We are now reliving our experiences through pictures and journals. That we had the opportunity to sail off to where ever our whim and the wind would take us, still amazes us. This happens especially when reading our journals, which details each day and fills in the gaps between the highlights that our memories still hold. Over and over we comment that every day seemed so full. As we've aged, we've gotten complacent and mellow and some entries actually make me tired just reading them.  So this is it.  The End.

October 1998 to October 1999, Bijou stayed in Roanne. We had planned to be gone for four months, but life got in the way, so it turned out to be a year. She was side-tied to a large barge, whose permanent home was Roanne.  Jim, the skipper, took good care of her while we were gone, but we didn't think that responsibility could carry on any longer so when we returned to Roanne, we decided to move Bijou to the Mediterranean. We knew we didn't have the time to take her there via the canals due to time constraints, so we decided to truck her. It was a harrowing experience and we still can't believe we pulled it off. BUT Bijou got safely to Port Saint Luis on the Med. and we had time to get her settled into her new digs. She is in a huge hangar-like building with many other boats.  Safe from the elements and secure from vandals.  

October 1999. Once we got Bijou settled in her new home in Port Saint Luis, we headed back to the U.S. and to a life we thought was going to be short-term.  But again, life had other ideas and so Port Saint Luis became her permanent home. The term "swallow the anchor" is used for people who have for one reason or another left the cruising life behind. And so it was for us. 

This is the last entry for the cruising blog. The story of life on a boat is over and another one has started. So many memories and experiences that this blog only highlighted with a few posts. Nine-and-a-half years was something we never thought possible and we feel so fortunate to have had the chance to live it.

We were privileged to travel in the Loire Valley of France. Wine country was special. Vines and wineries were common, most of them small and local. Sancerre was perched high on a hill that we could see for a long distance because of the white buildings contrasting against the green of the vineyards.  We were there during the picking and crushing of the grapes. A "heady" experience in more ways than one. 

Winter was closing in, and we had to make a decision on where to stop. We looked at charts and maps, and figured there was no way we would reach the Mediterranean by the time winter really hit, so we began looking at closer options. Roanne seemed to fit the bill, so we made tracks to get there. It had a large basin with amenities and was protected behind a lock. Apart from the shower situation, which was doable, it turned out to be the perfect place to leave Bijou after we decided we needed to return to the U.S. 

​November 1999. We made it to Paris and docked right in the heart of the city.  We contemplated spending the winter, but we found out we had to provide boat insurance, which was astronomical, so we had to pass on the idea. BUT, we did stay a few weeks and one day, we bussed out to Versailles.  What an experience! We had a wonderful day, envisaging what it must have been like in "the day."  Beautiful grounds and impressive architecture.

This was a real kick. Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower fame, designed and built a canal bridge across a river!  Here we are making our crossing.  It's one-way, so we had to be careful and not dawdle too much on our crossing. The river is 200 feet below us.  Each of us took our turn to ride and then to take a picture. What fun and what a memory! 

July 1998.  Top and above. We were in Dinant, Belgium. We had the worst time getting money here, but we did prevail in the end. Good thing, we were down to just a few dollars. But cities like this were a common experience, too. We were constantly pinching ourselves because of the history that surrounded us. 

ABOVE and BELOW: Not only did we travel under bridges, we also went through tunnels.  We're waiting behind a peniche and a small power boat. The tunnels are one-way and so that red light seen on the right side of the tunnel entrance, tells us we have to wait until the traffic coming our way clears the tunnel. They also have to pass us to carry on with their journey. Sometimes, that was hairy. Lots of vessels in a small space.  

Once we got the green light, off we went. Tunnels were narrow so caution was the name of the game. Boats don't like running into brick walls.  Making our way through the tunnels was a real rush!!

Summer 1998. Bridges like this are why we had to take Bijou's mast down. If we wanted to travel in the system, we needed to be "short" enough to get under them.   

In all, we did 257 locks from the Netherlands to Roanne, France, where we stopped for the winter. We often asked ourselves if this was a good idea. We saw some really outstanding things, but this trip was hard on Bijou. She was not built to be in a canal system, and she sustained damage before we finally stopped.