Luciole Blog

11th - 17th September 2016

Another week aboard the Luciole, another week of peace and serenity surrounded by the natural majesty of Burgundy. We had with us a full boat of 14 passengers, a combination of Brits and Americans, all strangers to begin with but that lack of familiarity soon melted away as it always does. Roughly around the time main courses are served on the first night, as the wine is beginning to flow and the festivities are starting, you wouldn't believe you were witnessing a group of strangers dining together, not amongst all the chatter and chuckles of laughter. By friday everyone was practically inseperable, spending all day as a unit. That is aside from one member of the group, Keith, who spent a good deal of his time with our Captain Francisco, steering the boat and doing a fine job of it, including entering several locks unassisted. I can testify to how difficult that is, regardless of how easy and casual Francisco makes it look.

Bizarrely this week we were accompanied by a few new and slightly unusual members of the team. First of all there was a snake which somehow managed to drop from the underside of a bridge and land right in the middle of the deck, causing quite a bit of panic, mostly for the snake itself however which beat a hasty retreat! It's very rare to see snakes in this part of the world, and of course the ones you see are typically very small and (thankfully) completely harmless, still quite a shock to see one on board! Our second uninvited guest was quite a lot more welcome than the first, an inquisitive little cat that no matter how many times he got shooed off, would for sure reappear sooner or later stalking the place and trying to make himself comfortable on the deck cushions. Our final little visitor of the week was anything but! An absolutely enormous moth, quite stunning really and discovered munching on the Chilean flag we fly from the stern. For 3 days we kept discovering this moth, hanging around the boat and keeping itself to itself, he must have come for the atmosphere like the rest of us!

Finally I would like to offer our congratulations to Stan and Vicki on their 45th wedding anniversary, Mindy on her 65th birthday and lovely Pat for her 80th birthday. Sante!