Wednesday, July 02, 2025

Frying in France

As I mentioned in my last post, we are now down in France at the Crumbly Cottage, Mark 2, and Murphy has been at it again to ensure we timed it to coincide with the hottest week of the year so far. We arrived last Saturday lunchtime after spending the night at Charleville Mézières a fine town roughly forty kilometres from the Belgian border. The reason we stopped was two-fold: the first being to avoid driving in the heat of Saturday afternoon, which was predicted to reach 30C (have small dog; avoid long, hot drives), and the second being to allow Koos to take a break. He has brought his 150cc scooter down to France as a handy runaround, but 480 km is a long way to drive on such a small bike, so splitting the journey seemed sensible.

I'm pleased to report he managed perfectly, but I was even more pleased we hadn't tried to do the whole distance on Saturday. It was very hot and even with the airco going full blast, poor Zoe was panting by the time we arrived.  Since then, we've had temperatures over 30C every day and today it's been up to 38C, so outside activities have been limited. 

I walk Zoe early every morning between 7 and 8 a.m., then it's been a quick 'dash and slash' now and then until around 8 p.m. when I can finally take her for another walk.

We've made a habit of heading down to the canal side where it's shady and deliciously cool at the start of the day. In the evening, the air is like soup, hot and thick, but at least the sun has lost its power by then. We pass an old ford over the river on our way and Zoe loves going for a paddle and a drink there. Unlike most spaniels, she's not a swimmer. She dipped out on that gene (sorry) but wet paws in this heat are clearly a welcome refresher.

Sadly, we haven't seen any boats on the canal and are unlikely to this summer unless we get a lot of rain and soon. Koos, however, encountered four boats moored up in Joinville to the north of us. When chatting to the owners, he learned that they'd all been instructed by the VNF (Voies Navigables de France) to head north as the canal was being closed to traffic due to lack of water. Sad news for us too as we'd hoped to come down here with the Hennie H later on in the summer. With Plan A scuppered, we'll have to come up with Plan B but that's still to be formed.

Anyway, we have achieved a few other things. I've painted the kitchen ceiling (very hot and sticky up there!) and cut the grass (while being fried in action). Meanwhile, Koos has put up an antenna to improve our GSM signal (which doesn't help), as well as fitted a new tap in the kitchen and replaced the loo seat (two minor triumphs to compensate the failed GSM booster), both much needed jobs that involve crawling into small spaces, so very hot and sticky too. It doesn't sound a lot, but we're both moving a bit slowly during these steamy days. Even the slugs on the path outside could give us a run for their money (we don't have any 😁).

So that's our local news and limited views for now, allemaal. We're hoping for some cooler days to come before the next heatwave, but in the meantime, here are a few pics of our gorgeous environs.


The Marne river looking very low

Lovely, welcome, shady trees

More of those wonderful trees

The canal. As you can see, it's totally
undisturbed



The village cross

The mairie for the village

Old ford and mill

Paddling in the shallows

Glorious geraniums

Proud home owner!





28 comments:

  1. It’s certainly a hot one for you Val, glad Zoe is coping, this heatwave is taking its toll on both humans and pets, hang in there it won’t last xx Lally

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    1. Thank you, Lally. We are enjoying our morning and evening walks, though! And it won’t last. Waves always come and go, even heatwaves. Xxx

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  2. Phew! I can feel the heat from here, and it's already hotter than hade's buttcrack here (apologies for that particular visual). Beautiful spot though, even in the soup.

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    1. Haha, the visual is brilliant, Jo! It is a beautiful spot. We just wish the house was a bit cooler! Xx

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  3. I'm glad you all can cope the heat!

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    1. Thank you! It’s not been easy, Kathleen, especially at night, but we’ve learned a few survival tricks from being on the boat in the heat. 😉

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  4. Lovely update, Val. You're making me miss France!

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    1. Thank you, Cath. It’s time you visited again, evidently! Have you spent much time here in the past?

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    2. Yes, we used to come over when Peter's late sister and husband lived there. Their first house was in the Dordogne and the second in the Vendee. We had some lovely holidays with them.

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    3. I can imagine. France has so many beautiful regions, and so much stunning scenery!

