Sailing Into Paris

This blog post is about the most remarkable day in White Pepper's sailing experience—sailing into Paris along the Seine river-- around Notre Dame cathedral, past the Eiffel tower, back around Notre Dame and then into the Arsenal marine in downtown Paris at the foot of the Bastille site. But first a bit of build up.

From Barcelona Jan and I took the train to Narbonne, France. Our mates, Philip and Gillian, live in Moussan which is a little village out side of Narbonne. Narbonne is an old Roman garrison town on the Mediterranean coast. There is a lot to see in Narbonne including a cathedral, a canal side promenade and an old town. But for me the best site was an excavated Roman road in the middle of downtown. It was remarkable to think of the many Romans that trooped over this road so many years ago.

Philip and Jan stand on old Roman road

Philip and Gillian, ever the good hosts, took us to Carcassonne which is the site of the Cathar heresy, crusade and holocaust. It remains extraordinarily picturesque even 6 centuries after the horror.

Extraordinarily beautiful with great natural defenses

Memorial to Cathars dated 1210

We went to a nearby walled city (that I forget the name of) for lunch.

And finally we all drive to Migennes in central France. Phillip was keeping his boat, Zubenel, there. Migennes is a very pretty French town although the boatyard was fairly scruffy.

Park Decoration in Megennes

Zubenel in the yard

From Migennes we all drove to the magnificent chateaux Vaux-de-Vicompte. This remarkable house is the direct precursor of Versailles. When Louise XIV saw the place he was so jealous that he had the owner thrown in jail and hired the architect to start building his own chateaux—Versailles.

View of Vaux de Vicompte from the front. Note how you can see all the way through front door.

Jan and I pitched in with the painting and getting the boat ready for launch. Eventually she was ready for splash and off we went down the Yonne River heading north for Paris.

We saw many remarkable sights along the river bank. Captain Philip was cussed out in French by an angry bargeman who though we should have called as we approached the confluence of the Yonne and Seine.

In one of the many locks along the way

Angry barge operator

We stayed at primitive canal side quays or in marinas. The last marina was the Charisse Marina in suburbs of southern Paris.

Charisse means cherries in French

Finally the big day arrived. We departed Charisse Marina and headed downstream on the Seine. There was one last huge lock to negotiate. The out skirts of Paris are industrial as you might expect, but finally the unmistakable shape of Notre Dame loomed ahead. Norte Dame is on an island. We passed her along the Right Bank. Zubenel passed under all of the exquisitely decorated bridges that span the Seine. We passed the Eiffel Tower before turning around to re pass the Norte Dame along the Left Bank. 

Boats going downstream go to the right. Then boats going upstream use the left side or the "left bank".

Eiffel tower in the distance

Less than half a mile from Notre Dame was our marina—the Arsenal—in downtown Paris. The Bastille has been torn down, but the dock to the Bastille remains as one of the boundaries of the Arsenal Marina. The famous statue of Winged Victory on her column was only a few hundred yards away on Bastille Square. We had arrived!

Narrow entrance to the Arsenal Marina

Our view from the slip at the Arsenal Marina

Barcelona

White Pepper went to Barcelona as the first part of a great adventure in Europe with friends, Gillian and Philip. They have converted their ferro-cement sailboat, Zubenel into a French canal and river boat. More about that in the next post.

Barcelona is a magnificent city—historical and proud. It has an “old city”, modern clubs, a beach and marina. There is plenty to see for everyone.

For Jan and I the chief impressions of Barcelona were the Familia Sangrada Basilica, the Ramlas, and the architect Gaudi's overwhelming influence on Barcelona. Also the tapas were great.

tapas display at local restaurant

initial impression of the basilica

We had heard of the Familia Sangrada Basilica. The architect Anton Gaudi took over construction of the project in 1883 and worked on it steadily until his death in 1926 when it was about one quarter complete. Work has proceeded slowly since and may be complete in 2026 (100 years after Gaudi's death). It is a building of unique power and grandeur. I was prepared to be impressed; however, the actually experience was overpowering. These pictures are only a pale reflection of the majesty of the place. Philip say that when the building is complete it will be the iconic image of Europe. I agree.

The sense of light and height is amazing

Some details from the exterior

Construction is ongoing. 6 more towers are planned to accompany these 4

The other fun thing we did in Barcelona was attend the tapas festival on the Ramlas. The Ramlas is long broad boulevard that hosts much of Barcelona's entertainment. Think of Bourbon street or Austin's 6^th Street, just several miles long. At the tapas festival many of the restaurants set up booths to sell their favorite tapa for a 4 euro ticket. Beer was also 4 euros. We went for 2 nights.

The tapas festival on the Ramlas

One ticket, please

Beside the Familia Sangrada Gaudi designed a public park that incorporated his fantastic images.

                                          In Gaudi Park

 And all though town there are many homes and apartment buildings that he designed. These were not appreciated in his life time although they are priceless now. He eventually died in poverty, but was buried in the Basilica.

A copula from a downtown apartment building