Canal archive

Thank you island lady you must be grinding your teeth inwardly but you are showing the most amazing attitude, I hope it does not put you off as usually river cruising becomes one of the most compulsive of habits. 🫶

🤝 oh well done 🫶

Truffle hunters come in all shapes and sizes this was ours a few years ago a real bitza but he resembled my very first dog - ahhhhhh!

Looking at Marine Traffic and the different companies reported ships draught’s, Scenics are so much more shallow, okay in the past Scenic have said that their vessels are the shallowest drafted but on a very quick scan through they are. If when your cruising you look at the bow wave of some of the heavier loaded barges (the ones sitting really low in the water) you’ll notice the side wave flowing down the boat this is where they need the depth. Upstream your pushing water, downstream your - going with the flow. On the Seine this year a tug pushing two empty barges it’s a good indication of the depth they require when fully loaded.

Yup quite proud of them mind you terrific fight back from your team. Justin Rose was one of our neighbours many moons ago when he was still an amateur.

It’s because of the variety of excursion choices that we’ve doubled up on two of scenic cruises and on the third we did the longer version. I must admit to eyeing the South of France yet again if a certain French chef is on board.

Yup but the USA fight back is well underway.

Bit of a boring afternoon helping DH watch the Ryder Cup, it does seem rather noisy!

If your a railway fan and are in Scotland and have seen the reports of the Flying Scotsman recently I can absolutely recommend the afternoon tea with bubbles on the Strathspey railway it’s supported and run by an amazing group of volunteers super afternoon, beautiful scenery and tasty Scottish afternoon tea.

Just heard the news of the floods New Yorkers keep safe and be careful all fingers crossed. ☔️

All fingers and toes crossed sending out good vibes to those pesky little water sprites.

Notamermaid these boats are particularly speedy for their day, known as Scotch boats pulled by two horses with a postilian, five days from Bath to London, 1st and 2nd class. On short trips like Bath to Bradford on Avon they even had a string quartet.

Typical Kennet & Avon Canal crane very early photograph taken mid 1800s. This particular one is no longer there but there are still several examples along the canal. The style changed from canal to canal at the whim of the canal engineer.

Not joking but it really looks as if someone has pulled out the plug.

Technically the obc is for anything on board that would cost extra as Kristelle has said you automatically get a bag of laundry included in your cruise cost which means the obc can be used for extra laundry, maybe really high end from the bar, that extra something from the on board shop or a little bit of pampering from the wellness team. I had a leg and foot massage so decadent, I really enjoyed it. Apart from the various Steiff teddy bears I’ve never left a Scenic vessel having opened my purse.

Notamermaid I’m now envisioning you wearing that essential researchers hat that all archivists have close to hand. Researching is a bug you catch it and it’s then really difficult to get rid off. Thank you for all of your fascinating finds.

We’ve sailed on the two top decks on Scenic but never in the Swans view cabin, had enough of them peering through the Swans hatch on our narrowboat when you don’t realise they are there it can scare the life out of you. We’ve also sailed on both port and starboard side mainly starboard but I agree with ScottVan and Kristelle it’s swings and roundabouts. Wherever you are and want to know what your passing take your info system used to be tailormaid now on your phone the info you get from that is phenomenal albeit a slight surprise when it suddenly bursts into life about a passing point of interest, do you jump up and have a look, ignore and carry on with your conversation or sit back and finish your cocktail of the day, so many choices. Although most of all enjoy your cruise.

Hello namesake - Lilly Maid of Astolat - we’ve got our sixth C vaccination in a few weeks time. Although not required on our recent Scenic Seine cruise we were asked to be vigalent and take care. Someone asked if we had face masks and I realised that I seem to have one in handbags, pockets you name it I found one.

On our Croft visit with Scenic 2018 we were introduced to Pink Port excellent out of the fridge on the sun deck. Mind you the Portuguese do seem to find some inventive ways to use Port in their recipes.

I’m feeling a little like a pin cushion at the moment recently had a shingles vaccine next week flue and Covid booster, the powers that be are sure to think up another one soon.

Ural Guy that Amtrak Rocky Mountains trip sounds interesting before we discovered river cruising train trips were our preferred getaway. Through Europe the States and Africa.

Raise a glass to Scenic Azure for us please jazz enjoy it’s a beautiful ship crewed by lovely people I hope you enjoy as much as we did. It got a little tight at this lock and our CD was the measuring stick.

I can imagine approaching this temperature on the Rhône we’ve cruised it with temperatures in the very high 30’s, the air con on board worked extremely hard and the extremely hot weather ended with the mother & father of all thunderstorms. The Seine is in a bit more temperate area of France. This year has been just a bit warm across Europe we were on the Seine in early July and although over 30 on a few days certainly not oppressive. If it had been I’d have been prostate.

Kristelle thank you so much you brought back so many memories, we’ve done this cruise twice okay sounds weird but Scenic change and add excursion’s so it’s possible to do the same cruise, as it were completely differently. Our first Scenic cruise was a short one DH decided this was not enough so yours was our second we’ve just finished our ninth or was it tenth and three were copies of others, I hope to do more as we haven’t been towards the Black Sea yet. Thank you for your reports really interesting. 👌 👍

If a crane can be cute then that one really is, so many different types.