restaurants in Le Guetin

Auberge du Pont Canal, 5 out of 5 stars, Michelin selection, simple standard fare, $$, traditional foods such as calf sweetbreads and frog legs, deck seating with a view of the canal

Pizzeria l’Insolite Enzo, 4 1/2 stars out of 5, ordinary but tasty food

 

Le Guetin to Plagny…3.13 hrs (8.3 km)

Plagny to Luthenay-Uxeloup…4 hrs. 49 minutes (11 km)

There is a seasonal makeshift restaurant next to the moorage. Outdoor seating under pop-up shelters

 

Louthenay-Uxeloup to Decize…4 hrs 35 mins (11 km)

Restaurants in Decize

Le Charolais, 3 out of 5 stars, young chef preparing traditional dishes with a twist. Reviews of other Decize restaurants frequently list Le Charolais as their first choice.

Le Raboliot, 4 1/2 stars out of 5, traditional French food, popular with canal cruisers

EcriVin, 4 out of 5 stars, more wine bar than restaurant

Hotel de L’agriculture, 3 1/2 stars out of 5, mixed reviews, slow service, limited hours, reasonable

Le Decetia Bar-Brasserie, 4 out of 5 stars, someone raved about sauteed turkey with mushroom sauce and cauliflower gratin???, English patrons?

Le Courlis, 3 1/2 stars out of 5, crepes, good value, good French cider selection, vegetarian options available, nice view of the Loire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

France has 5,000 miles of navigable waterways.  There are ten stunning regions to explore. You can cruise through Paris, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and even Nice. You are tempted by The Three Musketeers Cruise, An Opening In The Green For Gargantua Cruise, The Delicacies of Aquitaine Cruise, The Sparkling Cruise, and The Golden Midi Cruise.  Figuring out where to go takes some work.

We dispensed with all the colorful cruise names.  Asking “What do you think about the Delicacies of Aquitaine Cruise?” wasn’t going to work.  There’d be no problem asking that question, but we could imagine the responses.  My responses in particular.  Encountering a smart ass after doing research from 3 to 5 am would be problematic.

Our basic plan included flying into Paris and spending some time there.  That narrowed down our cruising options.  We wanted to start our cruise within an hour of Paris by train.  That lead us to Canal du Loing, Canal de Briare, Canal lateral a la Loire, Canal de Roanne a Digoin, Canal du Centre, and the Canal du Nivernaise.

Booking a cruise has a lot to do with the availability or boats.  You might pick a route and find there are no boats leaving from your starting point on the date you’ve chosen.  It is also possible, and sometimes likely, that you might book a cruise that starts in the north, but be required to start in the south. Read that last sentence again.  Unpredictability is written into the package.

So, Donna started by looking at train routes.  Starting the cruise in a location that required the advanced purchase of tickets was out. How do you purchase advanced tickets when you don’t know exactly where you’ll be starting? Donna planned our entire trip hoping we’d start our canal trip in the north.  It was a considered risk based on the notion that we were starting our cruise early enough in the cruising season.  The further you get into the season the further boats are spread out from central bases. Fingers were crossed.

Donna started pouring over our growing collection of guidebooks and maps.  She quickly discovered you can cross reference guidebooks and determine how many locks are on a given route.  The maps indicate which locks are going up, and which locks are going down. Up locks are considered more difficult.  Not impossible, but they demand more effort and coordination.  Guidebooks also give rough estimates of how many hours a day you have to motor to reach your destination in the number of days you booked.

An Opening In The Green For A Gargantua Cruise has 236 locks. That’s roughly 17 locks per day over two weeks. Given a 5 hour travel day you’d be navigating 3.4 locks per hour. Um…no!

Eventually Donna read the following. “The Canal lateral a la Loire follows the gentle slope of the Loire Valley.  There are few locks so it’s a fast and easy cruise.”  We were narrowing down our choices to The Sparkling Cruise and it’s variations. It didn’t hurt that the tour description read, “Vineyard tours and wine tasting are a favorite pastime in the Loire Valley, making French canal vacations almost essential to best see the historic sites. Pretty towns and larger towns beckon. Vibrant and packed with superior restaurants and fascinating museums, the towns offer the best of both worlds on the Canal lateral a la Loire.”

