Author Archives: agclontarf

Since we started our Gap Year we keep having amazing coincidences- Can someone please explain it to me?

Speaking to my new account manager Ben Aliaga-Kelly in Merrion Stockbrokers yesterday, he asked did I get the email he had sent with photos of the boat?  I said I had not and he resent on the spot. It showed … Continue reading

Posted in C'est La Vie - The Boat, Experiences on the Canals, On the Journey, Paris, People We have Meet on the Gap Year, People who have helped us on our way | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Why a Picnic in the Park cost me €75

We spent one day shopping for clothes in Paris for Nuala. I think it was the hardest day of the Gap Year so far ( for me anyhow!). We went to the 9th district – famous for Boulevard Haussmann , Galeries Lafayette, Printemps etc. … Continue reading

Posted in On the Journey, Paris, Places visited | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

10 Days of Sight Seeing in Paris- Its been great but time to leave

We have now being in Paris for ten days and have done lots of sightseeing and shopping. We have been here before a number of times before as we both love Paris. Therefore we did not revisit the usual well … Continue reading

Posted in Paris, People We have Meet on the Gap Year, Visitors to C est la Vie | 5 Comments

Visit to the International Office of Saint Vincent de Paul in Paris

As many of you know, both Nuala and I have been volunteers with SVP for many years and that we first met at a SVP meeting. Also, for the last eight years Nuala has worked full time for the Society … Continue reading

Posted in On the Journey, People We have Meet on the Gap Year, People who have helped us on our way, Places visited | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

We ran aground!!

On Wednesday 23 April, when exiting Lock 4 at Creil, we ran aground. It happened suddenly. We went from doing 4 knots to a sudden stop. We have got stuck along the way a few times in mud, always when … Continue reading

Posted in C'est La Vie - The Boat, On the Journey, People We have Meet on the Gap Year, People who have helped us on our way | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

We have arrived in Paris!

After a journey of 1,343 km, starting at Tarmonbarry on the Shannon in Ireland which included transporting the boat from the Shannon to Dover in England by road and ferry, crossing the English Channel, travelling down the Canal de Calais, … Continue reading

Posted in C'est La Vie - The Boat, On the Journey, People who have helped us on our way, Places visited | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Our first real visitors to the boat.

We had our first visitors to stay with us on the boat. My daughter Louise, her husband Josselin, my granddaughter Eve (6 years) and grandson Eamon (5months) came to stay with us for five days. They joined us at Chauny … Continue reading

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I am starting to slow down too much

Boating is a slow speed affair. If you travel 40 kilometres in a day, you are doing well. So people who live on boats on canals tend to slow down, adopt the speed of the boat and everything can wait … Continue reading

Posted in C'est La Vie - The Boat, On the Journey | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Tam and Di Murrell- Cambrai

When we arrived in Cambrai Port at 8 pm after our first long day’s journey from Douai we moored in the only space we could find in front of a boat called Friesland. I could not find electricity or water … Continue reading

Posted in People We have Meet on the Gap Year, People who have helped us on our way, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

‘Le Cheval’ Stew – That’s horse meat stew to you and I

When the Dover delivery crew were with me, we ate very well. We had dinner out two evenings and Neil and/or Bill cooked dinner on all the other days. For the first meal on board, Neil cooked steak stew.

Posted in On the Journey | 2 Comments