June 10 - A Quick Couple of Days to France, A Decision

One other boat had really intrigued us, a traditional dutch barge converted for pleasure use lying in France, near Charmont in the Champaigne/Ardennes region. A British couple own it and have put alot into it. It was a long way away but we really felt like we had to see it and, as a bonus, it wasn't that far from where John and Patti were staying near Dijon, making it possible to see the barge in the morning then drive down and spend the night with them.

We reluctantly left the farm early Friday morning, making it as far as the walled city of Langres, staying in the Hotel de la Poste Friday night. What a great old town. And I mean old. One of the gates thru the city walls was built by the Romans ... we're talking old! We got up in the morning and walked a couple of miles on the top of the ramparts.



The only problem was that up forward inside there was only about 5'7" headroom, not so great for our tall friends. Plus, when it comes time to sell, we'd have to find some short people to sell it to. Not a great idea to limit your market.
So after a great visit with John and Patti, we decided we should get back up to Holland and conclude our search.
We had narrowed the field down to three boats, Odysseus, the more traditional barge-type in Kuddlestart, and the two cruisers, Arminta and Adios. When we got back into the Netherlands and our cell phone worked again (don't get me started on the phone thing!) we got a message that Adios had been sold so it was Odysseus or Arminta. Since Odysseus was closer (and the more traditional design, which we were looking for) we decided to go there first and make a decision.



The decision was Odysseus and after a couple of back and forths with the current owner through the broker taking about 15 minutes a deal was struck. We were going to own a boat in Holland!