I don’t know who wrote that last bit, but wine, superior restaurants, and history sold Donna.  Then she recounted the number of locks on the map.  There were 26 up locks, and 1 down lock. 27 locks over 14 days meant we’d only navigate something like 2 locks per day. This was at least as alluring as the wine ( fewer locks = more wine?).   We were booking The Sparkling Cruise from Chatillon-sur-Loire to Decize!  Donna immediately started researching bakeries, butchers, cheese shops, markets, and restaurants. Oh, boy!!!

 

 

You’re Going to Need a Boat

Either you love planning things, or you don’t.  It doesn’t really matter if you are going on a grand tour, or a weekend adventure.  You, or someone else, is going to have to do some planning.  Even if you chart your trip with meticulous care something will go wrong.  How wrong it goes has a lot to do with preparation.

As I shared before, Donna is a confirmed insomniac.  She is also a Virgo.  The astrological gurus will tell you, “A Virgo sincerely assumes they can accomplish a task more completely and accurately than anyone else. They are usually correct in this assumption.”  I have learned I can either resist, or succumb to Donna’s clear edge on all things involving detailed planning. My job is to provide color commentary, and careful criticism. It works!

Donna’s research regime is well-rehearsed and has sent us on amazing vacations here at home, as well as in Italy and Portugal.  It’s VRBO for accommodations. It’s Rick Steves, Travelocity, Chowhound and Urban Spoon for dining destinations.  A restaurant has to have at least three excellent ratings to make it onto Donna’s list.  Sorry Mr. Steves, your recommendations are only useful if we are looking for wifi, or American tourists.

Finding a rental boat was new territory.  The specifications for the boat were minimal.  A berth for two, a flushing head, a shower, and a galley.  The galley had to include a sink, two burners, a fridge, and an assortment of pans, mugs, and dishes.  I also wanted an outside steering station, preferably a flying bridge.  Negotiating through canals, locks, under low narrow bridges, and docking in crowded marinas requires maximum visibility.  This is especially true if you are a novice.  Nothing I read described canal boats as being nimble.  “Find the widest place in the canal to turn around.”  “In reverse your ability to steer is limited.”  

With these parameters and known limitations in place Donna narrowed her search for boats to three outfits. Locaboat, Nicols, and Le Boat all had fleets of canal boats that would suit our needs. (locaboat.com, boat-renting-Nicols.co.uk, leboat.com)

The Nicols boats have a sleek modern look with light faux wood and plenty of Naugahyde. Without designer boat clothing you’d probably feel out of place on these stylish confections. Locaboat has boats that make me drool.  Their fleet of Penichettes are beefy and beautiful.  They are leisure versions of working boats. In the Pacific Northwest the Nordic Tug is the equivalent.  Le Boat has the greatest range of boats and prices. Donna started there.

There are really only two basic considerations when it comes to boats.  The first is utility and the second is comfort.  You will never be comfortable if your boat doesn’t perform well, or suit your needs.  You won’t have a good time if your boat’s accommodations make you feel like you are traveling in steerage. Reviews made it clear which boats to steer clear of. Some see rough use, minimal repairs, and were never designed for slamming into lock walls and gates.  Style is always a consideration, but it isn’t essential.  It also comes at a price.

We finally decided upon the Le Boat’s Cirrus B. It appeared to offer easy on and off access. That is an important consideration if you are going through locks. The taller the deck the further the jump, and the higher the climb.  If you are young and spry that’s not much of a consideration.  We are neither.

The Cirrus B also had an outside steering station.  Its accommodations appeared to be ample, and comfortably utilitarian. The boat all but screamed, “Tourist!!!”  It would do nicely.

 

 

 

Why are we doing this???

My daughter, Alyssa, called and breathlessly shared that Elsa’s mother was selling her 52 ft. French canal barge.  The barge had been used as a floating B and B for almost ten seasons.  Donna and I had explored the option of booking a trip with Elsa’s mother.  Now there was not only the opportunity to take a trip on the barge, there was the possibility of purchasing it. Donna was in!

I have owned boats before.  I have sold them too.  The money I saved on moorage, maintenance, and repairs after getting rid of my 22 ft. sailboat financed a two week trip to Mexico and several trips to the San Juan Islands and Victoria B.C..  That was a small sailboat with an 8 hp outboard.  It was only a small hole in the water to throw money into.

My cursory research convinced me owning a 52 ft. converted mail barge was a nightmare to be avoided.  Chances that the barge’s electrical and mechanical systems were Dr. Frankenstein creations were almost a sure bet.  That the barge would require a new bottom sooner instead of later was highly likely.  I was intrigued, but increasingly doubtful.  Then I learned piloting a 52 ft. French barge down a French canal requires a pilot’s license that can only be obtained by passing a test given…in French. Nope!

