A sad goodbye...............

Our last couple of "barge days" included touring the wine region of Chablis, along with the all important tasting, and visiting other fascinating local sites and villages, complete with small local markets.  Every day required at least a few hours of walking and / or biking in order to work off the "three squares" that appeared like clockwork each and every day.

 To say that our Chef, Hanna, was a magician doesn't begin to cover it.  Every meal was a masterpiece, and all created in a tiny little kitchen.  My new favourite breakfast is baked eggs and fois gras...............get the picture!  And the wines literally got better every day, with the final Captain's dinner including two major winners............2007 Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru and, the piece de resistance, a 2004 Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru.  It just does not get any better than that.

At our final dinner, as we said our formal goodbyes to the best darn barge crew on earth, I noticed a couple of damp eyes in the room.  Our Pilot, Akim, was unfortunately not in attendance, as he had been carted off to hospital with a stomach problem 2 days earlier.  Happily, he is returning to the barge on Sunday, fit and ready to go.  We have all enjoyed a magical week in a magical place with wonderful people, both old friends and new.  It was a week that would be tough to replicate.  Thank you to Florian, Janet, Hanna, Claire and Lola and the all important Akim.

The pics are:

1- Autumn is rapidly approaching.  The early morning mist, captured through our port hole, rapidly gave way to warm sunny days, each and every day of our cruise..........lucky us!

2- The medieval town of Noyers-sur-Serein provided a perfect backdrop for a small morning market featuring wonderful fresh produce that was on our table for the next several days.

3- Our gang prepares to tour Chateau d'Ancy-le-Franc, which contains priceless artworks and murals.

4- High atop a wooded hillside, protecting the Grand Cru vines of Chablis, we gird ourselves for yet more wine.

5- The aforementioned wine in the cellars of Domaine Regnard

6- Having "Champers" and canapés served each day prior to dinner by two delightful young women could quickly become habit forming!!!!!!L

7- A place setting for our final Captain's dinner..........did I happen to mention that our crew went to amazing lengths to cover every detail?

8- We were all sad to be leaving but they sure look like they were happy to be seeing the end of us............don't they?????

What a week!

The lack of reliable internet signal has meant no blogs however, here we are anticipating the captain's dinner on our last night on the barge and what a week it has been.  We may have started out with a few "skeptics" on board but we are now all  confirmed "barging people".  Our crew of six have bent over backward to accommodate our every whim.  We have a Captain, Pilot, Chef,......and what a chef, deck hand and 2 stewardesses.  I was unknowingly overhead telling Brenda that I had spotted a burgundy aged single malt scotch in a tiny shop in one of the Burgundian villages and, when we arrived back at the barge, one bottle was prominently displayed on our amazingly stocked bar.  One night a jazz duo arrived on board for a pre-dinner jam which quickly morphed into a dance party and sing-along, delaying dinner in the process.  No big deal to the crew!

The stories from this cruise will live on for many years I am sure.  One week of perfect weather has not hurt either.

The pics are:

1- The girls are lost in quiet contemplation................yeah......right!

2- Loading the bikes back onto the barge after a morning of biking around the countryside

3- Another al fresco lunch.........the meals have EXCEEDED everyone's expectation

4-Jan and Jerry boogy before dinner

5- Hanna, our fabulous chef and Lola, our actress stewardess, provide treats to "lock dogs" along the canal

6 - touring one of the many chateaus and abbeys along the way. 

7 - We biked ahead of the barge and took a pic from a bridge along the way

8- Joan "races" to catch the barge......................