5th - 18th August

A scheduled two weeks off in Auxerre, to give the crew and the Luciole a bit of a mid-summer break and opportunity for a 'spruce-up' thanks to our old friend and expert painter Roy. Neil went home to his house in the Morvan. While Izzy, Alex and I went to London.  I met up with my parents (John and Penny) and brothers to celebrate my Grandmother's 75th birthday.  We organised a surprise picnic for 35 family and friends and I swapped cork pulling in rural Burgundy for the English countryside.  Thankfully after the good weather of the Olympics, it just about stayed dry for us too!

Cork pulling in England as opposed to Burgundy

Francisco stayed in Auxerre and gave the outside of the boat a new coat of paint. We also said goodbye to chef Dave who returns to his job in England after helping us out for the last two weeks - before our new chef, Stuart joins us until the end of the season.

The Luciole moored in Auxerre under the imposing Abbey of Saint Germain

29th July - 4th August

This week we had a family from Japan charter the boat. They were fantastic, both passengers and crew loved every minute. Language barriers required a lot of hand signals and the family were incredibly polite. The three youngsters helped the chef and spent the days in the wheelhouse, sat next to Francisco, the 9 year old even put the boat in a lock. A pleasure to have onboard, and hopefully my Japanese will improve before our next group.

The Medieval centre of Auxerre with painted timber framed buildings and imposing clock tower

22nd - 28th July

A visit from an old friend and past chef, Dave. A true English gentleman and pleasure to have onboard. Joining us to fill the gap for the next two weeks after chef Dan and Liane left to continue their travels. Francisco spent the week teaching various passengers the skill of barge piloting, he makes it look easy – it isn’t!

Navigating into a lock takes skill and practice

The Luciole as like most barges spends most the time going the way she wants and not the way you want her to. A long delay in response time between turning the wheel and her reacting doesn’t help, plus a 170ton moving object with no brakes takes a long time to stop. Built for the maximum carrying capacity (not to be aerodynamic!) and previously pulled by horses, steering her takes a surprising amount of skill and a lot of practise

15th - 21st July

Alex and Izzy walk up to a glacier in Chamonix

A weeks gap meant some well earned rest. Francisco visited Amsterdam with his 5 year old son and partner. Izzy, Alex and I took a car down to Chamonix in the alps where we spent the time walking and admiring the spectacular scenery - Alex even managed to catch some of the Tour de France and do some paragliding. Neil spent time at his home in the summer heatwave that has hit.

8th - 14th July

Bastille day fireworks in Clamecy

It was Liane and Dan's last week on the Luciole. A great pair who will be missed as they leave to continue their travels around Europe. Dan's food never stopped improving and all the best to the two in the future.

Bastille day on the Saturday meant an interesting drop off in Paris for Neil and I as we passed an army of tanks and fire engines after the parade. A firework display in the Clamecy port that evening meant that Dan and Lani were sent off with a bang as the fireworks exploded directly over the boat.

1st - 7th July

July already! A great week onboard with a family from Australia. An active group that cycled, went ballooning over Vezelay and canoed down the river Cure. Much fun was had by all, with hot weather briefly interrupted by a sudden downpour or two. The arrival of Izzy ready to cover for Alex who left on the weekend to see more of France was very nice, a crew memeber from last year and my girlfriend who will be working for the next 2 months.

24th - 30th June

John steers through Accolay

This week we had a VIP onboard - owner John Liley – who spent most the week steering the Luciole through the sunshine. His anecdotes and stories of past times kept us entertained. A man who many are very grateful to, for his part in hotel barging having started the company in 1976.  Over the three and half decades there have been many great times for passengers and crew alike; “This is all your fault John!” – to be taken as a complement after a fantastic week onboard which ended with Neil playing guitar on deck after captain's dinner and laughs all round. We even had a proposal - the Luciole wishes the happy couple all the best!

News on the canal; dredging is starting in front of the last lock, below the port of Clamecy. A digger and pontoon should somehow come to the aid of the many boats that have become beached in the last few weeks. Hopefully it should be completed in the next few days....... however this is France.