We all live in a yellow submarine..........

What a fabulous way to spend two weeks travelling through Burgundy in France on our own boat!

Our nice mooring spot at Tournus. Here we finally found a great market.

Another picturesque morning.

Many highlights with a few lows, but nonetheless, a great time had by all.

Our Vision 4 boat was spacious with a cabin for each couple and Jules had the suite at the front of the boat with her own cooking facilities! The kitchen was excellent for our mainly self catered meals. Full size fridge, stove and oven and large tables to work on. Our delicious lunches and dinners were always eaten upstairs on the deck with shade from the Bimini and umbrellas. Al fresco dining at its finest.

Dining al fresco on the banks of the Little Saone River.

Linda and Sandy making up our baguettes.

The boys of course were in charge of the BBQ. Fronck, Rooger and Anton!

Shopping in markets gave Joan inspiration and we were able to enjoy the produce of the regions whilst the guys provided wines to accompany the delicious food.  

The market in Tournus

Amazing cheeses - so much choice.

BBQ chickens with the chat potatoes underneath being roasted in the dripping fat from the chickens. Yum!

The days were very hot and spent on deck with the girls sunning themselves and the guys driving and doing the lock work.  The boat was air conditioned but failed many times and we had to get Le Boat to come and fix this and other problems which we encountered over our journey.   

Our route took us via canals and large rivers where we stopped at various towns for sightseeing and of course shopping.  We also took side trips via taxis to Dijon and Beaune as we had lost time whilst waiting for service repairs.   Nights were spent playing charades, try "Yentil" and "European Vacation", with lots of laughs into the late evening. 

Anton and Fronck 

Our side trip up a canal from the Saone river to Chagny provided our first night "camping out", under some welcome and beautiful shade trees.  Unfortunately at the time of mooring we failed to see that we were fifty metres from the main rail line through France!  

Whilst waiting again for Le Boat to come and fix some problems, we decided to take a walk to a very small village called Bouzeron via their beautiful vines.  This village was about three kilometers from Chagny and was a very pleasant walk and a welcome change to the boat.  

The twelve locks, including one HUGE commercial lock both ways were a challenge.  This was especially the case as this was our only day of rain and boy was it heavy!  Everyone donned their life jackets for the commercial locks and John had to drive from inside the boat for the first time.  

Probably the tallest lock we used - twice, both up river and down on our side trip to Chagny.  Fronck didn't dare look up!

We pulled into a little town called Fragny where the girls hit the local coiffure much to the owner's  delight.  Agatha stayed late whilst we were all treated to some pampering ready for dinner out that evening, with her husband and boys waited patiently for the delayed closing time.

Linda shampooed, now for the styling.

All the girls and Agatha ready to hit the town!

Our final night on the boat was spent in Branges.  As we had correspondence  with Le Boat during our trip, we were greeted with "oh, you're the boat which sent the email!", yes that was us!

We cleaned our boat ready for embaration the next morning and then had a great last night reminiscing and playing charades again.  The next morning we headed off by taxi for the short trip to Louhans to catch our train for our journey to Geneva.

Louhans was a hive of activity as it was market day and it seemed that the whole town and its neighbiurs were in to do their weekly shop. A final day of market shopping.

A fantastic two week voyage on the rivers of Burgundy.

Up, up and away.........

Essential things to do in France

Drink French Champagne.....          Tick

Visit the Eiffel Tower.....          Tick

Shop at Galleries Lafayette.....          Tick

Eat the best fromage.....          Tick

Stroll along the River Seine.....          Tick

Try the delicacy of frogs legs.....          Tick

Buy warm crusty baguettes at the artisan boulangerie.....          Tick

Take a hot air balloon flight over the French countryside.....          Tick

So very early one morning we were picked up from our boat docked at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs by Vincent Dupois, our pilot for this wonderful experience. Only Jules had been in a balloon before so the cool morning air was full of excitement and anticipation.  Tony however decided that he would prefer to keep his feet on the ground. At the local soccer field Vincent's assistance Anton was busy preparing the balloon. Once we arrived it was time for a briefing then before we knew it this amazing huge colourful balloon was rising up from the ground ready to take us on a journey over the beautiful countryside of Burgundy. 

Although we all rugged up in preparation for a chilly start, the gas burner threw out plenty of heat when you were standing under it and the morning itself was turning into a beautiful sunny day. The wind dictated our course and steered us up over the village of Verdun towards charming villages, open farming fields and forests in the distance. Flying so peacefully over the farms we could easily see the animals, perfectly manicured gardens, many with swimming pools and the fields of hay either neatly bailed or waiting for the farmer and his tractor to do its work. 

