Our Mitchell 31’s natural habitat is the world of tides and shoals, of sharp south westerlies and steep choppy seas. But from May 2019 until August 2021, Mitch’s milieu was one of rivers and canals and the clear blue waters of the Mediterranean.
It is truly astonishing, in retrospect, that we could travel in our very ordinary boat, almost without formalities and at minimal cost, from Portland to Brittany, down to Biscay, through the rural heart of southern France to the Mediterranean and back. For this article, though, I want to focus on Mitch’s progress through the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlées (AOC), the tightly controlled regions that designate and define all the great wines of France. The pride which the French take in their wine and the care with which it is made left a lasting impression on us and I would highly recommend other MBY readers take the opportunity to visit them by boat.
In the canals and rivers, we felt freer than we did cruising at sea. In the morning, we would cast off our lines, put the engine in gear and set off with the day’s itinerary completely unplanned, safe in the knowledge that the rounding of every bend would reveal some new delight, and that we would find a secure mooring against the bank when we wanted to stop. Travelling slowly along inland waterways gives a very intimate view of the country and towns through which you pass but as the scene is viewed from the boat, your own familiar and secure world, you feel separate from life ashore. This is particularly so when travelling through some great, bustling city, with its people intent
