The last two days have been the same weather-wise; misty, cloudy and cool in the morning, the cloud burning off by mid afternoon to a beautiful blue. It’s then cool while we’re moving and hot when we stop so there’s a continual piling on and off of jackets and jumpers – from T-shirts, to rugged up – as we motor on.
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| Somewhere on the canal |
We made a market today! They’re on somewhere pretty much every day of the week but you have to be in the right spot. We pulled up at Ancy La Franc for lunch with a mind to see the Chateau we’d missed previously and ‘voila!’ there it was.
Di and I stocked up for our on-board meals; fresh sausages and bacon, a nice selection of local cheeses (including the cheese used in the best meal in the universe – see Day 29 ), fruit and veg (the vegetable producer lived in Tonnerre not far from the inventor of the best meal in the universe – see Day 29, and we should see his crops and orchards by the canal heading into Tonnerre tomorrow), three different local terrines (duck, champignon and pork), some cured sausages and a nice selection of local red and white wines.
I’d asked for half a dozen rashes of bacon, it was for a potato dish Judy was making. He cut the first four slices so thick that half a dozen would have had the boat listing dangerously portside so I pulled him up and in the process discovered that it’s “fine tranche de bacon” not just “tranche de bacon” – live and learn.
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| Di at Tanlay port |
At the butchers, a couple stocking up on groceries advise us on wines and the local terrine specialities, the butcher gives us a slab to try out (it was awesome!). The vegetable seller has only one tooth protruding somewhat from his lower gum and his work cracked sausage fingers fumble with the pencil stub and paper as he chats amiably whilst adding up the goods. He throws in a sprig of parsley, mimics a strong man and says it will make me strong. His wink to me with a quick glance to Di and back suggests he believes the parley has other hidden powers as well (I haven’t had the parsley yet as I’m not sure a small boat with four others is the best place to try it out).
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| Somewhere in Tanlay |
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| Poppies in the evening sun, Tanlay |
Di’s current book, “the bonjour effect” says that the French don’t introduce themselves till they know you, never ask what your work is and don’t talk about money – they like to converse, ask questions, engage in arguments about food and their language etc. We sat in the sun for a beer at the little dock restaurant in Tanlay and were joined by Bill from Victoria. After a fifteen minute monologue we could, if we so chose, relay Bill’s house size, cost and location, the price and design of the three recently off-plan purchased units, the number of people that can be entertained on their boat, Bill’s golf handicap and the names of the last seven international golf courses he’s frequented in as many weeks. Fortunately his wife came to inform us that if we’d only come two weeks later the weather would be like this all the time and, because they’re over here for three months, when it rains they just hunker down for a few days. Good to know. We went for a walk.
Tomorrow we lunch in Tonnerre…..best cheese escargot in the universe – again!