It is possible to book passage on a hotel barge. That means you are booking a tour with a boat full of tourists.  Some people are drawn to that kind of communal Hell.  To me it has always seemed like being unable to escape from a flock of panicked birds. “You’ve got three hours in this historic and scenic destination. On your mark! Get set! Go!!!”

I like my own company.  I enjoy my wife’s company.  I am exuberantly social for as long necessary. Then I prefer to be left alone.  Exploring new places with a crowd of strangers, newly found friends, or any other grouping sounds claustrophobic to me.  Being berthed next to a barrel-chested pair of geriatric newlyweds shagging their way down a French canal would launch me into a monologue not suited for polite society. Imagine the breakfast conversation. “Did you sleep well last night?” A hotel barge was never an option.

So, we looked at renting a smaller craft from one of the outfits who cater to the tourist trade.  Self-piloting was the only option we considered.  This meant that Donna, a confirmed insomniac, started her 3 am research regimen. She is extremely thorough, and my “wants” list was very simple. “I want a flying bridge.”  ” Anything else?” ” A working head, a galley, and a flying bridge.”  With that settled Donna started contacting boat outfits and ordering guidebooks.  I set about translating all the nautical concerns I could think of into French.

BATEAUX (bat-toe)

( My apologies to people who actually speak French. Google Translate and Spellcheck assure me the following are what you might say if you don’t speak any French at all. ) 

1. The toilet won’t flush. Les toilette ne videra pas. (Lay toilette nay vee-dare-uh paw.)
2. The toilet is backing up. Les toilette est la sauvegarde. ( Lay toilette ay la sove-gard.)
3. The battery won’t charge. La batterie ne se charge pas. (La bat-ter-ee nay say char-jzay paw.
4. The engine won’t idle. Le moteur ne sera pas ralenti. (Lay moture nay sera paw relenchi.)
5. We need more fuel. Nous avenues besoin de plus de carburant. (New avon bez-wan day plue day car-bure-aunt.)
6. Where is the fuel dock? Ou’ est le qui de carburant? (oo ay lay kay du car-bure-aunt?)
7. The water heater isn’t working. Le chauffe eau ne fonctione pas. (Lay chofe o nay func-shun paw.)
8. Can we moor here? Pouvon nous amarrer ici? (Poo-von new amar-rare ichi?)
9. Is there shore power available? Il best puissance de rivage disposenibles? (Ill ay poi-sonce day ree-vaj deese-pon-ee-blah?)
10. Is there wifi available? Y at il une connexiuon wifi? (Ee at-ill on connex-eeon wee-fee?)
11. Can you write the password down please? Escririez vice le mot de pass se il vous plait? (Ee-cree voo lay moot day paws…sil voo play?)

 

Get Going…While the Going is Good!

A dear friend taught me life cannot be measured in years.  It can only be measured by the degree to which we live. By inclination I’d just as soon curl up by a fire and read a book.  It is a noble pursuit and allows me to experience the lives of others. I took a quiz to determine how many of the world’s great books I’ve read.  I’ve read more than my fair share.

If my wife wants me to disappear for a day she’ll find a book for me to read.  Donna knows the only way I read books is from cover to cover in as little time as possible. She also knows I become a different person when I’m traveling.  The person who loves to sleep in is replaced by a person who stays up too late and wakes up too early. Travel and books are to be devoured.

Of course our backs resist long flights.  Our budgets are constrained, perhaps by our imaginations.  Travel seems expensive, but somehow we always seem to find the money to purchase mediocre cups of coffee.  Family obligations loom, and those too are constrained by imagination and budget. Stamina plays a part as well. How far and for how long become valid topics of conversation.  There isn’t a five or ten year plan anymore. Adventures call and you listen more carefully.

Our children are all grown.  Pets have been laid to rest.  Projects aren’t going anywhere. Finances are predictable enough.  Politics grate the nerves and Donna and I don’t know how many protests we have left in us. We’ve been living doomsday scenarios since elementary school.  The essential absurdity of covering your head with a coat to shield against nuclear fallout remains a fairly constant feature in American life. New versions abound!

So, Hell! It’s time to Get Going…While the Going is Good!  This is a blog about Mark Hale and Donna Schwendeman’s travels past, present, and future.  It’s about finding the road that gets you where you are going.  It’s about getting lost.  It’s about the next bend and the one after that. There are places you always dreamed of, and places you never imagined.  Both are Good!  Get Going!!!