We spent a very quiet and very cozy night tied up on the canal. After a very lazy morning we set off on foot in search of the ancient village of Vias. Vias is now of course surrounded by modern homes, but no multi- story buildings. It was a pleasant walk. It also was founded by the Romans long before there was any canal.
Much to our surprise on a Sunday, stores were opening and it looked like any other weekday, we loaded up a solitary back pack and the bags we had and trundled back to Le Boat, with
treasured groceries.
Once back to the boat we did our own thing until after lunch when we sailed the remaining few kilometres to our final port where we will turn the boat over on Friday morning. There we head to Montpellier for two nights before flying home.
We will rent a car for a few days and use our boat to get some sightseeing in the countryside, using Le Boat as a motel and restaurant.
*****************************
People and dogs...
I will not use any nationalities so that I will not be accused of bigotry. However, we are in France.
People all over the world have and dearly love their pets, we know, we have had dogs that became a detached member of our family. In one country in Europe, that I know of, it does not seem to be in the national psyche to clean up dog droppings. We always cleaned up after our dog did not go in his designated area on our five acre property.
It seems in one country they do not cleanup even if their cute little Shitzu does his business in the middle of a public sidewalk, let alone a footpath.
Perhaps there is hope for us fussy neat-freaks inasmuch as they seem to have doggy-bag dispensers in some place. Maybe it is generational and the younger people may learn to use them. We live in hope.
I have written of this before but it is such a nuisance that I had to get another shot at it.
**********************************
World War II...
In 1939 Europe was overrun by Germans and France fell very quickly. I have discovered the reason! It is built into French babies right from birth to have a siesta or whatever they call it here, between 12:30 pm and 4:00. The Germans knew this and so they planned their attacks between those hours.
Yesterday this inbred siesta thing was made clear to us at the lock that we and three other boats were trying to enter. The lock was shut until 1:30, so the lock keeper could have his lunch. 1 1/2 hours!!! Not as bad as the stores that only reopen at 4:00.
We arrived at the end of our canal journey around 1:00 today,
Dave did a great job of mooring Le Boat, backing it in and we were soon at our home for the next few days.
We soon were on a four mile hike to see the Mediterranean Sea that brother Graham is on a few hundred miles from us right now.
Dinner on the boat after we all showered and got used to life ashore. We pick up our car on Tuesday for a few days of touring.
This blog may appear disjointed and likely is, it was written at several tries over several hours. Also this darn internet is presenting some problems to me.
Our day in pictures...
No comments:
Post a Comment