The "Birth of a Boat" in French

Everybody, it seems, loves Venice.
I have yet to meet someone who doesn't.
Perhaps there are some people out there who don't,
perhaps they've been warned to avoid telling me so.

All I can tell you is that sure does appear to me that everyone loves the place.
Some of them are French.
And the writers of Olia i Klod (a blog that appears to be written all in French)
have recently posted a nice post on the launching of an historically significant boat: the batea a coa de gambaro - or shrimp-tailed boat.
Very few of these exist today, and I'm told that all of them are new,
faithful reproductions of the ones built a long time ago.

Enjoy the photos, and if you don't read French, get a translation on-line,
and read about the birth of a boat.  Or as they put it:
Naissance d’une barque

"Jousting" in Paris

jousting images by Cassandra Mohr

During my visit to Paris last year, my family and I spent some time in Sevres visiting Vogaveneta Paris. We received a warm welcome and great hospitality from Richard Winckler, who showed us around and explained many of the unique details of the rowing club.



Richard took the time to show off all the different vessels there and tell some interesting stories about the origins of each boat.

A sailing component is part of the operation there; Richard introduced us to the concept of "jousting" - small sailboat style.

Talking about jousting in front of the "Vogalonga wall"

I must confess that I'm not much of a sailor and have yet to try this type of "jousting", but as I understand it, you get your boats out on the water and take runs at each other with one guy on the bow of each boat holding a pole with a boxing glove on the end of it.
Really, how could that not be fun?

Boxing gloved jousting poles.

The guy with the joust also gets to carry a shield of sorts.  It's not quite like the one Sir Lancelot might have brandished, but it'll do alright against a boxing glove.

Richard breaks out a shield.

After hearing a few tales of on-the-water jousting, I had to at least pick one up and swing it around the boat house.

Grabbing one "by the glove".

Richard demonstrated the best jousting posture and then he and I squared off.
it was a lot of fun and I can see how much more exciting it can be with sailboats.

Squaring off.

Laughing afterward.

Many thanks to Richard Winckler and Vogaveneta Paris.

To read more about the Paris club mentioned here, check out my post from July entitled "Bastille Day".

I can't help but wonder about jousting on the water with mascaretas.

Anyone up for that?

Bastille Day!

To most Americans, July 14th is just another day, but for the French it's the "4th of July". In fact while the holiday is officially known as "Bastille Day", many in France simply refer to it as "le 14 Juillet" - just like we call our Independence Day the 4th of July.

Laura K. Lawless (About.com's French Language Guide) has a good, concise page on the subject here.

Last year I was able to visit Paris for the first time.

The Eiffel Tower, Arch de Triophe, and Versailles were all on the must-visit list, but there was one more place I had to go, and yes, it involves gondolas.

Richard Winckler is the guy to talk to and row with in Paris when it comes to voga-alla-Veneta. He's a member at Diadora and has rowed numerous times in the Vogalonga.

In August of 2008 Richard teamed up with Nick Birch of England to provide gondolas for a promotional event on the Seine, put on by Match.com. That week Richard and Roger were at the top of my "people I'm jealous of" list. I published a post on it entitled "Paris" (there's a nice piece of video linked there for your viewing pleasure)

Nick got me in touch with Richard before I left California, but we only communicated briefly via e-mail.

Showing up at a train station along the river one rainy afternoon, I had no idea what kind of person I'd meet in Richard - he was great. It was like meeting a distant relative for the first time.

Richard gave me and my family a tour of the Vogaveneta Paris facility, told us all about the many interesting boats there, and treated us to a picnic lunch filled with French delights.

With the rain falling intermitently, it wasn't a day for rowing, but my daughter and I shot many post-worthy photos during our visit to Vogaveneta Paris.

You can expect to see them here periodically in the days to come.

Vogaveneta Paris keeps their boats in this waterfront facility.

The Vogaveneta logo combines the base of the Eiffel Tower with an artist's interpretation of a gondola ferro.

A close-up of the only gondola in Paris.

For now, I would just like to express my thanks to Richard Winckler in Paris for his hospitality.

Maybe next time I'm in Paris we'll get to row together.

L'Aviron Vénitien

We arrived in Sèvres at noon, ready for another beautiful warm day like we'd experienced yesterday.
But the bright sun and warm breezes had been replaced by cold winds and an overcast ceiling.
In short order, down came the rain - first in seemingly harmless droplets, and then much more convincingly.
We would not be rowing today.

According to plan, we met Richard Winckler with Vogaveneta Paris, who walked us over to the club facilities and gave us a great tour.
This organization is part of Nautique Sèvres.
Their three focus areas are:
Sailing - known as "La Voile",
Venetian boats - which they refer to as L'Aviron Vénitien,
and steam-powered launches - called Les Bateaux à Vapeur.

