Chet Beals and I plan meeting in Europe … at Chetar … prune Hill, Washington

Gol, at Tressigny Fontenay

Moulin du Cuchot with Montmayeuls and friends .. and wine …

Roadside frites … and legal moonshine mill for fallen fruits …

Leaving Dijon …

Vive la France!!!

The Menage wedding … Joigny … Stephane in white shirt, Charles in straw boater, Berthile in blue skimmer …

Breisach … the German ‘Junk’ in the sunset glow …

Met at Menage wedding …

Silent Night chapel … Oberndorf

Fancy beds … Oberndorf

Yacht club party at Kembs Christiane and JP joined us …

En route to Strasbourg … the entry to Breisach was difficult in the swift Rhine …

The barge Orinoko broke its back on the Maxau bridge at Karlsruhe … we decided to skip the Rhine in flood!!!

The girls were from Prince Edward Island and joined us for a drink

Jack and Wanda joined us at Strasbourg … and we set off West down the Rhine-Marne canal …

I figured out the inclined plane at Arrzvillers. See Gol in the tank. They hauled us up along with two bystanders … who signed on for the ride up …(only crew allowed on the ‘Lock’).

Pnnt-a-Mousson where the transmissions (Jaguar et al) were made. On the Moselle, north of Strasbourg …

Kathi and Wesley joined us at Metz … it was late, but we had a celebratory meal … and beer (not Wes, he was just 10)

Two local girls joined us for a trip on the old canal. Like most French they had never been on the canal in their backyard!

With cruising friends we had met at Kembs. Kathi supervisee the card game … I think we lost some cards …

Picnic at Heidelberg Castle. Ang and I went to visit the Ehrlichs, at Monheim near Dusseldorf. And stayed at a hotel on the Neckar, with flags.

We toured Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg …

Frites at Royale Frites … and nap after. Wes and I dealt with the dirt … and the nuclear study of dirt.

Back to Mertz,Kath cruises … Capt Malmonte was port captain at Metz … signed us into the rowing-yacht club … was pleased to have Canadian cruisers in his harbor. He gave us the club flag in black and white, and other mementoes.

The outdoor shower at Konz. The friends from Kembs joined us. It ws hot in Luxembourg. We broke out the umbrella.

We checked the river current at Koblenz where the Mosel meets the Rhine. Too strong for us, so we took the car trip instead.. Wes mimics George Patton at Patton memorial.

Kathis’s friend joined us and brought stinky cheese which we gave to a lockkeeper. Kath and Wes caught the train for Paris in Toul, after Capt Malmonte showed us the chart.

Ernie Obst’s (Prince George) son was a trainer-pilot on F18s. We visited the base at Lahr, saw the jets streaming in at dusk and climbed aboard in the hangar. He and wife joined us overnight at Verdun. Then Skip (green jumpsuit on the train) and Maudie joined us in Verdun.

Somebody said, “let’s have coffee”. I said, ”heck this is Rheims, lets have Champagne”. Which we did.

We saw the sound and light show on the cathedral at Rheims and on surrounding buildings, from our berth. It was spectacular. The Last Supper was one of the images!

Birthday party … with wine-tasting. I was really having fun.

Skip and Maudie left us in Paris. Don McMillan, his daughter and husband, Jack, joined us. Don was great! The others complained a lot.

Moored at Touring Club de France, Place Concorde.

Joigny

Young couple were architectural students and told us of the riverside buildings of Paris.

We had to tie up at the Eiffel Tower. The prop was fouled by a sheet of plastic.

We moved up to a mooring in the basin in front of the Bastille, on the Canal Saint-Martin.

Notre Dame. Ice cream parlor over the bridge.

We headed back up theSeine, and down the Loing for Montargis …

Sandy and Sylvia joined for a few days us at Moret sur Loing. We drove to Fontainbleau, Vaux le Comte and Barbizon.

Bill and Jean joined us. We drove to Monet’s garden at Giverny.

… backl to Joigny

One of my favorite pictures of us … at the end of our cruise … Below, Ang is roasted by the MC at the Renault party …

Harvest (the vedange?) at Cuchot …

… another favorite …

Pafsides and wife sold us the boat. We gave them an album of pics. JP introduced me to Chablis people, near Chichi. We thought the bus would never come!

… but it did, and we flew safely homewards to Christmas with the family at the place we rented in South Vancouver

Ang, Crystal playing cards. Christmas at Hughes’.

We bought the place in Aldergrove at Christmas 1987 and moved in, in the New Year of 1988.

Dr. Charles and Madame Berthile Menage … with new babes added to their fine family in 2005 …Joigny, France …