April 24, 2013

Day Three cruising the canals in France.

We were picked up in Paris and driven 3 hours to Dijon Sunday.  France looks a lot like America, except the signs are in French.  Freeways give way to suburbia, give way to green pastures and fields. 

We were greeted on our barge Hirondelle with champagne and canapés.  Ok, now this is going to be great!  There is a staff of 5 for the 8 of us.  There is the captain, guide, cook, hostess and deck hand.   And they stay very busy.  Our cabin is nice.  This barge was just refurbished this past winter and we are the second trip this year.  New carpet, tile, bedding, bath robes and towels to die for! 

Quite a few of the locks are very close for the barge to pass through.

Sunday evening’s dinner was a terrine of crab, main dish of duck and potatoes.  Of course there was cheese and a wonderful dessert and very good white and red wines. 

Monday morning we cruised out of Dijon onto the Burgundy Canal.  There are 15 locks to get through before we moored in Longecourt.  In the afternoon we took a trip to the Clos de Vougeot and Chateau.  We walked through the 12^th century chateau that still has the ancient presses that the Monks used to make their wine.  Also, this is the famous location of the Burgandian wine society the “Confrerie de Chevakiers de Tastevin. 

  Back to the barge for a relaxing dinner of pea and asparagus risotto, halibut, and of course cheese and dessert.  (I’m so full!) 

This morning we went to the city of Dijon to go to the weekly market.  It is similar to Pike Place Market and other markets we’ve been to in other countries.  The one thing I thought was odd was the bra table.  There were 5-7 women sorting through piles of bras, picking out the ones they wanted to buy.  I've never thought about buying bras on a street sidewalk.  At least they weren't trying them on!  We had a cup of hot chocolate at a café and watched the people go by. 

  Then back to the barge and cruising to St Jean de Losne.  

We got off the barge and bicycled about 12 kilometers to meet the barge a few locks up.  Now this was not bucolic pedaling along the beautiful canal scenery.  The scenery was wonderful, but the path was rocky, pebbly, grassy and very bumpy.  We worked hard to stay upright!  But it was good exercise and we did have fun. 

Here's the lock house we waited at for the barge to get to the lock we were at. 

That night we went to dinner at La Chaumiere in Dole.  It is a Michelin Star restaurant.  The food was amazing and so very well presented.  For example, bc’s dessert had spun sugar around nuts.  The spun sugar stood up like swords while the nuts sat on the plate.  BC had a steak while I had the local fish with couscous.  Amazing flavors!  The pictures are on the other camera, so you'll have to wait to see them!

We’ve been trying lots of different types of cheese, wines and champagnes. It is so relaxing to just sit and watch the beautiful scenery as we slowly make our way down the canals.  The internet is spotty, so we don’t know when we’ll be able to post this, but oh well….

Hope all is well with you!  Bc and gc