Travelogue
Introduction - (1)
(All photographs can be viewed at a larger
size by clicking on the image)
 Since
the first day we met, we decided that we wanted to live on the canals
of Europe on our own boat.Two divergent individual paths had had
the same destiny; it took a sunny, balmy day in Miami for us to
meet and subsequently spark inspiration for the planning and hard
work ahead. Of course, a bit of a love story and romance is involved.
Maybe that's what "soulmates" are all about - an understanding
that your destinies are bound together and your goals and dreams
are the same. Thus we have subtitled our website "Living the
Dream". For this has been our dream for almost ten years and
only since August 2001 has our dream become reality and we can say
we are truly "Living the Dream".
The lovely idea of a Dream is created with inspiration and hope. The Reality
is made of Goals and subsequent Work. We went through dozens, maybe hundreds of
small goals to reach the Big Goal. One of the major targets was to actually look
at some of these canal boats after thinking about them for about two years. So,
our first adventure was bicycling along the towpath of some canals in France,
observing canal life in action.
That trip was a foray into combining the modern world of jet travel
and big cities with the remote, off-the-beaten-path world of canals
and their tiny villages. We packed our own bicycles and reassembled
them in the airport. Thus we were able to comfortably transport
them via trains.
 Our
first destination was Alsace-Lorraine, the town of Strasbourg. There, to our delight
and utter surprise we found a towpath that was beautifully paved which we bicycled
with ease for 30 miles to the town of Severn. Alas, for the next 30 miles this
idyllic path became more rugged, a little narrower, the asphalt eroded, the grass
grew and we found ourselves biking a six inch wide towpath amongst weeds as high
as our ears. But it was still there and we persevered. Even after it became a
small train track and led us through a three mile tunnel. You see, canal boats
were often pulled by miniature trains along the canal. That is before the trains
made hauling goods via canals obsolete.
At the end of the trip, we felt our bicycle trip went very well,
we had spent about three weeks exploring various canals in France,
mostly the Marne au Rhine, and others in the Alsace-Lorraine region.
It was May, very sunny, the tourist hire boats were out in droves
and we got an eyeful. However, these fibreglass fun hire boats were
only one kind of boat that European canals have and we were itching
to see more.
 So
we went to Holland a couple of years later. Why Holland? Many of the large pleasure
boats in the French canals (and work boats too) are originally from Holland. These
Dutch "tjalks" as they are known are often over one hundred years old,
built entirely or iron and last forever. They are converted from their original
"working" life to a pleasure craft. The length is from 30 feet to 120
feet approximately, and width about 12 to 15 feet. We saw a variety from the northern
Harlingen town in Holland to just across the Belgian border. There were no two
even remotely alike. Some had been outfitted, renovated, repainted and redone
to within an inch of their life. Others were just a mess inside, obviously the
result of overzealous intentions and under funded means. And some, well, were
downright bizarre. For example, on the first boat "Elizabeth" we had
to crawl around on our knees except for a small part in the dining area. It was
built for hobbits! Very beautiful varnished woodwork, but we are both tall so
it was a no go.
Then the beautiful, multihued and lovingly decorated boat which
the owner still lived in but did not plan for a shower. Nope. We
actually settled on a beauty called "Oulde Gesina". But
in the end we conceded that the Dutch barges were not quite for
us. Generally, they are very large and the canals are not always
so wide. So we returned home without a boat.
.....continued on page 2
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