Winter has come early to France. As you can see we arrived in the afternoon of 2nd December at the port St. Symphorien sur Saone to find 200mm of snow carpeting everything including Matilda. Once on board the fire was started with a supply of wood left by the previous owners and soon the chill lifted. The central heating was on standby keeping everything just above freezing.

We have spent the last few days settling in and finding out about Matilda and our environs. Marg has been busy in the galley setting things to her liking while Peter has been busy around the boat working out a program of “Home Improvements” all to put our personal stamp on new home.

As we are port bound and stationary till early spring, we realised we needed transport to get around the area. We are 4 kms from the closest shopping centre – St John de Losne and that is too far to cycle in these conditions. We have purchased a 10 year old Renault Scenic, not fancy but will suit our purposes for local travel.  

Today, Monday 6^th has rained all day, the snow has gone and mud is taking it’s place, Slightly warmer, (+3 degrees) but we have been promised a deep freeze after Wednesday. Christmas will be interesting as there will be only three other barges occupied in the port over the festive season. We are looking forward to reporting on the wild festive activities from downtown St Symphorien.

So - keep in touch.

Peter, Margaret and Matilda