Russia. The first day.

Tuesday 23^rd September and we were off to Russia.   

We boarded the St Peter line Princess Maria for our overnight crossing to St Petersburg. Helen organised this tour for us and it included the overnight ferry trip both ways, two nights in a good hotel in St Petersburg and virtually three days of organised sightseeing tours with our personal guide and chauffeur. We were picked up at the ferry when we arrived and dropped back there on departure.

On our first day, we visited the Catherine Palace which was the summer residence of the Tsars. Built during the 18th and 19th centuries this palace was plundered and all but demolished by the Germans during the 2nd World War. It is being faithfully re-created to its 19th century splendour. It is about 25 kilometres east of St Petersburg and was built to be out of the smog and dreariness of the big city in winter.

Peter admires samples of the cornice decorations. They are being reproduced in timber and then gilt.

The floors are parquetry of the highest standard (they are mostly original).

This hall has a painted canvas ceiling, most of which is original.

These enormous ornate tile fire places are an early form of space heating.

Various rooms were used for dining and their décor was complete, down to matching crockery, table decorations and napery.

The gardens of the palace were extensive and we had a cool but sunny afternoon to admire them.

We retired to our hotel, the Angleterre, and after settling in, wandered around our environment.

Directly opposite our hotel was St Isaacs Cathedral. This massive structure was built in 1818 by Tsar Alexander 1st on a site that had had four churches previously. It took 40 years to complete. The building is supported by 10,000 tree trunks set as piles into the marshy soil. It is currently being checked regularly as the weight of the granite structure is causing subsidence.

The cathedral’s main dome rises over 100 metres. It is plated in many tonnes of gold which was applied as a toxic mercury amalgam. This caused the deaths of some sixty workers.

The Cathedral is rarely used for religious purposes these days and stands as a museum to the Russian Orthodox Church.

After a nice meal at a local restaurant we returned to the hotel and relaxed. We have another large day tomorrow.

We will invite you to join us then so we will keep in touch.

Rushin to Russia

We arrived back in Nancy on Wednesday 16^th September and after over six months away, noticed some changes in the town. Notably, the new building at the end of the port has now a stainless steel cladding and “eyebrows” over its teardrop windows. Currently four years in construction and still some way to go, it is already a dramatic building.

Other places of interest around the town, many years older still have their attraction. We took a tour with Helen and Peter and they enjoyed the town as we do.

Stanislas Square is still wonderful. We wandered through there into town the evening of our arrival and Helen was really taken by the ambience.

The fountains in the corners are always impressive.

Next morning we were in town again admiring the square and other places.

This beautiful old bandstand is in the Park de la Pepiniere behind the square.

The Daum showroom, in the square, has a new range of their products.

Beautiful pieces of art in glass. Enlarge the bottom one and read the price tags. Check out the horse!

Our stay in Nancy was short. We were off to Russia. Peter M has had the need to visit St Petersburg and this seemed the right time.

On Saturday we caught a train to Paris and boarded a plane to Helsinki. We spent a few days there.

The churches have a very eastern orthodox influence in their architecture.

We visited a street market at the main port, Peter was looking at some local tee shirts. The figure in the background caught our eye.

Some tongue-in-cheek Finnish sculpture.

We visited this stadium, site of the 1952 Olympic games – the second after the war, climbed the tower (took the lift!) and admired the view.

Australia participated at these games coming 9^th in the medal count with 6 gold, 3 silver and 13 bronze. Marjorie Jackson and Shirley Strickland were the Australian stars, breaking records in their events.

Our accommodation was at the GLO Art hotel, set in this old building which was close to town and the ferry port. OnTuesday afternoon we board the overnight ferry to St Petersburg.

There will be more to tell so we will keep in touch.

Auxonne revisited

We are no strangers to Auxonne. We often visited the town during our first winter spent on Matilda in St Symphorien and it has been a welcome port on other occasions. It is where Napoleon Bonaparte attended military school in his younger years and the town still has a military presence. It is one of Vauban’s fortifications and still has many historic buildings from that time.

We were here to meet Marg’s sister and brother, Helen and Peter.

They arrived by train from Paris on Tuesday 2^nd September and we struggled back to Matilda with their cases. They would be with us for quite some time.

On Wednesday we set off. We were travelling up the Saone to Corre then the Vosges Canal to Neuves-Maisons then the Moselle to Frouard and the canal de la Marne au Rhin to Nancy.

We called into Gray and admired some of the historic buildings in this town.

The old hospital with its central circular chapel and modern (19^th century) front wing has always drawn us.

The climb to the Marie’s office with its classic Burgundian roof was well worth the effort.

Mornings on the river were often cool and misty. Quiet and somehow romantic.

The hotel barges often cruise this part of the river and here, we had to wait for Jeanine to leave a lock.

We were now in the Haute Saone and small villages such as the one above dotted the country. Grand buildings and fortifications everywhere. We stopped for the evening and walked around one such town. Scey sur Saone was about a kilometre walk from our mooring and there we found a variety of  buildings.

Grand houses - 

and this wonderful old building with some extensive detail sculpturing. Unfortunately it is showing the ravages of time. We also found the most amazing junk shop that had about six rooms (that we saw) full of wonderful treasure!! Fortunately we didn’t buy anything.

That evening we returned to the port and had a wonderful meal at this restaurant. Alfresco on a balmy evening.

We were soon on the Canal de l’Est – southern branch, known as the canal des Vosges. This is a canal 121 kilometres long that connects the Saone River at Corre to the Moselle river at Neuve-Masons. Originally part of the main North/South freight route it connected the Med with France’s industrial areas in the north. It climbs over the Vosges hills and reaches a height of 360 metres above sea level, the second highest canal in France. The valley that it follows from Corre to the summit had many industries in it including textiles, mining and iron works. It has been exploited since roman times. They had thermal baths at Bains-les-Bains, a village in the valley. There is currently a modern facility there where one can “take to the waters”

We stayed the night at Fontenoy-le-Chateau and in our wanderings came to the local church. This photo from inside shows some wonderful windows as well as some graffiti on a pew, engraved in a style long gone. (the wood borer have been active too)

We stopped at Nomexy for lunch and took a stroll into the ancient town of  Chatel sur Moselle. There are ruins here of an ancient castle and stronghold. We had been before but Helen needed to see it all. Unfortunately the site was not open and we had to continue on. Helen was intrigued with this mosaic in the town square.

 

The excavation and restoration of the old castle continues and is well worth a visit.

We arrived at the end of the canal des Vosges and entered the port of Neuves Maisons, a major French industrial town. A large steel mill at the port takes barge loads of scrap steel to re-convert to usable product. There were four of these barges in port as we went through.

Once again, we were in Big Ship country the locks were dramatically large.

Not much later we were in Nancy – relaxing.

Our trip from Auxonne has not been rushed but has taken us 14 days. We travelled about 303 kilometres and passed through 121 locks, 54 in three days. We are due for a break.

A few days to relax and we are off on another adventure. We are going to Russia. There will be more to tell, so we will keep in touch.