Monday 12 September 2011

Week: 4th - 10th September

Reflection on the river Yonne, the barge Luciole moored further upstream.

Yet more fantastic skies this week, managed to get some great photos recently.  The beginning of September and grape picking has started in many of the vineyards, including; Chablis - Neil is excited! His tour takes passengers up into the vines to experience first hand the process of this great white wine from picking to finish - all part of the Chablis wine tasting tour - his knowledge in all things Burgundy and French history shines through. Neil has spent a lot of time piloting and steering this week, his skills improving.

All is hustle and bussle in the office, would like to dedicate this next section to the person who is behind it all: Penny Liley.

Boss, friend and mother to the whole crew. Working hard to insure we all have a job, filling the boat, marketing and even making curtains. Dealing with two teenaged boys while running a family business cannot be easy and both passengers and crew are grateful for the hard work and effort put into it all, and thus having an impact on so many lives. So, thanks Mum.

Week: 28th August- 3rd September

The barge cruises a stretch above Mailly la Ville, passengers on deck enjoying a whisky

A charter group of friends this week took in the scenery with Neil's tours. The cruise was nearly a year of liaising with Penny who paid a visit to these great fun clients (who one night even stacked their cheese plates - thanks guys!!).  Another day we had a bit of an incident, which involved our chef and passenger Ken, lowering me, armed with the boat hook to try and retrieve the excapee (as you can see).....Great success!



Fishing on the Luciole - for what?

Caught - a bike = new sport 'bishing'!

Helen our newish hostess returned to England for a long weekend for her 22nd birthday for her Mum's birthday and engagement party, this meant we were a crew member short. Francisco's lovely French girlfriend came down from Paris, swapping roles of being with the gendarmerie (Police) to helping Izzy, who kept the whole show on the road.  Thanks Iz!

All the crew helped out to make sure we ran smoothly, with me even doing a breakfast shift, I enjoyed this a lot, but I still prefer my deckhand job! Although a hard work end to the week, it was good team work, with the crew pulling together - the weekend was time to chill and recharge our batteries. Good to have you back Helen!

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