... it's been so long and we have done so much - to the UK and back

Our main reason for returning to the UK was to look after Sophie and Kitty whilst the au pair had a break and whilst Sian and Joe work their socks off in Ye Old Malthouse in Tintagel.

But first stop was Penzance where we met Ben to go through our winter jobs in his new property in Penzance.  We will be living there for a few months when we leave the boat (for good this time!)

We stayed in Penny's lovely Air B&B near the station. Two nights.

Whilst looking after the children we stayed in The Old Rectory near Boscastle.  To give us a bit of space after our full on days in Tintagel with the children.  Thomas Hardy met his first wife at the Rectory whilst he was overseeing the restoration of the local church.  I think he had his mind on other things as many of the decisions were carried by the builder, who generously replaced many of the irreplaceable fittings rather than repaired them! The house and church are very evocative, in a beautiful setting and the B&B was faultless.  Great walks in an unspoiled area.

Kitty thought the only good thing about this walk was pulling Sophies hair.

Sophie is of course the cutest girl in the whole world.  No one would disagree with that.  She is a little character and completely confident.  Just like Sian was at that age.

On this day she learned to blow bubbles properly.  In other words, she got the idea of blowing through the hole and not at the stick.

She played at this little tipi gathering with her friend Dulcie.

Kitty also such a lovely girl but rather a heavy lump!!!

Finally we spent two days at The Old Vicarage, St Clement near Truro.  What a perfect spot right on the River Estuary.

Malpas was round the corner.  A lovely place to live and have a boat with The Heron pub right on the front delicious food. But all small fisherman's cottages, a steep climb and no parking.  So that rules that out as a potential next move.  Also very expensive - naturally as all lovely places are!

 This is The Old Vicarage.  A bit more corporate than The Old Rectory in Boscastle.  Both really great places and we enjoyed our stay very much in both.

Plaisanciers on the Haute Seine

Plaisanceirs sounds like quite a nice thing to be.  Being pleasant and having a pleasant time.  We have tried to remember this as we negotiated the locks and the lock keepers on the Haute Seine.  They talk fast (in French of course) on the VHF radio and we keep out ears pricked for the word 'plaisanciers'. Then we know that they are either talking to us, or about us. In this way we try to understand what they want us to do, as we have discovered that a green light does not always mean 'go ahead'.

HEre we share a lock with an absolute monster and a smaller commercial in front of us.

There are many commercial vessels on this waterway, far outnumbering the 'plaisanciers' like us, and we must give them priority in the locks.  Fine if you can see them, but sometimes we get the green light and think great, we can go in the lock, only to find that the green light was for a 180 foot super barge that is a km away behind us, round a bend, and it is he who is getting the green light.  We (I) try to speak our best and most polite French on the two way radio, and hope we have heard correctly.

When laden commercial barges look like they are about to sink!

We have arrived on Montereau-Fault-Yonne and this is not a particularly attractive mooring next to a grain silo, having said that even the official moorings don't look too inviting, perhaps it is the rain that makes everything look a bit unattractive.

 Also a little difficult to get on and off!

Montereau-Fault-Yonne.  Where the Yonne falls (fault) into the Seine.  Large pieces of brown moss.

We've had a good few days from the Marne to the Yonne.  The highlight was the town of Samois-sur-Seine, a perfect spot with old houses along the quays, a French and an Italian restaurant, (guess which one we went to?  I'm sure Julian said he had gone off Pizza! One of these days I will get a decent French supper cooked by someone who knows how to cook!) Our arrangement whereby we take turns in choosing eating places is backfiring on me at the moment as my choices have been big disappointments.

Anyhow, enough of me moaning about being on holiday cruising the waterways of Europe and eating out whenever we feel like it -

Here are some photos of our trip from Meaux on the Marne East of Paris, to our current stop over at the very end of the Yonne.

A lock on the Marne

This is the small canal Orqu that provides Paris with half its washing water (not drinking water)

Last lock on the Marne before entering the Seine

Meaux cathedral in the evening sun.

Me on the bridge with bike

Nearing Paris

Liva aboard barges and a boat yard on the Marne near Meaux

The Marne/Seine junction, we turned left (South) away from central Paris

 Here we are in Port Cerises near Draveil, quite expensive at 33 euros and we were moored next to a new Piper barge called Leander.

Me in the woods next to a little footbridge

Port Cerises

It was hovering around 35 degrees for weeks and we often found little inlets by the side of the river to dunk in.  At these temperatures we weren't all that fussy.

We swam here - lovely!

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We visited Fontainbleu.  Yes, we actually queued up and went inside (I almost bottled at the last minute even though it was my idea, but Julian reminded me we were here now and we might as well go ahead with it).  It was overwhelming.  We got to the first state room, throne room, bedchamber...... WOW.  After the 10th or 11th I was ready for a sit down and I was fed up with craning my neck to see the opulent ceilings and peering into semi darkness to see the furnishings with their plastic coverings!  I did not take photos - would not have known where to start. 

We then wandered around the lakes and gardens  (which are free to go in)and finally got back on our bikes to ride down the grand canal and through the town of Avon and back to the boat. A thoroughly enjoyable day. Unless you go on a French guided tour of the palace, you do not get to see Marie Antoinette's Turkish bedchamber! 

A Selfie in Fontainbleu Forest.

Italian and French restaurants.

The little bridge at Samois sur Seine.