There are approximately 80 members in Nautique Sèvres and 30 in Vogaveneta Paris.
Currently, Richard has a gondola and a sandolo, with another sandolo under construction. Vogaveneta Paris had two mascaretas, which were very old and eventually had to be retired.
Richard showed me all of the different vessels in the various fleets, as well as a number of boats under construction.

We enjoyed a terrific picnic lunch provided by Richard, and talked about all things gondola. Not surprisingly, Misseur Winckler, who has been rowing Venetian style for about 25 years, knows a lot of the same people I do. The gondola world is a small one, and everyone in it seems to know (or know of) everyone else.

A solid contingent of French rowers will be heading down to Venice for the Vogalonga, and if you search hard enough, you'll probably see Richard rowing a poppa on one of the boats.

Merci beaucoup Richard.
Thank you for your warm hospitality and great conversation.

Travel Diary - May 24th and 25th

Morning
The day began early, and within minutes I had managed to "grind through all the gears" and was at full speed. Taking care of last-minute preparations and checking things off the "big list" was my sole focus.

Airport
Several hours later we arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport and experienced all of the joys associated with post 9-11 air travel.
My wife and I made a few important phone calls, the kids had a snack, and we boarded Air France flight 65 bound for Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

Boarding
A few minutes later I heard one of my favorite sounds:
the sound of the airplane door being closed and latched.
It's a simple noise, really.
Nothing compared to the call of a soaring eagle or a symphony by Vivaldi.
The cabin door closing is a favorite of mine because it signals the end, the end of packing, planning, stressing and all the craziness that leads up to a big trip.
When that door closes, there's nothing more you can do to prepare.
You're forced to stop.
You've done all the work, the adventure lies ahead, but for the time being, your job is to simply relax and savor the anticipation.

Takeoff
As the big Boeing 777 sped down the runway, my daughters smiled that "rollercoaster smile" as only children can do.
We rose up over the coastline, I looked out the window and saw, of all places, Venice Beach and her remaining canals glistenning in the California sun.
I had to chuckle at the contrast between L.A.'s "Venice" and the one I would soon visit.
Venice has touched the world. Like an old film star who once was the "prettiest girl in the room", she has aged as all beauties do - with all the grace and trauma, allure and dysfunction one might expect.
But like many aging beauties, she has not withered with the years - she has reinvented herself; sometimes with great plans in mind, other times out of desperate need.
L.A.'s Venice has changed with age too, but certainly not in the same way.

In the air
I ate, watched a movie, practiced my rusty French on the poor undesserving flight attendants, and then I closed my eyes for the rest of the flight.

Paris
Our first day in Paris was part discovery, part recovery.
We checked into a hotel in the business district of La Defense and caught a train out to Versailles.
The weather was perfect - warm and sunny with an occasional breeze.

Everything in Paris is bigger than I imagined it.
Versailles was a perfect example of that fact.
The grounds of the grand landmark which began as a hunting lodge and was subsequently transformed into one of the world's greatest symbols of decadence and wealth, have a number of waterways.
One waterway has rowboats on it.
I couldn't take my eyes off that water, then I remembered that centuries ago, the King of France kept several gondolas there.
Like I said: "Venice has touched the world:.
After Versailles, we dragged ourselves back to the hotel and slept more deeply than we had in months.

Paris

Prepare yourselves, my friends.

Prepare to be jealous.

Our friend Nick Birch, who operates his gondola on the Avon River in Stratford, England (that's Shakespeare country), has just sent me a link to a "little job" he did in Paris.

His colleague, Richard Winkler, a Frenchman who keeps a gondola on the Seine was asked to do a job for a French dating agency on the river, but they wanted two gondolas, so Nick brought his over from the UK.

Nick tells me that the whole thing was "great fun" but they had to do it early (8am to 9:30am) because the tourist boats start operating at 10am and the river authorities didn't want them on the water at the same time.

About the boats, Nick remarked:
"Just as well, as they put out huge wakes which are reflected off the stone quays and produce horrible confused water - just like the Bacino di San Marco!"

As for the route, Nick said:
"We rowed from close to the Bastille, downstream past Ilse St Louis and Ile de la Cite, with a stop next to the Louvre to drop off one group of passengers, and to pick up another. We then continued down to the quayside near to Place de la Concorde, where they had erected a mock palazzo-style cafe, serving coffee, pastries and gelati."

Richard Winkler keeps a gondola and a sandolo at Sevres, on the western edge of Paris. He rows in the Vogalonga every year, and he met Nick Birch there.

Are you ready for the link?

Here it is:

http://www.veniseaparis.fr/match/