LEA CREST UPDATE - November 2011

 

Busy, busy, busy !!
That's been the summer for us and, by the time you read this, the autumn too.

 

Hopefully the subject matter of our pictures this time will be a little different to the last ones, although it does get harder to come up with new and interesting topics.

 

But before that, its time for a little rant… and if I've had this one before, apologies…

 

A few months ago, I downloaded a programme that is of use to me.
Unfortunately it contained some adverts and, as it was the first time, I thought I was logging in for the programme itself so happily supplied some info about myself.
But I now realise that I had inadvertently joined the social networking site "Facebook".

 

Facebook seems to go through your e-mail addresses and contacts them, and then goes through their e-mail address books and contacts them etc. etc……….

 

So I now get reminders such as "a friend will be having a birthday this week".
Now we have 170 contacts in our e-mail address book which means that on average there will be about 3 birthdays a week amongst the people we know. So what? These aren't earth shattering events and we really don't need a message from Facebook reminding us if one of our friends has a birthday coming up. We also don't need to be told if our friends have mutual friends.

 

Please note therefore that we don't do…

Facebook, Yourface, Myface, Myspace or anybodys Face for that matter.

 

I don't generally contact all 170 people in my address book anyway and prompts from somewhere out in cyberspace seem no better than a virus.

So if you get a message from any source of this kind it is most certainly NOT from us!

 

Now, on with the show.

I thought you might like to see something that looks like varnish. It's on trial so if I remember, I'll keep you updated on how it weathers.

 

WATCHING PAINT DRY

 

We decided to take the car with us this summer so instead of watching the above we used the time to explore away from the canal.

On this particular day we took a trip up to Chateauneuf en Auxois and as Jo and Janna were in port we all 4 set off together.

It is possible to have a look around the castle at Chateauneuf and, as you will see from the next photo, they have very high levels of security to ensure that everyone pays the entrance fee!

 

HIGH LEVEL SECURITY

 

One of the most vivid exhibits in the castle was a reproduction sculpture of the tomb of Philippe Pot.

Never having heard of him before, I went online to check him out, so that I could tell you a little of his history. But there was far too much to tell so maybe you should look him up for yourselves.

 

The weirdest thing is …..he is apparently on Facebook!!!!

 

Now bearing in mind that Phillipe Pot has been dead for hundreds of years we think that this is a little odd to say the least. Is the world going mad, or is it us?????

 

PHILIPPE POT

 

One day, whilst we were in full swing working, we had an unexpected visit from our friend Catherine who runs a business called "Bache et Gromet". Catherine, who makes lots of beautiful canvas boat covers, was having a day off and decided to come up the Ouche valley for a walk.

I have to say, it is getting more and more difficult to breath in for these impromptu photo shoots.

 

CAUGHT WORKING

 

Our dining chairs have done very well over the years. We bought them in Mirfield about 8 years ago so Pamela thought it was time to spruce them up a little.

 

STILL WORKING

 

"All work and no joy" as the saying goes…

 

TEA BREAK

 

One of our main ideas was to get rid of some quite ugly black window sealant that over the years had oozed out a little. We also wanted something that we could paint over. It took a while, but we think we achieved it in the end.

 

NB: Anyone wanting further info, please send a eurocheque for €1500 to our usual postal address.

 

BEFORE and AFTER

 

Our good friend Peter Thorn did the original signwriting on Lea Crest and although now retired, we think he would have redone the work if we had asked him. Also we didn't want to offend him by just using plastic/stick on lettering. But after a quick telephone call all was ok and we're sure that Peter will be happy with the results.

 

MORE BEFORE and AFTER

 

Again, while some of our paint was drying, we went up to a hilltop village called Saint Jean de Boeuf to a "vide grenier" (car boot sale).
Pamela spotted this lady selling perfumes and, quick to spot a bargain, bought a miniature of some Chanel N° 5. She even managed to get the price down to €2 from the original asking price of €3!

 

CANAL NUMBER 5

 

Our next picture is of Chaudenay le Chateau, a fortified castle owned by Jean de Chaudenay in 1021 A.D., an earlier version of the castle at Chateauneuf en Auxois.

We believe that the castle at Chateauneuf was built by Lord Chaudenay as a wedding present for one of his children who married into another nobleman's family. Its alright for some!!! Our parents bought us a bed and a set of pans! Maybe the castle is still on its way?

 

CHAUDENAY le CHATEAU

 

I'm sure that the ladies in our next photo won't mind me adding it.
They were up and out on deck early every morning but I'm not sure what the ritual was.
They were pointing towards the sun, so are they sun worshipers I wonder?

 

HERE COMES THE SUN

 

As we stayed the whole summer in one place, we did bump into some really nice barges that take guests on this beautiful part of the Bourgogne. One such barge is Imagine and is owned by Malcolm and Lynne. Lovely people and if you are interested just click on the following link to see what's on offer

 

http://www.imaginebarging.com

 

IMAGINE

 

For quite a while, we had in mind a barbecue with John and Pat on Hoddy Dod. It seemed a good idea to have this at Pont d'Ouche as 4 of our mutual friends live in the Cote d'Or region and Hoddy Dod intended coming up this way anyway.

 

John and Pat came up for about a week so we thought a little sightseeing was in order.

