The Journey -
More French Frolics on Rosy

But first ……

A RETRACTION!!!

A few days ago, I responded to an e-mail about boating in the Nieuport, Ipres (Ypres) and Veurne area of Belgium.  In it, I think I erroneously said that Rosy has been there, and had no problems with her draught of 1.7 metres.  This is WRONG, INACCURATE, MISLEADING and utter rubbish.  Rosy draws 0.7 metres!!  Many, many apple orgies

ON!!  ON!!

We finally dragged ourselves away from St Venant, and continued down the River Lys.

To any military historian interested in the 20th Century, this area abounds in evocative names, many of which appear in the battle honours of British, Commonwealth and American regiments.  Festubert, Armentieres, Bethune and Arras to name but a few.  We locked through the lock of Bac St Maur, where, at the nearby chateau, British troops put up amazing resistance in WW1.  We also cruised through Merville, which is near to La Paradis.  Read "The Vengence of Private Pooley" by Cyril Jolly, to learn how the some 100 men of the Royal Norfolks, who, in WW2 surrendered to the Germans whilst trying to hold them back from the Dunkirk beaches, were massacred.  Pooley escaped, and was taken prisoner.  At the end of the war, he was returned to UK, where his story of the atrocity was, initially disbelieved.  Eventually, the case was taken up, and the SS Colonel involved was found guilty at the Nuremburg trials, and hung.

At Armentieres we looked at the harbour, where I spent several days a few years ago, sheltering from the flooded river.  We had hoped to get a price for over-wintering there, but the Port Captain was un-available, so we will have to resort to a phone call.

En route to Armentiere there is quite a bit of industrial dereliction, and some ongoing industry, some of which belch foul smells into the air, and heavily coloured water into the Lys.

The Lys runs into the canalised River Deule.  We turned upstream and moored at Quesnoy sur Deule.  It was most uncomfortable.  The river is well used by barges, and they create considerable wash.  The floating pontoons can move both vertically and horizontally, and, because the finger pontoons are so short, it is tricky to secure a 16 metre boat.

To exacerbate matters, a person appeared, and, ignoring the normal formalities of "Welcome to Quesnoy.  I hope you enjoy your stay, and that you had a good journey to get here" etc etc etc said 'You must pay to moor here!' He wanted 12 Euros PER BOAT.  He claimed that other moorings on the Deule charged a similar amount - which might explain the lack of pleasure boats.

We left earlyish the following day, and continued up the Deule.  A fair number of barges went by, so at least the canalisation is achieving its aim of keeping trucks off the road.

Just before the lock at Don, there is a side cut that leads up to the old, disused, small lock.  Just short of this lock there is a dilapidated, floating pontoon, against which we moored.

We stayed on this mooring the next day, as we needed to shop for food, and we could get on with 'maintenance' - e.g.  painting etc.  Unfortunately …..  this was a Wednesday - a half day for most school kids.  In the afternoon, we were inundated with the local kids.

This experience decided us against spending longer there, so we had a gently cruise up to Douai, which is where this is being written.

On arrival, I indulged in the usual arrival routine, to wit:- cycling into town to find the Tourist Information Centre (invariably this is well sign-posted and, hence, easy(ish) to find).  There to blag a town map from them (occasionally one has to pay a nominal amount for this), and to enquire from them where one can find an internet connection.

At this point the summery weather expired, and the last few days have been overcast, very windy and rainy, so we are STILL at Douai, and hoping that the weather will clear before the end of the world arrives.

COOKING COURGETTES

On the website (www.billybubbles.demon.co.uk) there is a selection of recipes.  I've just discovered a new one.

I've always enjoyed courgettes, and often add them to stews, or slice and fry them.  But I've just discovered a lovely quick way to do them.

1.  For 1 lb or 500 grams of courgettes - wash, top and tail them, and slice them.

2.  Prepare some garlic - as much (or as little) as you like - by peeling and crushing it.

3.  Have to hand 2 tablespoonfuls of olive oil, and some salt and pepper.

4.  Also have ready about 2 loaded teaspoonfuls of tomato puree, and (optionally) some chopped greenery - perhaps some parsley, or green coriander leaves, or some lemon mint or whatever you fancy.

5.  Put a pan, with a close-fitting lid, on a medium heat to warm it up.

The rest of the recipe is fast.

6.  When the pan is hot, put the olive oil, courgettes, garlic, salt and pepper into the pan, put the lid on the pan, hold the lid on and shake the pan vigorously.

7.  Put the pan, with the lid still on it, on a good heat for no more than 40 seconds.

8.  Add the tomato puree, hold the lid on the pan and SHAKE it once again.

9.  Put the lidded pan back on the heat for 60 or 80 seconds.

10.  Add the chopped greenery (if you are having some), put the lid back on and shake the pan.

The dish is now ready - well cooked, delicious and amazingly quick.  Enjoy.

The other advantage of this dish is that it helps to keep the cocktail shaking muscles in top trim.

ANOTHER ICONIC FAREWELL

Right.  All ex-Omani hands …… stand by for this!!

Every now and again, things get found on 'Rosy' that stir up old memories. 

I was having a clear-out, and came across a plastic bag, of the sort given away by supermarkets - except that this one was a bit larger and stronger than the norm.

It is the last one of my Al Fair supermarket bags - branches in Qurum, Madinat Qaboos, Ruwi, Wadi Kabir, Shati al Qurum and Al Khuwair.  It brought a tear to the eye, and a heartful of happy memories.

Toodle pip!!

Bill