Floating through Champagne
We’ve spent the past week floating through Champagne, leaving the rural Ardennes, home of dairy farms, forests and villages so …
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Locks … without bagels
So, we’ve been asked, just what is all this about canals and locks. Do they have to lock up the …
Feeding our addiction
At home in Massachusetts our dealer provides high quality product to feed our addiction. A year ago, the state government …
The wild mooring
Most nights we stop in a town. Most towns have a place to tie up, either a formal halte fluvial …
On language immersion, or drowning in silent letters
A word on the French language is in order. A word is about all I can manage. Not always the …
Disaster … and recovery
Catastrophe (in French with a silent “e”). Morning in Pagny-sur-Meuse, a tiny ville with only the barest essentials: a pharmacy, …
Under way at last
Today we finally left Toul and started the long meander to Paris. Our first day on the canals involved climbing from …
Ready to launch
We’re still in Toul, waiting to set off on the canals toward Paris. D-Day is now April 3 (or 3 …
Even the bad times are good times
Not yet a dull moment. Yesterday’s goal was to drive 20 minutes to the neighboring big city, Nancy, where Harvey …
The audacity of Hoop
Three nights on Hoop Doet Leven in Toul and we feel as if our bargee chops are surfacing. The transition …
Life in three piles
Two weeks and a few days until take-off and our lives have been sorted into three piles: Pile Number One …
The bags are packed, sort of
Departure date for France is March 5, 2012. The tickets are purchased and the rental car is waiting at CDG …
The schedule – a slight delay
The plan was to head for France in January 2012, live on the boat in Toul doing whatever work needs …
How do you drive a barge?
Forty years of sailing old wooden sailboats in New England, mostly with minimal engines, did not provide much guidance in …
The game plan
The Plan: Rent the house in Ipswich, Massachusetts for two years, buy an old canal barge and cruise the waterways …
On a barge in France 