The Rally

As Peter will tell anyone who will listen, it took us 2 1/2months to travel from Bruges to the DBA rally. Well I’m telling you, it was well worth the trip, not only for the sites along the way, but this was certainly the best organised get together that we have so far attended. There was a total of 24 boats moored up along the park, all dressed in there Sunday best.

The site was one lock from the port at Auxerre through a manual lock and adjacent to a park.

The festivities kicked off on the first night with a welcome drinks party attended both by rally participants, local authorities and the members of Friends of the Nivenais. There we sampled the local cremant from the Bailey cellars. Not quite champagne but very agreeable. Just a side note, we are now in the Chablis area, so there is a lot more wines to discover!

And there was more to discover, with a visit to the Bailey cremant cave the next day to sample from a few of the 5 million bottles stored there.

The 10 acres of underground cellars started life as a quarry in the Middle Ages, providing the stone for such notable constructions as the Pantheon and Notre Dame de Paris, to mention a few. The quarrying for limestone ceased in the 20th century and the cellars were firstly devoted to mushroom cultivation and then from 1972 , wine production. The method for production of cremant is roughly the same as for champagne, though the fermentation in the bottle is only 18 months, where champagne is 4 years. Peter says the only other difference between the two is the price! And of course it can’t be called champagne as we are not in the champagne region. But just like champagne the winegrowers are pushing for the recognition of their wines, by owing the cremant label and protecting it from being used on wines from other areas.

Bastille Day is July 14th and on the evening before were entertained at the port with a barbecue and a 20 minute fireworks spectacular.

Fete nationals franchise is the French national day. With the shops deserted we went on a tour of the town.

Returning to Joie de Vivre it was time to prepare a dessert for that evenings up coming entertainment. Helen helped me separate the eggs and cook a pavlova. The event, a progressive dinner allowed us to meet some DBA members that we previously had not broken bread with. It was a fun evening, and we came away with a bunch of new friends.

Sometimes when travelling the canals you research a destination that is just a bit too far from the boat to travel to and explore. Guedelon is just one of those places, but luckily at the rally we had a bus at our disposal to take the 1 hour journey to this remarkable site.

We time travelled back to the Middle Ages to witness how to build a castle using the techniques and technology that was available at that time.

Commenced in 1997, the castle is being constructed in an abandoned sandstone quarry, in a forest, with a near by lake. The site was chosen due to the availability of the materials needed. After 26 years the builders are still looking at least another 17 years to complete the project. So how long did it take to build a castle in the Middle Ages, certainly not this long. After 40 odd years the English would have well and truely over run France! You needed castles to be constructed fast, if you were to fight off your enemies. Based on plans developed by Philip II, in the Middle Ages you could whip up a protective castle within a few years, using the labour of a few thousand peasants. Guedelon is being constructed by a small group of forty dedicated stone masons, carpenters rope makers and artisans. This archeological experiment has not only provided an insight into medieval construction but also has provided a valuable source of information for the rebuilding of Notre Dame de Paris, in the wake of the devastating fire.