Back into Switzerland

We made it..   me in the car (with a slight scrape on the side), Peter on the motor scooter..  970 kms across France into Switzerland.  Peter enjoyed the ride except for the rainy bits which were intermittent.

Now our little apartment is FULL of boat personal stuff..  and I have to get everything put away somewhere before Saturday.  At that time, our apartment is rented out for a week and PV and I are going to stay in a small studio apartment owned by Peter and Anne Pigott.

Having our apartment rented out to strangers while we are here is a pain in the ass, however, on the up side, it does make one get rid of unnecessary belongings!

Meanwhile..  Peter accidentally dropped his Iphone in the toilet while he had the 'torch app' on and it fried itself.  Remarkably, the Australian sim card still works.  So the sim is in my Australian phone and I am using our Swiss phone!  We will go into Sion today and probably buy a new Iphone.  Peter's Iphone needed updating anyway as it was about 6 or 7 years old.

Below is a picture of me on an Alpine walk behind our apartment and very much up the mountain.

Avignon

We left Mazemet on Wednesday morning in the rain.  We travelled for 1 hour before the drizzle started to lift and we could see patches of blue sky.  Peter's new rain gear kept him dry.

On the way to Avignon, we stopped at Aigue Mort (dead water), which is at the mouth of the Rhone Delta in the Camargue.  Aigue Mort is a walled town and was set up for the departure of the crusades, over the sea.  Today, they are known for their 'Camargue Salt', which they harvest from the sea.

Then we visited St. Marie du Mer...  a village on the ocean that has been taken over by gypsies.  There were gypsy caravans, vans, motorhomes, etc., everywhere.  The town was so packed with gypsies, tourists, fun fair, festival stalls, tourists, cows, horses, etc...  we could hardly drive through.  We certainly couldn't park the car anywhere...  so we just kept on going.  But it was very colourful!

We got to Avignon, another walled town, at 6:00 pm and stayed with Monique Lavigne, our French friend.  Weather has now turned hot!

We stayed with Monique for three nights, visiting amazing cities during the day.  Les Bau (perched on a rock face), Roussillon (purported to be one of the prettiest villages in France..  and it was) and we drove through the 'Alpettes'...  small mountains, I guess.  We also had a fantastic picnic on the grounds of the Sanitorium that Van Gogh once checked himself into when he went a little crazy.

Peter is traveling on the Motor Scooter

We were staying on a friend's boat, Syracuse.  Our plan is to drive across France slowly...  me in the car with our personal things, PV on the 125cc motor scooter.  On our intended departure day, Peter wanted to leave immediately in the rain!  I tried to persuade him no, but he was 'ready to go', so we set off at about 11:00 in the morning.  I didn't like it at all.  Our car is packed so full, I can only see out of the side mirrors..  so keeping an eye on Peter as he was following me, was difficult.  We stayed on back roads, so I was following the GPS, going slower than normal (with cars close on my tail), trying to keep Peter in view and driving in the rain.  None of it was any fun!

But the good news was that we finally stopped at the town of Mazemet (60 kms north of Carcassone), which used to be a Cathar stronghold.  The tourist bureau was also a Cathar museum, so we visited this and read about the history.  We then found a "chambre d'hote' called The Grand Maison...  wow...  We have a huge room, 12 foot ceiling, fireplace at one end, modern bathroom with huge bath and queen size bed!  And this is attached to a salon with sofas, books, and TV.  We also have free wifi and secure parking in the garden (next to the swimming pool)...  and the cost of €60 ($77) per night includes breakfast!  Really good value for France.

Meanwhile...  we went to a sports store and Peter bought a really good 'impermeable' (rain gear) so we can continue our journey if the rain eases to a drizzle.

But...  we have been here for 3 days and it is still black outside, very cold and windy, and still pouring rain.  It is supposed to clear up by tomorrow morning.  Fingers crossed.

Mazemet - Cathar Country

We left the boat Syracuse, and headed out of town today....  on the slow road to Switzerland.  Mind you, before we left the boat, we washed, swept, polished, cleaned, vaccumed, swabbed decks, etc. so that the owners could be happy that their boat was left in a very tidy condtion, indeed!

