The captains on board our Corvette 130

Spring in Europe is magical and we were blessed with excellent visits to the delightful duo of France and The Netherlands in May. While the weather forecasts prepared us for rain daily, we experienced some rain most days – yet the sun powered through pretty much every day, delivering amazing cloud formations and lush, green country vistas along the Canal Bourgogne and River Yonne in France and throughout our travels in The Netherlands.

Our travels began in Paris, meeting up with our travel companions at Charles de Gaulle airport where the four of us quickly jumped on the train to Migennes in the Burgundy Nivernais Loire region. The friendly staff of Le Boat showed us our home for the next 10 days, a 32' canal boat with 2 staterooms and 2 heads, a small galley and inside and outside seating.

Ha! You may have thought this was the Delightful Duo

Never pass up a church or cathedral

Ancient bridge

Our travel routes from Migennes

Captains Mike and Marco led the adventures, along the Canal Bourgogne for five days then along the River Yonne for five days. We passed through numerous locks each day as we headed up and down the waterways; the locks were all operated by the éclusiers and éclusières (unlike last time we did a similar trip where we worked the locks ourselves). Waterways were dotted with fishermen, with their long fishing rods and extensive camp setups. The canal boat was a ton of fun, relaxing, exploring by foot and on our mini bikes.

The French are pretty serious about their lunch 'repast', so our travel was planned around the locks being closed from 12:00 to 1:15. You pick your destinations from a guide book that outlines the many villages along the route, stopping wherever the spirit moves you.

Trail to the church

The beautiful, ancient city of Joigny with its famous bridge

Each village offered different historical experiences and perspectives, some more active than others but every one definitely has a boulangerie (gotta have fresh baguettes and croissants every day!), cathedral or church and a barbershop; many had a pâtisserie with delectable, beautiful and enticing sweets.

Escargot @ L'Escargot

Departing our canal trip, we headed back to Paris, parted company with our travel buds and spent an action-packed tourist day staying along the River Marne in Paris, close to where it joins up with the Seine. On our way back from The Netherlands, I chose a place near the Arc de Triomphe, Hotel Perdix Rouge (red partridge) right on the metro line, also did the extensive tour on the Hop-On Hop-Off bus. A perfect way to see Paris since there's so much to explore and we had one day.

Exploring the River Yonne

Ahhh, The Netherlands

Our next five days were spent in the Netherlands. We took the deluxe Thaly's train to Amsterdam where we spent a very full, walking-intense 24 hours, taking the free ferry from the main train station across the canal to our hotel, a 1912 paddlewheel boat, Kapitein Anna. The ship was beautifully restored by a nice couple and though we didn't leave the dock, they do trips regularly.

Our main motivation for visiting The Netherlands was to see friends we met in the Sea of Cortez during Covid! We had "invited ourselves" as we had a week free after our France trip. They live in a rural area beyond Holland; The Netherlands consists of several regions, of course the most famous of which is Holland, which encompasses the main population areas of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. We stayed three nights with these world traveling sailing friends. By train and car, we experienced beautiful countryside full of gorgeous farms - pristine every one. And, more cows than I've seen in my life - even though I hail from Wisconsin.

We explored windmills, museums, parks and learned some of the history of their country. So many stories! We spent a day in Rotterdam, enjoying the educational and relaxing canal boat trip. We enjoyed fine dining both at their lovely home and in the fabulous town of Utrecht. It was an amazing time and we hope they will visit us in Portland so we can share our local attractions.