We are now happily moored in the port of Montauban but since last Christmas (2013) - spent in a very damp and muddy Castet en Dorthe - we have experienced a year of non-stop change - mostly to plan but, to be frank, some which could be put under the heading "reality check"; and a rather sobering thought.
Firstly, the exchange rate combined with the French recession has proved expensive for us despite the slight strengthening of the pound against the Euro, (at the time of writing, is worth 78 pence - down from near parity last year) But prices in the shops have inflated uncomfortably as indeed they have in the UK as has diesel fuel (until just recently).
To counter this we have sold our 2CV (Mange Toot) which was beginning to cost a lot in terms of serious repairs - a sad but necessary decision. She is now in the capable hands of an enthusiast back in the UK being rennovated somewhere near Bath. Not having the convenience of a car has limited our ability to "go and see and get" which has affected Lucie more than me and, in a sense, it is a step backwards to when we started our adventure 10 years ago. On the other hand I have started using my old bike again and we make use of the excellent bus service found in Montauban.
Sadly, also in June, our elderly Jack Russell, Spud, suffered a tumour in his brain which was mis-diagnosed and eventually fatal. We miss him of course, as does his life-long pal Teddy - our Norwich Terrier - who also shows signs of age related decline.
During the summer we found ourselves conveniently moored outside the Tapas restaurant at Lagruere where we earned free mooring, water and electricity in exchange for a few piano gigs. We tarried here throughout the three summer months whilst nipping backwards and forwards just for fun, to all ports, in either direction, from Lagruere.
This bonus enabled us also to keep up Lucie's weekly massage treatments to help her bad left-shoulder strain. The twenty sessions by an excellent manipulator at Le Mas D'Agenais proved to be successful but the reality is that Lucie, in future, must give up the rope work at which she had become so accomplished. She now handles the tiller upon entering a lock whilst I zoom about risking life and limb with the ropes and ladders. Not quite a reversal of roles - more, as is the essence of our partnership, a sensible compromise.
The final reality check came before we left Lagruere. Lucie developed a problem with her colon which was diagnosed as acute diverticulitis ( all that lettuce eating, I told her!) requiring urgent attention and a week in hospital in Marmande. This condition, although now completely under control, has introduced a new and serious change in her diet which, on the one hand, is an unwelcome challenge to her love of garlic and high class cooking but, on the other, means a dramatic drop in her body weight - something that no other, let's say, more fashionable diet, has succeeded in doing hitherto.
We became good friends with our hosts, Allain and Christianne and their staff, at Lagruere and were mutually sad when we set off for the final leg of our journey to Montauban and our winter mooring. We left complete with Coco Chanel, our new pet stray cat, having been fed by Monica (our lovely Spanish waitress) and picked up by Lucie from the restaurant car park.
Coco Chanel has squeezed herself in to our hearts since then and has settled into her new life on board although, "falling in" several times, she has used up at least five of her nine lives doing the things that kittens do. Her colouring is very similar to that of poor Spud.
Unbelievably affectionate and entertaining, she can swim, loves climbing trees and is highly combative towards dogs. She operates the cat flap with great skill which allows her complete freedom to come and go as she wishes. She has already cost us a fortune at the vet, is neutered and eats like an elephant.
Here's just a few family photos as sent to me over this year - and just a few of many thousands that one takes throughout the year. What do we do with them all? Don't ask.
It would be nice to have a photo of Clive and Aileen - Cameron and Gabby - but I can't find a current one. Please send one....those in charge...so's I can add to this blog posting.
Lucie and I are looking forward to our next - perhaps our last! - life changing journey - to the canals and rivers of Brittany. We have only January and February left to prepare for this. The first stop is the dry dock at Toulouse in early April (29th March for ten days) for our four yearly bottom painting, followed by a long trip to Agde where we are to be lifted out on to a large low-loader; taking our precious home to St Malo where she is to be lifted in. There are 680klms of waterways to explore.
We will of course be much nearer to the Uk (part of the reason for making this move) and be better able to visit and be visited. So watch this space! Have a wonderful 2015; but remember please, that it ain't all plain sailing y'know! : Never- the-less
Happy New Year anyway!
....and whilst I'm at it, here's a few memorable moments from the less recent past:-