14th December 2017 - 31st January 2018. Bridge Christmas dinner at Charlieu. Shannon has a friend to stay for Christmas. New Year celebrations on Eendracht, followed by a trip to England.

This year our Bridge club Christmas dinner was at L'Auberge de L'Abbaye at Charlieu. There were 40 of us there and we all enjoyed a five course French meal.

Escot came to stay on Christmas day, so we went for a walk further along the river Loire, round by the lakes. We think that these were created in the old sand pits.

Shannon and Escot co-exist quite happily, although both still prefer to be top dog!

We all enjoyed New Year's Eve celebrations on Eendracht.

Our normal route along the path beside the river Loire was blocked today, with the stepping stones hidden under the water. The river Loire, to the right, is very full too.

We went to England in the second week in January, although Sally fell over a rope in the port, which delayed our visit by a couple of days. 7 stitches in my chin, after a 3 hour wait in casualty, was not what had been planned!

The cliffs of Dover look really white when the sun shines, but are quite dull at close quarters.

After a visit to Norfolk, we drove cross country via Aynho, on the Oxford canal. There are more narrowboats here than we have seen in three years in France!

Once back in the UK, this is the headroom to be expected at bridges.

Beyond the bridge at Aynho, the residential boaters “stretch in never ending line”.

We had a lovely time in Cheltenham, with Debbie, Matt and Toad.

Back in Roanne, there was a pretty sunset to greet us.

By the end of January, our logpile is much smaller, but it still keeps its shape, having used the French style of wood stacking.

January 2017. Snow, birds and ice on the port, followed by Bridge at the Château de Champlon.

We had an inch of snow and managed to make a mini snowman, which fascinated Shannon.

The kingfisher has returned, but he only stayed for one day.

His place was taken by the heron, who stayed for a week!

There are several coots living near to us, here in Roanne. They seem to like it here.

The ice by the slipway is now quite thick, as all movement of water in the port pushes it in here.

Ice now surrounds The Puzzler, and there is a light covering of snow too.

The covering of snow makes the port of Roanne look vast!

Some boys came on to the ice beside The Puzzler. They first wrote Bonjour in the snow, and then Aurevoir before they left, coming over to the boat to make sure that we had seen it!

Later on, once dark had fallen, some young men went right out into the middle of the port on the ice. We were really worried when they started to jump up and down, but fortunately the ice held, and no-one fell through!

There were a lot of seagulls on the ice yesterday, but I think the rest of them are camera-shy today. There is not much ice left either.

The ducks, however, are enjoying sitting on this frozen raft.

Meanwhile, this white-headed gannet is drying his wings, on Alouette's mooring buoy.

At the end of January we were off to the Château de Champlon again. We were here in December for the Bridge Club de Roannais Christmas dinner, when we had a splendid meal.

This time it was for an inter-club bridge competition, which was held in the same annex to the Château de Champlon.

Sadly we did not win!

However we had a most enjoyable afternoon in this delightful setting.

After the prize-giving, there was unlimited champagne and also delicious casse-croutes (nibbles).

March 2016. Dogs in the Port of Roanne in France.

Several dogs live on boats in the Port of Roanne, so I felt that it was time that they had their moment in the limelight!  Shannon, our Shih Tzu, and I are first on the list, living on narrowboat The Puzzler with Andy.

Moving clockwise round the port, next comes Jack, a miniature schnauzer, who lives with Pete on Rook.

Muttley and Baxter are two Tibetan Terriers who live with Jill and Graham on the tjalk François, together with Daisy the cat. They have moved on from narrowboat Matilda Rose, which is now for sale.
Find out about her on Apollo Duck.

Daisy lives with Millie and Robin on Taboe. Daisy's shadow shows that she is ready for anything!

Mick's dogs are Meg and Billy, who love to go rabbiting, while Frank is his assistant dog-walker. Mick's boat is Kirsten.

Jane and Dave's dogs, Benjie and Leisha, are the two largest dogs in port, but are probably the calmest! They live on Narwhal.

Contessa and Orphée live with Margaret and Alain on Duck Story. They are long-haired Chihuahuas and are very cute. Ces chiens sont très adorable!

Heidi is visiting Cassandra for three months, but is enjoying herself so much that she is considering staying! Heidi is a Llasa Apso.

The last dog in this canine gallery is Mister, who is a Lowchen. He lives with Gwen and Paul, who have come from New Zealand to explore the waterways of France. They recently set off on their summer cruise.

1st - 14th February 2016. Dogs and seagulls, both in the Port of Roanne and by the River Loire. The Bridge Club of Roanne.

The days are cooler now, and the mountains in the distance are covered by clouds, giving the port of Roanne a ghostly appearance.

I have reknitted the neck of Shannon's sweater, and it seems to have worked! She has not yet repeated her Houdini “escape from my sweater” act!

Our bridge club has its own premises in an apartment, not far from the port. Each room has a king of a different suit, overlooking the play, with all four rooms in use on competition days.

Moving on to the dining room after play today, there are plenty of bugnes (pancakes) for everyone.

A flock of seagulls have moved to our end of the port, and can be extremely noisy. One morning they woke up at 5am and had a long, loud discussion before setting off for the day.

Shannon was fascinated by the cats versus dogs programme on TV.

This afternoon we had planned to walk across these stepping stones and on along beside the River Loire. However, there was just too much water for it to be safe. The stones usually stand up, right out of this tributary.

Yesterday, Mick's two dogs decided to go rabbiting, down the bank towards the river, and were missing for a couple of hours. Luckily, Meg was coming along the path, between rabbits, just as we got there, so she was happy to come to be caught. Billy was a little further on, way down on the river bank, but decided that perhaps he could manage to climb up to join us too. They were even more pleased to see their master, but we did not hear them promise never to do it again!