Vincent pointed out that over the summer the deer give birth to the fawns among the hay fields. This results in their own unique little crop circle patches. Should there be any danger to his doe and fawns the buck will run in the opposite direction drawing danger away from his family. The noise of the balloon's gas jet on occasion startled the deer and we could clearly see the buck leaping through the hay fields. As Vicent ( who has spent some years flying in Australia) commented "These are our version of the kangaroo.". Towards the end of our flight we floated over a chateau and it's green house. 

If you look really closely the deer is just to the left of centre of the picture!

The forest was so close below us it almost seemed like we could reach down and touch it. Church steeples were either very tall or we were quite low! Vincent had warned us that we would be low and to trust him. Our faith in the two time world champ was justly rewarded! An hour later we landed with a gentle thud on a cut hay field some 25 kms from our starting point. 

Happy birthday to you.........

What a way to spend a special birthday in France.  The aftermoon saw us pull into a little port called Seveux where we were to spend the night of the eleventh of July. 

After a great manouover by John, we pulled into the marina and plans were made to find a restaurant for the celebration.  Jules had spoken to the Captainaire (person who runs the small ports at which we dock) and she adviised that there was really only a choice of 2 restaurants with one being her recommendation for a celebration dinner. So the captainaire made a booking for neuf person at huit heure. A quick chat with a local Brit confirmed that Chez Berthe was his wife's favourite. It was in the town of Savoyeux across the beautiful Saone river.  We all frocked up, had nibbles and some beautiful French champagne then headed off for a pleasant walk across three bridges to the restaurant.  

The restaurant on first impressions did not look like fancy French restaurant as it did not know whether it wanted to be a restaurant, bistro, pool hall or fast food diner.  Unbeknown to me, when Julie had asked at the Captianaire to book a table she had said that it was for my birthday. A welcoming sign awaited my arrival!

What a surprise, it turned out to be one of the best meals we have had out.  Most decided on the set menu which as it turned out was a very good choice.  The four course menu de jour included an amazing cheese cart which we were all thoroughly impressed with.  When sweets arrived it was accompanied by an extremely large sparkler along with a loud rendition of happy birthday.  

A slow walk back to the boat completed a memorable evening!

The long and winding road...........

Well it's a river actually!

Life has been quite hectic for the past week, hence then lack of posting.  We have been very busy doing all the things that need to be done when you are taking a houseboat down the river. There have been many hours spent improving the suntan, checking the catches of the day of the local fisherman, reading month old magazines ( thanks Carmel), watching life on the river, making friends with the donkey and chickens at the locks, feeding the ducks and swans our left-overs of beautiful French baguettes, attending to manicures, greeting Bonjour to passing boats, dining alfresco breakfast, lunch and dinner, and of course sampling the local wines and cheeses, all under perfect skies.

Linda with Joan - our wonderful chef extraordinaire!

The gang enjoying lunch on the deck.

There are the locks to deal with. Initially we started off with some new high tech ones that use a remote control unit to trigger the opening of the massive gates. These were a great asset and so much easier to use than the next group which required us to grab a long rod dangling across the river. Not a easy thing to do from the bow of a 17 tonne moving vessel! If it was missed it would fly across the top of the boat hopefully not knocking out the next person trying to grab it!! A close shave a couple of times.

Then came the enormous river locks. These are designed to take commercial barges and those every so popular river cruise boats like APT and Scenic. Apon approaching the first of these locks the lock-master was seen waving frantically an orange life vest. We quickly took the hint and donned our jackets which had fortunately been put up on deck the previous day. Such a stunning fashion accessory but a necessity in these massive locks.

A new experience for us was going through a 650 metre tunnel (two of them in fact). Eat your heartbout Luna Park Tunnel of Love! What a buzz!

There's light at the end of the tunnel!

Frank guiding us through, under the watchful eye of our skipper John.

Even the washing participated in the tunnel adventure.

Shopping has also been full of fun experiences.  Our first market stop in Fontenoy-le-Chateau to get supplies was a challenge.  The market consisted of 3 stalls - the butcher, the green grocer and of course the wine merchant. The search for a supermarket proved fruitless but a few meager but essential supplies were obtained at the boulangerie. With our fridges stocked and ready for the plats de jour, it was onto the next port. Here we found a wonderful supermarche at the far end of the town with even more wonderful staff. Trying to figure out how we were going to get our big grocery buy up back about 2 1/2 kms to the boat we agreed that a taxi would be the best option. On enquiring in minimal French of the checkout girl if there was a service in town, she made a phone call and motioned us to wait outside for a few minutes. A couple of minutes later the butcher in his white gum boots, came out of the shop dangling his car keys. Our taxi had arrived. 

