It’s good to be back! Lisa and I have returned to Rabelo after an amazing week and a half of travel. Our favorite cites in the world are New York and Paris, and that’s where we’ve been.
We spent almost a week in New York with the Rubicon Theater. This was our fifth trip with them. Last year we went to Ireland, and enjoyed the Dublin’s theater scene. This year, we saw four great performances in the Big Apple. Our favorites were the Great Comet of 1812 and They Came From Away. Of course Hello Dolly with Bette Midler will always be a classic. Six Degrees of Separation staring Allison Janney was also excellent. She is one of my favorite entertainers. I am so use to seeing her on the TV series Mom, I didn’t realize whom I was watching.
The Ghost Busters building in the foreground, and the Empire State Building in the background.
A view of Manhattan from DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).
Paris will always be special. We saw a wonderful Pissarro retrospective. Along with an extensive display of his artwork there were photographs of his family and home along with many of the apartments he lived in for short periods in order to paint. Some of those apartments are still there, and I suspect can still be rented. It’s a little strange looking at a 100-year-old scene, and other than the cars, and the style of clothing it hasn’t changed a bit. It is hard to comprehend the genius behind his paintings. Standing up close you see a single brush stroke. As you step back that simple stroke turns into a windmill blade churning in the breeze with such grace and stature it is hard to describe.
A major kids playground in the Luxembourg Gardens.
We had some fantastic meals while in Paris, though I doubt anyone is surprised. I think our favorite was at Daniel Rose’s restaurant Spring. It’s not easy to find, and on the pricey side, but it was well worth it. There is no menu, but they do ask if there is anything you don’t eat and are happy to substitute. Because we were celebrating my birthday we splurged, and ordered the wine paring. If you love wines the way we do wine parings are always a treat.
Part of the incredible meal at Spring.
Our new captain Philippe picked us up at our hotel and drove us three and half hours to Saint Jean de Losne where Rabelo was moored. He said it took him five and half hours to get there due to traffic.
It’s nice to be back on our big baby. The cuckoos were going cuckoo and the frogs were crocking. Lisa described the frog’s crocking as squishy, garbled, or underwater bubbly. I thought they sound like an old man farting. You can tell how our respective minds work…
One of our many neighbors.
Rabelo’s giant front yard.
Our big baby tied up at her winter mooring in Saint Jean de Losne.
Thanks to Philippe’s hard work Rabelo looked fantastic. She was the cleanest we have ever seen her. Besides cleaning he had a number of things to fix. Philippe is a mechanic by trade, so needless to say he is very handy. Lisa and I are both excited to have him join us. For the first half of the season we will be heading up the Burgundy canal. It’s our old stomping grounds. We’re use to the canal, and yet it is still beautiful.
Our first lock of the new season. Lisa is talking to some new friends.
The mustard fields were in full bloom along the Burgundy Canal.
Big kids playing with their big boat. We are building spreader bars to hold Rabelo off the quay in Dijon. Of course I’m supervising, and Philippe is working.
Moored in Dijon. Our spreader bars work. The reason we built them was because we’ve had problems in Dijon with unwanted guests coming aboard. I’ll explain in my next blog…
– Tom Miller
Author of “The Wave” and “When Stones Speak”– Chuck Palmer Adventure novels
JUN
About the Author:
Tom Miller graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science in Geology. He is a consummate adventurer with over 1,000 dives as a recreational scuba diver, and an avid sailor who has traveled 65,000 miles throughout the Pacific including the Hawaiian Islands. Miller has also cruised the canals of Europe on his canal barge and given numerous lectures on cruising the canals of Europe, as well as sailing in the South Pacific. Piloting is also an interest of Miller's, and He has completed over 1,000 hours flying everything from small Cessnas to Lear jets.