Wednesday 11th May 2011 Tournai.

Pontoon mooring at Tournai

Sunny and warm with a breeze that turned chilly later. Mike went off on the moped to retrieve the car from Valenciennes, meanwhile I went to ask Anne where the nearest bakery was, so she said she’d come with me. I bought a Belgian baguette (fatter and softer than its French counterpart) for 1€. Made some sandwiches for lunch when Mike returned and we chose a time between the wash from passing commercials to hoist the bike back on the roof. One had gone past very fast earlier, which had broken the cord on the big ball fender. First thing I knew was when the old guy, Michel, who lives next to the quay came knocking on the cabin bringing the ball fender back that he had rescued out of the river. I thanked him very much and put the green fender (full of expanded mousse) in its place but attached it to the cleat on the pontoon rather than attach it to the boat. 

Peacock at the boatyard in Peronnes
Photo by Anne and Olly

Mike took Anne and Olly with him (I stayed on board to keep an eye on the boats) in the car to visit Majorie and see about the docking. When they came back he said that there was a tjalk on the trolley who had booked to go on for ten days but had been on for two months as the boat had failed its survey and had had to have a load of metal replaced. Marjorie said she would find out how long he was going to be on the trolley and let us know the following day. Mike and I went to visit the cabinet maker’s workshop as Dom and his wife Katarine had invited us the day before. It was a very old building with high ceilings and full of wood (lovely smells) and tools, one wall was covered with stuff from junk shops – pieces of carved wood and old portraits. He made new fitted furniture, at present making a very long base section for a bookcase (the house must be huge to have one made that big) and she restored old stuff and showed us a table and a corner cupboard she was renovating for clients. He said that the place had been a cabinet makers for three generations as the guy he took over from had worked there all his life and so had the guy’s father. Dom said he didn’t think it would go on much longer as people wanted the cheaper mass-produced furniture rather than his bespoke quality creations. Sad.