Hello and Bienvenue! Now I am back in France after a good months visit to Sweden. Found the boat well and dry. Everything working fine when I came back onboard. Made me very happy, especially because a cold spell followed me home from Sweden. It has been below freezing temeperatures for about two weeks. The Webasto buzzed quietly most of the time and kept the boat warm. It slurped down about two liters of diesel (gazole in French) every day. Now, as I write, the temps have gone up way above freezing and not much diesel is burned. Nice! I spent my days hiking and biking the area around town. Good exercise and a way to stay fit. On the trails I am mostly alone, as the locals think it way too chilly to go outside. Compared to Swedish weather, this is warm!
And then I have had some bad days. The other day I ran out of gasol for cooking. I had already planned for that, and went to buy a new gas bottle at the local store. So far, so good. But the bottle, one of those blue Campingaz 907 containers, needs a security open/close valve. That I did not think of and I have for two days walked to every store in town that sells Campingaz. Nowhere do they have this valve. The nearest store that has one is about 20 km away, at a camper truck store. So I made the decision to order it online and have it send to me here. It still has not arrived. So I am cooking on the Swedish ethanol heater (stormkök) that I have always had onboard as a backup. Bit of a hassle, but it works. Let’s hope the valve will arrive by the postal service. That you never know!
Other than that I have met the neighbouring boat folks, English speaking for the most. A couple and a single older man from the USA, a couple from the UK, two Australians with a vicious dog, and two different French boaters. I happen to be the youngest one of the lot. We go out to restaurants or to a concert here and there. Next concert is on Friday. That means I have other things to do than wander about, read books and listen to music in the boat. Now I am just waiting for Spring to arrive.