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  5. Can’t believe how hot it’s been there. Beautiful photos of your village and surrounds. Take care of yourselves and little Zoe. Xxx Annemarie Rawson

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    1. It’s one of those hot years, Annemarie. We’ve had so little rain and the temperatures have been abnormally high for a couple of months now. We are very careful with our little Zoe, I promise you. Thank you so much for the kind comment! Xxx

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  6. Lovely photos, Val! Y'all are exceptional in every kind of weather. To me, the temps you have there would be comfortable - not too hot! If and when I move again - I hope it's to the Arizona desert where it is more than 100 degrees every day and NO rain! HaHaHa! (Steph)

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    1. I love the heat, Steph, but the humidity levels are high and we have no airco to cool the house. The heat accumulates, so it’s often hotter inside than out. I believe most people in the hot southern states have the means to cool their homes down, don’t they? 35c in the bedroom is too much to sleep comfortably, so we decamped downstairs, where it’s a bit better. 😉

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  7. Read your latest news with great interest, Val! Our temps have been similar, even over 40C at times, it's hard to lift a finger so congratulations on your DIY! We have been on the road again, a four day birthday in Paris, driving back to the south on Sunday and Monday through a scorched land - a touch of Africa ;-) take care and drink lots! (of water...))

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    1. Many apologies for the late reply, Laurette! That Snail’s Pace DIY has taken over my life. Thank you for your comment. I’m not surprised your journey was through an Africascape! That said we’ e had some rain at last but it’s due to heat up again.You take care too. Likewise with the water

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  8. This is Janis. I can’t seem to check in on your site. Anyway, coming down the Rhône has been horrendous. We had 40 C inside our boat. Suffocating. We are now in the Etang de Thau, the Canal du Midi tomorrow.

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    1. Ooh Janis. That must have been awful. Sleepless nights, no doubt! I hope the Canal du Midi offers you some welcome shade!

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  9. A beautiful morning walk and I'll bet the trees and water offer some coolness and a break from the heat. Wonderful photos.

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    1. Ah thank you for visiting my blog, Diana. The canalside is my absolute favourite place although I’d rather be on my barge than in a house. Hopefully the rains will come and give us a chance later on. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy walking along it and enjoying the shade.

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  10. Hi Val, pleased to hear you're out on another adventure. I'm lslightly jealous when I see the lovely scenery in your photo's. But I'm not at all jealous of the high temperatures your experiencing, we've been getting temperatures in the mid 20's and occasionally 29 degrees. Far too hot for me. The photo of the.Watermill is remarkably similar to Cogglesford Watermill on the River Slea, down in the South of Lincolnshire.
    Take care Val, David and Popcorn.

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    1. Thank you for visiting again, David! We’re having a few days’ respite from the heat as it has rained a little and been quite cloudy. It’s warming up again now and will be 30+ again from this weekend on. I don’t mind the heat, but the humidity is energy sapping, especially at night.

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  11. I've left a link to a video about Cogglesford Watermill and the Slea Navigation. The video mentions Stockworth Watermill in Lincolnshire, which is not far from Cleethorpes.
    https://youtu.be/Af1C2Hv05RY

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    1. Oh thank you, David! I’ll take a look at that!

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  12. I don't know how you manage in such heat, Val, especailly with humidity. I'm hoping it's cooler now. Here we have rain which is delightful after six weeks or more of heat and dryness. Keep up with updates on the Crumbly Cottage Mk2! It does look beautiful. 🤩

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    1. I don’t mind heat, but humidity is not my favourite and the cottage accumulates the heat over a few days and then won’t cool down, which is tough, I agree. We too have had a bit of rain now, so it’s better now, but it’s set to top 30c again this coming weekend. Next post coming soon!

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  13. I like the warmth Val but I don't envy you those temperatures one bit. Well done on getting some tasks done in your lovely little cottage, especially in such humidity. I love your photos, it all looks beautifully tranquil. Hope it cools down soon so you can feel comfortable. Happy to see Zoe cooling her little paws down. XX

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    1. Rebecca, I’m sorry for the late reply. Thank you so much for commenting. It has indeed cooled down a bit now and we’ve even had some rain. It’s a welcome relief as the temperature is due to rise again at the weekend and top 30c for most of next week. We can’t complain we’re not having a good summer this year, anyway! 😂

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