The hospitality of the French in Corre continued that night with owners of a nearby house inviting us to join them for drinks in their beautiful back garden. Martine and Frederique were lovely hosts who shared their home brew spirit eagerly with us. Tony and Frank were a tad worse for wear to say the least the next day. Who said the french are not friendly?!

Our friendly taxi butcher!

Hospitality from the Neighbours, Martine and Frederique. Our boat is in the background on the left.

Our first week has been an adventure of France in all it's wonderful glory including Bastille Day. We celebrated this in Dijon, a magnificent city that is a smaller version of Paris. It's beautiful cobbled stone streets, iron lace trimmed buildings and smaller version of the Arc de Triumph were just as much fun to explore as the capital itself.

Viva la France!

It's a long way to the top......

'A weekend in Paris is far too short.

We made the most of our two days/three nights in the capital of France. Our apartment had a view of the beautiful Pretemps Building just along Rue Hauseman from Galleries La Fayette. We caught up with the rest of the crowd who will be cruising with us on the houseboat and then Linda and the rest went out to dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant - I have to ask why???

But I (Julie) opted to meet up with friends Natalie and Simon. Simon currently works in Paris and Nat is based in Glasgow so it was fortunate that they were both in town this weekend. It was lovely to catch up on all their news since their marriage in Melbourne last November.

Natalie, Simon and Jules dining in Paris

Linda's husband Tony arrived early next morning so it was time to go and discover the city. But in true Parisian style it was time for coffee first! Some people watching while sipping our cafe lattes across from Gallaries Lafeyette provided a fascinating insight into the pecking order of French societe. The various cars including numerous chauffeured black Mercedes were compactly parked along the side street but then along came the very new, bright white Rolls Royce.  Well it become a show of pecking order - parking shuffle with the Mercedes closest to the entrance being relegated to allow the RR to have prime position adjacent to the door. Ooh to have that sort of privilege!

An afternoon walking tour of the Latin Quarter gave us insights to the history of scholars and universities of Paris. Fascinating to hear and see parts of Paris not previously visited. But there's still so more of Paris left for the next visit!!

A quick late lunch and then another long walk back to our hotel, probably a total distance of around 12km for the dayl! Our walking has certainly increased now that we are in France thank heavens. Still trying to work off the kgs from Greece!! 

Everyone was exhausted from trekking all over Paris so an indoor picnic was quickly arranged in Suite 118 ( Linda, Tony and Julie's sort-of two bed apartment.) Baguette, fromage, vin de blanc, pâté, etc made for some fine dining for weary tourists. 

Sundays in Paris are free museum days so we joined the queue to see Monets beautiful and very large water lily paintings at Musee d'Orangerie. The colors and light in his paintings are wonderful to experience in such close proximity. Other paintings in the museum by famous french artists such as Renoir, just didn't have the same effect.

Wandering over the River Seine we found a rather quiet area but the numerous riot squad police cars lining the street were of some concern. On enquiring at the nearby restaurant where we had lunch we found out that there was going to be protests in the late afternoon. Somewhat of a relief as we would not be in the area then as we were heading for an evening at the Eiffel Tower.

Picnic style dinner in the park with wine and baguettes. Then it was time to join another very long queue for an hour. The sign was saying the the top was closed temporarily but as Julie just got to the head of the queue the sign announced that we could go to the top!  We took the two lifts to the top and voila, Paris!!! 

A fabulous evening for taking photos with the sun going down over the city which was toasted by champagne!  Chris and Sandy were seen below looking after our goodies and also doing security work for some unsuspecting tourists who were about to have their bags snatched.  Great job Constable Chris.

Linda and Tony at the summit!

Jules and Linda at the champagne bar of course!

A memorable evening.

The weary travellers then returned to the hotel (by taxi) to prepare for our train trip from Paris Est station to Epinal to pick up our boat in Fontenoy le Chateau.

Excitement all around when we saw our beautiful boat and we eagerly boarded, unpacked and settled in.  

Feels like the first time ........

Our trip to Platykampos and Central Greece has bought us many firsts so we thought we'd share a few with you.

