Spring

We returned to Roanne to more of the very cold weather, with the temperature dropping to around -13 Brrr!  We had another snow flurry which was very pretty. Randy and Debbie had gone out, so along with Doug and Sutsan we decorated their boat with a few snowmen!

We did a trip up to Villerest and Chateau St Roche with Madelaine and Joseph. It was interesting to see it completely frozen in.

We then settled back into port life, with lots of drinks evenings, dinners, cards and Mexican Train. And so we drifted into March.

We had a very funny night aboard for drinks with some of the dutch contingent.  Nico & Ianne, Theo and Mip, Katinka and Scott and the o so charming Martin and Rhea.  This led to our introduction to some new words in Dutch. Particularly swaffeling.   We were then ambushed by this same mob for a very funny swaffeling night on Eendracht, hosted by Katinka and Scott.

                    These three 'graduates' performed the Great Swaffel dance' of 2012

                  Martin, Laurel and Katinka get into the swing of things...so to speak!

Now it did seem that the ringleader was Theo - who very foolishly left port and their barge De Swaleau for a few days - well no opportunity wasted!

On their return we celebrated Theos "big" birthday with a swaffeling party aboard De Swaffel - with of course the appropriate presents!

The coat for the grand reveal...Swaffel Ahoy!

                                    The mullet wig and the perve's hat...essential to the trade

                 Theo and Miep show how the men of Swaffel dance...beautifully of course.

             The entire Alumni of the Roanne University of Swaffeling...very illustrious!

These two are not allowed to sit near each other a public gatherings...you have been warned.

The frivolities continued with the annual BBQ at Artaix.  Many people went by boat and others drove up. The weather which had been rainy stayed nice for the BBQ but in keeping with weather expectations this year  got damp at the end.

                                                         Doug cook meat!

                                                              Katinka thinks

                                                              Pascal proposes a toast

       How many men does it take to move a table...as many as well jolly well please!

Mark had got us hooked on watching a Danish TV series called the killing - to which the whole port became adicted. Well worth a view even with subtitles.  There was a follow up series called the bridge shown on TV. So we recorded this and Mark and Katinka joined us for the viewing. 

A pyjama party for the viewing the Bridge

                                              AND NOW A SORRY TALE


I hadn't been feeling well for a while, and ended up going into hospital for a few days for a small operation.  The French health system is wonderful and looked after me very well, and I came home feeling terrific.



Over the next few weeks a few of our friends departed - it was sad to see them go - but heralded the start of another cruising season.   It is a very peculiar season this year as it had been an incredibly dry winter, and some of the canals were scheduled to be closed for most of the summer.  This made planning very difficult.  Little did we know that we would have torrential rain for weeks on end and the canals would be un-navigable as they were flooding!

                                                            Bon Jour Allouette

                                                           The beautiful Madelaine

                                                    Joseph in charge of the front of ship

                                              Theo flashes his credentials to leave Port

                                                              Off go Lynn and Bob

                                                             Our favourite Nancy

                                                                   So long Libellue

                   And finally the senior Service....Brian and Mary head the canals!

                                                                     AND  THEN

As I was feeling much better we headed off to Paray.  After a lovely trip there I got sick again necessitating a dash back to Roanne and another hospital visit....8 OF THE MOST BORING DAYS OF MY LIFE SO FAR!  This all went well and life returned to normal.

We decide to head for England to visit Cordelia and to see the huge Diamond Jubilee pageant down the Thames comprising of around 1000 boats. We drove to Calais and then the ferry and on to Cordelias house in Balham (where she very kindly donated her bed to the aging parentals).

The Chestnut champions were lovely and welcomed us to their home

We all did a mass outing to watch the pageant dressed up in UK outfits.  It was a great day out even if it was quite hard to see and a little damp.

We did a number of outings including Blenheim palace - Churchills birthplace.

Then we had a lovely days outing down to Dawns for lunch. It was great that Sue and Andy were able to come over as well.

Then back to Roanne where we have to decide on this years cruising plans.