 

The chateau in Savigny les Beaune was a good start as we had often passed by but never visited.
John had been before but as someone who had spent all of his life around aeroplanes, he was more than happy to have a second helping of all those planes.

 

We didn't realise how many aircraft there were in the grounds of the chateau but I have just looked on Google Earth and I can count about 90. Those are the ones in the grounds of course and then they have even more in some form or other inside many of the buildings.

 

John couldn't resist explaining the workings of the jet engine and thinks that the engine he was stood next to might have been one of his apprentice pieces, all split up so show the intricate workings.

 

JOHN IN FULL FLOW

 

I wonder if the plane in the next photo was where Richard Noble got his idea from for Thrust 2?

 

HOPE THE BRAKES WORK

 

Lots of other thing to see at this chateau…

 

Old bicycles, cars, motor bikes, fire engines and, when we were there, grapes fermenting in the rooms below.

This area is where the chateau's own wine is made and the fumes permeating through the floorboards meant you could get squiffy absolutely free.

 

CHATEAU AT SAVIGNY

 

By the 10th of October we had finished painting the boat which meant it was time to take it a little easier.

I think we did a good job as this was our first attempt at a full repaint and colour change.

 

PLEASED AS PUNCH

 

There are lots of places to visit and we looked forward to enjoying a few days sight seeing.

One of the places we wanted to walk around was Flavigny, famous for its aniseed sweets and for the setting of the film "Chocolat".

It really is a beautiful and unspoilt village with lots of quaint stone houses.

 

Maybe stonemasons were very cheap in those days.

 

We came across the street name in the first half of our next photo, carved in relief in stone, that would cost a lot today. And the carving of a lady in the second half, looking out onto the street from an upstairs window? What is she thinking about I wonder and what would it have cost to have her made?

 

WORKS OF ART

 

On another day, we spotted this lovely old bakery (boulangerie) as we walked around a place called Autun. Some renovation work needed next door I think…

 

STILL GOING STRONG

 

Autun church however was getting a good coat of looking at and, as you will see, the new stone carving is first class.

Maybe they stumbled across the stonemason from Flavigny who doesn't charge too much?

 

OLD AND NEW

 

Let's hope the stonework at the top of the steeple is sound! I wouldn't want to sit up there with a hammer and chisel… how would you hang on?

 

AUTUN CHURCH

 

In a different part of Autun we happened to stumble across this Roman ampitheatre.

 

Built to last of course and what better location for the football ground and running track.

How incredibly clever of the Romans to build it there…it saves on having to build a stand!

 

ALL SEATER AMPHITHEATRE

 

Back to our summer base, almost….Bligny sur Ouche to be precise, which is about 8 kilometres away. Another pretty little town with most facilities and a weekly market.

 

We had seen a little tourist information plaque being erected in the port back at Pont d Ouche and one of the places of interest was a hemp museum at Bligny. Some friends had been and had enyoyed the experience so a group of us decided to give it a visit (does 2 people constitute a group?). Our friend Janna wanted to see it and so did I, with my textile background, so off we went.

 

It seems that Bligny's wealth was made from the hemp business. All gone now of course but they have their history, the museum, and even keep a plot of land just for growing hemp.

 

Our next photo shows Janna giving a demo on how to make a piece of hemp rope…

 

MONEY FOR OLD ROPE

 

All too soon it was time to leave Pont d'Ouche.

Would we need surgically removing from the pontoon we wondered?

We spent most of the summer there and enjoyed every minute of it.

 

On our way back down the canal it was suprising that the lock keepers spotted the change of colour to Lea Crest. I suppose it's because the traffic couldn't exactly be decribed as heavy on the Bourgogne, unlike some of the other French canals (such as the Midi for example).

Even the lock keeper's dog was confused…

 

CONFUSED

 

There was no rush back really, so we decided to stop at a lot of different places on the way back to St. Jean de Losne.

 

One such place was Gissey sur Ouche, a pretty little village with lots of houses renovated and looking very smart. Of course you would need a car or a full store cupboard if you stayed here for any length of time. But as you will see from the next couple of photos, it is a very calm and relaxing spot.

 

SLEEPY HOLLOW

 

TRANQUILITY

 

So that really is the end of this update. Except that our cat Gromit hasn't had a mention yet.

 

Well sadly, Gromit isn't with us any more.

 

He was born with a heart defect 16 years ago, which didn't seem to cause him too many problems other than when the temperature got

up towards 30° C. and above. Then he would have difficulty keeping cool and would pant a lot.

 

Unfortunately this summer he really started to struggle and a trip to the vet confirmed our worst fears.

In all, from being his normal self and then taking him to the vet for the final time there was a gap of only about a month. So he wasn't ill for too long.

 

But this is truly the end of an era.

 

What a fabulous cat and great company, we really do miss him and I'm sure that the members of his fan club will too.

 

So to end this update, just a couple of photos showing what Gromit liked best when he wasn't out chasing mice…

 

SUNBATHING

 

 

LEANING ON A LAMP POST

 

 

Hopefully more in 2012.

But in the meantime, have a very Merry Christmas and a fabulous 2012

 

Best wishes from David and Pamela

 

 

Go to July 2011 update

 

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