Bumble bees - flying into their nest hidden in the bamboo structure of Manoli's alfresco area,

Drinking tsitpro and the social etiquette that is all part of the culture.  Meze (complimentary small tapas style food) arrives with the small carafes which contain this potent drink, usually sardines, octopus or squid.  If you order a beers you just get nuts!

Eating dinner sometime after 10pm most nights. This is the norm for Greek people. With their siestas in the afternoon, dinner is a very late affair by our standards.  We certainly got hooked on this great tradition and  took to it like ducks to water.

Storks -neither Linda nor myself had ever seen storks before. In Platykampos there were 2 nests that have been built high up on the light poles. In the nest in the platia (town square) there were three juvenile storks that were still yet to fly. We could see them stretching and flapping their wings in preparation. 

After a morning shopping it was time for a Coffee Freddo - the strongest coffee ever! 

Squat toilets at Temby (much appreciated but a bit traumatic) where we visited the church built in the side of the mountain.

An Optometrists who made a house call. On Friday last week Linda, John, Joan and Julie all decided to get new glasses in Larisa. We found beautiful frames and arranged to get the scripts made up. The following Wednesday back in Larisa all was going well except for my glasses. There had been a problem and they would be returned on Thursday. Back into Larisa on Thursday morning - no glasses. They were still on the way from Athens. This would mean another trip back into Larisa from Platykampos after our day spent at the beach. So the lovely optometrist Nikki, kindly offered to drive over to the village after closing the shop and do a home visit. About 7pm she arrived on her Vespa and twenty minutes later I had my new glasses!

Platykampos is a farming village. The farmers all live in the village as none of the farm plots have any accommodation. Makes for much more of a community feel for everyone. Being a farming village it is not unusual to see tractors in the front gardens and garages and we even had to give way to a massive combine harvester travelling up the narrow road. It is renowned for its garlic - so beautiful they eat it raw and also farm corn and cotton. Platy means flat and that's exactly how it is - dead flat and then the magnificent mountains that come straight up from sea level. Beautiful!

Ira and Manoli are always having visitors drop by. It is a very friendly and social place.

It's not the places you visit or the things you see but the people you meet who make the experience truly special!

Thank you Ira, Manoli and our many new friends in Platykampos.

We are family......

What can we say about the warmth and wonderful hospitality of Joan's family and friends?

Since arriving in Platykampos we have been warmly embraced by Ira and Manoli. They genorously gave us use of their 3 bedroom house next door for our stay. The days have been filled from morning til early next morning with long lunches,tsipouro (the local brew spirit like ouzo), meze ( food to accompany the spirit), dinner feasts with the extended family of aunts, cousins, parents and close friends and of course lots of the universal language of laughter.

Home style Greek food is not like the food of Greek restaurants in Melbourne. Nothing can come close to the flavours and textures of the variety of foods that the family have shared with us. Ira made the most delicious moussaka we have ever tasted. Not to mention Manoli's expertise with the BBQ - lamb, fish, corn and of course kebabs!

Ira's mother Poppy has provided us with her superb home made pastries such as spinakopata and pita, preserved apricots with almonds, melon and fresh cherries.

At cousin Johnny's we were very privileged, along with many members of the family, to enjoy a feast of the last lamb of season from their own farm.  This is indeed a very special honour and was accompanied by a metre long pork kebab. The accompanying salads, cheeses and yoghurts made from the produce of the farms and gardens were another treat. The garden was filled with a long table and the sound of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins all catching up and the joy of two adorable little boys playing amongst it all til the wee hours of the morning. 

We wandered back through the village, well fed and waterered (???) along the streets which are bordered by agricultural machinery, past the plateia (town square) with its resident storks and sank into our beds ready for the next day's adventures.  The village church bells had long since finished their last peel at eleven o'clock and it wouldn't be too long until they started again at 7am! 

In between we have managed to visit some amazing places like Meteora, the port town of Volos, villages so high up in the mountains we could almost touch Greece's highest peak - Mt Olympus, the beaches of Larisa, spent some time shopping in Larisa and walked between Platykampos and the next village.  ( Note to us - We need to do much more of this!!!)

Looking across from the village of  Ampelakia   to the winding roads similar to what we had been on. Whoa what a ride!!

The village of P.Panteleimon with views across to Mt Olympus still showing some snow patches if you look closely!

Pretty high up with the glorious Aegean sea far below.

De je vu - memories of Monteriggioni  (2010) !!!

Enjoying the crystal clear waters of the Aegean at Awokambos. The tips of our toes were on the edge of the steep drop off where we couldn't reach the bottom!

Looking to cool off!