What a welcome Home!

Revenge is sweet say our friends!

After a wonderful month in Australia, where it was great to catch up with the family and friends, we flew back to Paris for a couple of nights and then down to Roanne.

Randy and Debbie very kindly picked up the unsuspecting travelers at the station and brought us back to the port.

As we neared our boat there seemed to be a lot of people around and the boat was fenced off with red tape!

Lambs to the slaughter!

It started well, but something was amiss.

It appeared as though our boat had been impounded! It appeared that our "business" activities had come to the authorities attention.

All the clues were there....a computer clearly branded as Hewitt-Packard

Samples of the kind of merchandise Laurel was offering!

It was aright 'cop' piles of work stacked outside the barge!

The 'Gendames' were obliged to tape the offending areas....and issue 'official' documentation outlining the case against those frightful tax-avoiders......the Hewitts

They had enough evidence for a rock solid case.

Blatant advertising for a home barge business.

Was there no shame?

Prices clearly aimed at putting honest French dog coat knitters out of business.

Then as we were greeting our friends a gendarme was spotted approaching

Oh O....Gendarme Alain getting ready to issue the summons.

There was to be no mercy. The gathering crowd gave their support.

He presented me with official papers from the tax office demanding money! And arrested Laurel!

And our so-called friends just stood around...and laughed! How could they...

Someone, say possibly the impossible wife of a polyglot, plus a well known US dissident,had prepared all the documentation ..on official notepaper....we owed the City of Roanne about 16 thousand euros...good luck with collecting that says we and ran for help to our supporters.

Then it was time to say hello to our plotters...and boy do these faces look guilty!