We have managed to get all of our personal possessions from Zee Otter, squeezed into our car.  Not one inch of space was left, but the good news is we didn't have to purchase a trailer!   I am driving the car (with a GPS), and Peter is following with the motor scooter.  Today was not an easy day.  It rained 90% of the time.  I was trying to watch the road, read the GPS, and make sure Peter was still in my side mirror all at the same time (Can't see out the rear view mirror.. too much stuff).  I didn't like it one little bit...  and when we finally stopped, Peter was soaked to the skin.  His jacket couldn't stand up to the rain.

But good news...  we stopped at the most wonderful 'chambre d'hote' in the village of Mazemet.  The chambre d'hote is the equivalent to our B&B, and it is called Le Grande Maison (no translation needed)!  Our bedroom has 12 foot ceilings, a fire place, a huge tub and a modern bathroom.  We have decided to stay two nights because rain is falling yet again and forecast for all of tomorrow.

But Mazemet is a 'Cathar' town, and I am really interested in the history of the Cathars.  So tomorrow we will visit some museums, some ancient Cathar strongholds, and most of all...  we will visit a store to buy Peter a really waterproof riding jacket.

Bilbao Guggenheim Museum

Peter and I, and two friends from another boat, drove to Spain 2 days ago.  Yesterday, we went to see the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

Building was thrilling, but it was full of modern art...  and as Marshall Macluen once said, 'Art is anything you can get away with.'  I didn't understand or like the art at all.

Today, we are going to drive back to France via the northern coast of Spain.  Weather is cool and sunny.

Barge is officially owned by Jon and Di Rayner

Well, the new owners took the barge out of dry dock and down the canal. Money is in our bank account. I visited the barge yesterday and I was delighted.  The outside was 'touched up' with paint, and inside...  Di had a square coffee table in the middle of the living room, and she had changed the yellow sofa by using a 'throw rug' and new pillows.  It looked great.  They also already had their own pictures on the walls.  Overall, the ambiance was still warm and friendly and the barge has had a face-lift.

So we now well and truly have said good-bye to Zee Otter.  I have mixed feelings.  I will miss the life-style, but we are now planning new adventures around the world.  We are definitely going back to Brazil next year, as well as Argentina!

Next week we are driving to Boa, Spain to visit the Guggenheim museum.

The immediate problem, however,  is getting all of our stuff out of storage and back to Switzerland.

Money for barge NOT in bank yet!

Due to a series of hiccups, a bank holiday in England on Monday, and a National Holiday in France on Tuesday, the money has not been transferred as yet.  We are sure everything is OK, but now we have moved out of the barge, the new owners are living on her...  and we haven't been paid!  Wouldn't happen if someone was buying a house!  Oh well....  we live and learn.

Sun is shining and we had a beautiful lunch with wine on the back deck of Syracuse.  Then we both promptly went to sleep and had an afternoon nap!  Now I am up and after writing this little blog, I will start going through our things to reduce the 'stuff'.  I have 3 piles...  that which is going back to Australia, that which is going to Switzerland, and that which is going to 'charity'.  We hope to be able to pack our car and not have to purchase a trailer.

Final payment on barge is tomorrow

Well, we are going tomorrow for our final visit to the barge and to collect the last payment.

We are on a friend's boat at the moment...  they are from Tasmania and due to his illness, can't make it over to France this year.  They are putting the barge on the market and it has to be delivered from one port to another, a 3 day trip.  So we are slaving away (chuckle-chuckle) moving the boat down the canal!  How lucky can we get.  We leave our barge and walk onto another boat!

We will stay on this boat (named Syracuse) for another 2 weeks before gathering up all of our belongings from the barge (which are packed in boxes and sitting in another friend's garage in Toulouse) and taking them back to Switzerland.

Future plan is for us to buy a small trailer and I will drive our car and trailer behind Peter on the scooter, through the South of France, and then up to Switzerland.  We figure it will take a week.  We will go on smaller roads and only travel maybe 250 kms per day.  If it rains, we won't travel at all.  We will stay in Chambre d'Hotes along the way, the French equivalent to a B&B.  Doesn't that sound like good fun?!!