Seeing things - Monday - 27th July - Toul to Champigneulles

We almost didn’t leave, but the forecast told us unequivocally that the winds would abate as the day wore on, and we knew the river was wide and the locks were large so the risk of hitting something was slight.  Besides, we reasoned, if we tired of battling the elements there are a few little spots along the way that we could sneak into for overnight respite.

In the event we almost enjoyed the challenge, managing without incident or danger to person or property and wondering exactly how worn the day would be before we saw some relief.   Experience should have given us the answer:- There would no let up at all while we were moving, but a sudden and particularly vicious squall would come from nowhere at the time we were trying to moor.  The wind direction would change in an instant to be exactly opposite any direction we would want to move.    We’d get tied off in the middle of it all, blood pumping just a little above resting levels, and then not a moment later a deathly calm would descend and remain with us for the evening.

If one were superstitious one could imagine strange forces at play to discourage visitors to this little port in which we've only ever been alone.  Perhaps one could concoct a tale about the ghosts of the Champignuelles waterfront living in the abandoned buildings opposite, warning off visitors, wanting to be left in peace.   We pondered that for a time during the evening, and then we noticed the building’s reflection.   Surely the illumination in the lower rooms were just a trick of the light.    Surely. 

Splendid - Sunday 26th July - Day trip to Nancy

George and Karen didn’t hire a Micra, or perhaps they did, but when their car arrived it was well… bigger.  Perhaps not quite enough room for a pony, but enough for two extras none the less, therefore when they invited us to come for a drive this afternoon it took about two seconds for us to forget our plan to depart this morning, and to accept their very kind offer.    

That the weather was a little on the glum side had no bearing on this decision of course, although it may have had a tiny bearing on the manner in which our intended amble through the parks and alleyways of Nancy somehow transformed into a rather elegant afternoon over cake and coffee in the Brasserie L’Excelsior, where the staff, breathing deeply in their post-luncheon vaccum kindly found seats for us and treated us as guests despite our lack of reservation, or long trousers.

Red sky at night - Saturday 25th July - Toul

I thought I’d use a photo from yesterday, to illustrate certain truths in old tales.  What a delight the red sky was, yet had I taken the photo from exactly the other direction it may well have depicted lesser delights, the result no doubt of a red sky in the morning had we been awake to see it.   

Behind us, the half-dozen or so cars that stay in the port for summer were buried under the tops of several huge chestnut trees, and one of them was actually doing a fair impression of having a tree growing out of its windscreen, while at the same time its owner’s insurers on the other end of the emergency hotline in the UK, were denying liability as clearly the damage had occurred “on the continent”.  

But that was yesterday, and today brought some welcome drizzle, some unwelcome wind and a general feeling of “let’s go tomorrow”.   With all apparently in ship shape in Mr Perkin’s domain, and the trees ashore piled into a bonfire mound, it seemed that the only thing left to fix was the internet.  Having tried everything we could think of without success, the rest of the day was spent trying to figure out how to belt it with a hammer.

A drive in three countries - Friday 24th July - Toul to Luxemboug to Saarburg to Toul

While sitting in the Round Place yesterday making our little plan for today, Richard and Julie stumbled upon us. Since there was an entire back seat spare in our car which was a Micra rather than a micro, although some might argue after traveling for a day in the very same back seat that the two words are interchangeable, we invited them along for today’s adventure.   George and Karen as it turned out when we arrived back at the Port were mid-hire but lacking inspiration, so before we knew it we had the makings of a little Aussie convoy.

In a most undemocratic way, we told the others that we were intending to drive on random country roads, have lunch in Luxembourg, which I neatly marked on the map with an “X” for the benefit of anyone that couldn’t read, followed by an ice cream in Saarburg not terribly far over the German border but in a wending up and down through the grapevines sort of a way, and then and hopefully return on the motorway, happy and not too terribly tired.

As it turned out, it was one of those perfect road trips.  The kind where everything turns out the way the brochure’s imply it might and there’s nothing to write home about afterwards, except perhaps for the storm that hit us less than twenty minutes from home, but who wants to hear about that?

A drive in the country - Thursday 23rd July - Lagarde to Toul

If I hadn’t moaned about the lack of rain yesterday I’d be tempted to go on and on about it today.  The drive back from Lagarde, gentle, beautiful and protracted though it was, was a constant reminder of just how little water is around and just how quickly things that are used to a constant source of it can yield to its lack.  The outdoor temperature gauge, or thermometer as they were called in the old days, was also a constant reminder of why we should just keep moving in the air conditioned vehicle for as long as we possibly could.

Hunger eventually drove us to a halt, but we cleverly timed our journey so that we were within a few dozen metres of the we did it was beside the main square in Toul which is actually so far from being square geometrically that it is called “the Round Place”.  It matters little what it is called though, at its very heart there is a fountain and gardens which combine with the low humidity to condition the air, and it is quite conveniently we thought surrounded by shaded cafés with signs saying “Lunch Special Today”.

Here for the price of a cup of coffee, and perhaps a sandwich or two, and oh alright we’ll have a waffle and perhaps another coffee, we could sit all afternoon holding court, slowly forming a plan for tomorrow, involving spending much more time in the air-conditioned car, and perhaps ending with ice cream.

Maggie’s Birthday - Wednesday 22nd July - Day trip to Lagarde

The heat is still making things decidedly uncomfortable so we decided at the very last minute to break with tradition and not hold a celebration for Maggie’s birthday on the good ship Joyeux.   Instead, the mountain would go to (insert politically correct prophet of choice). We’d hire a car for a few days (buy one get two almost free) and high-tail it back to Lagarde and our favourite oasis, which admittedly when we arrived was looking a little less oasis like than usual.  There, as a special birthday treat, Maggie spent the afternoon preparing food for us to consume into the evening, and then the night, and perhaps a little bit of the next morning as well.  So lavish was the feast that we couldn’t help but wonder why we hadn’t thought of celebrating her birthday at her place before. 

It’s been a while since we whinged about the weather, but seriously this monster humidity free summer of mid to high thirty degree temperatures just keeps rolling on with no sign of respite in sight.   Relentless it is, it feels just a bit like home. It’s quite strange, walking across what is usually lush lawn to the accompaniment of that crunch underfoot to which only those who have seen serious drought can relate.  

Perhaps we’ll all be “rooned” here too.

A small wait - Tuesday 21st July - Toul

It will be a day or two till our parts arrive, so while one of us, no doubt subliminally impacted by the decoration in town, busied herself by sorting out our pantry and catching  up on ironing, the other just sat tearing at what little hair he has left, hoping to somehow regain meaningful internet connection with the rest of the world.

If it’s of any consolation, the problem seems clear: by and large the internet avoids our modem.  

This, according to the manual is not a good thing as is the news that no known cure exists.   Since even if it did, without access to the internet, it’s not possible to download a repair, either temporary or permanent.  The obvious solution is to lie on one’s bunk, variously reading or, in those very short periods when the noise from all the incessant cleaning and sorting activity abates, getting some sleeping practice.