While I always look forward to the boating season, I find it hard to be enthusiastic about the first couple of weeks. Early in the year the weather in France can be cold and rainy for days at a time and the boat, left on its own for eight months, needs a lot of attention. […]
For over nine years, Neil and Joan Malling have been spending their summers cruising the canals and rivers of Western Europe aboard their now thirty-one-year-old Dutch motor-cruiser, the “Estate.” This year they are again sharing their experiences. This is the first of their 2010 articles.
Our writers, Joan and Neil Malling, own a motor cruiser in France and have spent the last several summers cruising the canals and rivers throughout France.
For over nine years, Neil and Joan have been spending their summers cruising the canals and rivers of Western Europe aboard their now thirty-one-year-old Dutch motor-cruiser, the “Estate.” This year they are again sharing their experiences.
As anticipated, it took a couple of days to sort out our living spaces. The books were in the food compartment, the bedding on the kitchen table, and the gangplank was in the aft cabin bedroom. Luckily the weather was good, so we could open up the entire boat and move things from area to […]
Whether you are in Paris or a small village, Sundays in France seem to have a similar pace. Our life in St. Jean de Losne the last couple of Sundays has been no different. A very important start is Neil’s trip to the boulangerie for a baguette and croissants or some other baked goods he […]
We meet a lot of people while boating in France. As Americans, we are foreigners—but most other boaters cruising the inland waterways are too. We hear the stories of British, Australians, New Zealanders, Swiss, Dutch, and Germans, as well as French.
This year we arrived in France in mid-April and are ending our boating season at the end of July. August is the month of “vacances” (vacation/holiday) in France, so lots of boaters are on the water and mooring space is limited; it is usually quite hot; and frequently the restaurants or bakeries we want to visit […]
For over nine years, Neil and Joan have been spending their summers cruising the canals and rivers of Western Europe aboard their now thirty-one-year-old Dutch motor-cruiser, the “Estate.” This year they are again sharing their experiences. This is the second of Neil and Joan’s 2010 posts. Check out last week’s post .