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2+ days, showery, warm, colder, hot, etc
To set the scene, our final destination Port Pinche is not a port but just eight riverside properties a few hundred metres from Porte de Seine, itself only a few dozen houses with a church but no shops. Val de Rueil, with its shops and main-line station, is 3 miles away.
7 May: By the time we are ready for our supermarket breakfast, as we know there is no boulangerie within walking distance, Yves has arrived with croissants, pains au chocolat, a French stick and a large loaf!
Our mooring is as good as we can make it in the shallow water and we are pleased to discover that the main channel upstream has recently been shifted to the other side of the adjacent island, so the barges we had expected to be coming right past us won’t be. Or so we imagine. It isn’t long before one does come past though, but it is the only one we see doing that all weekend.
Following a great breakfast, Yves’ son Julien comes to see us and offers to take us to the station to buy our tickets to Paris. He is, like his dad, a really nice guy and his English is probably about as good as our French, i.e. not very, but better than Yves’ English which is augmented with many facial expression and gestures – charmingly French. Later, Julien prints off our Easyjet boarding passes and confirms he’ll take us to the station on Monday morning. It’s so good to have all that sorted out.
Yves’ Covid is not holding him back and he ‘attends’ an on-board round of bubbly by standing on the bank sheltering from the rain under an umbrella. When the shower eases, he insists on cooking an al fresco supper for us all, and jolly good it is too!
We enjoy a lovely friendly evening, mitigating the effects of the language gap with additional wine. Their super Jack Russell, Maya, also has a great time and picks Richard as her favourite, and vice versa.
8 May: A dull and cold morning is relieved by Yves arriving with another basket full of breakfast! We busy ourselves with some tidying and cleaning and the sun finally appears around lunchtime.
Full of bon homie despite Covid (symptomless thank goodness), Yves pops down to the boat to ask what food we’d prefer him to barbeque later on. We choose the skewered chicken and fantastic it proves to be, supplemented with further courses both before and after the main dish. And wine. No tea required later on, just packing.
9 May:
After breakfast we take a final appreciative look down-river then cram ourselves and all our luggage into Julien’s Clio (not much easier than Howard’s Yaris, surprisingly) and it’s off to the station.
Despite Covid raising its ugly head, we have thoroughly enjoyed our weekend with the amazingly hospitable Yves and Julien. Merci mille fois, Messieurs!!
The journey home goes well enough but not without some drawbacks.
Our first-class rail tickets don’t allow us to sit together in the crowded carriage or provide any free luggage space – and we have a lot of luggage. Eventually Colin sits in a second-class seat opposite our bags, thankful that nobody attempts to sit opposite him (no legroom!) or complains about the folding seats we are obstructing.
The fixed-rate taxi ride out to Charles de Gaulle is a highlight. The driver is simply outstanding, guiding us smoothly round empty Paris back-streets then gliding seamlessly and safely down the autoroute, always in the right lane at the right time.
Our airport experience is less happy. After an inferior bread-roll lunch and much queueing, we walk (Marie limps) to the designated boarding gate. We can’t help noticing a distinct lack of aeroplanes. After a while, we are directed to an adjacent gate, similarly plane-less but not painless. A few minutes before our scheduled departure time, and with the electronic board still saying ‘on time’, two planes taxi in and start disgorging their passengers.
Our late take-off means we will not make our preferred non-stop train to Teignmouth but will instead have to lug our bags around Exeter station and wait further for a local train. Oh so that’s why it’s called luggage! Generously, Richard’s son-in-law drives out to Exeter to collect us. Thanks Pete!
Story ends.
Overall voyage totals
1180 km – 738 ml – 184 locks – 168 hrs