From Sausalito to France (a memoir of barging on the French waterways)

18th September 2018

From Here To Paris by Cris Hammond, barging on the French waterways

“Tell us what you’ve seen in far away forgotten lands” (The Moody Blues)

Cris loses his job and has to rethink his life. His first new venture is to be out on the water in California, snapping photos of the yachts passing by in true paparazzo fashion and then selling the yachting community photos of themselves and their boats. Incredibly, he makes a go of this venture, but something nevertheless is calling him to France.

And it is a ‘for sale’ ad for “Baby”, a barge, that catches his eye. Linda, his wife, is enthused by the idea of spending part of the year cruising at a leisurely pace through France. Ditto their dog, Sarah. And so it is off on a reconnaissance mission to St Jean de Losne near Dijon, which is the barge capital of France (you can’t say you don’t learn anything when you read our blogposts!). But it is not Baby that really captures his heart but Phaedra.

Once Phaedra is renovated and adapted to their taste the adventure can begin. You will discover the difference between Tjalks and Luxemotors and understand the importance of bow thrusters. You will glide along the canals (the French canal system incidentally began in 1642), enjoying the passing scenery and areas of interest. You will learn to navigate the Freycinet lock that can hold only one barge at a time, or head for the Canal du Centre (challenging for the best barge drivers – or should that be pilots?). From the setting point of view it is a wonderfully apt memoir to transport the reader to France, in true tripfiction fashion and #literarywanderlust.

There are drawings and cartoons to punctuate the text (the author is a trained illustrator) and some wonderfully pertinent observations.

Turning to memoir writing is now a very common pursuit when a life changing event happens. Peter Mayle was one of the first true chroniclers of moving away from all that is familiar (to Provence); Chris Stewart too, in Driving over Lemons (Andalucia) captured the imagination of what could be possible if one had the drive (no pun intended). From Here to Paris is certainly well written, but I felt in some ways that I was looking at holiday snaps enthusiastically shown to me by someone who I didn’t know very well, I could appreciate the colourful encounters and beautiful scenery but there was a little too much detail packed in. There were a few too many backstories of people he met along the way which turned the story into even more of a meander.

I do wonder whether this memoir will appeal more to the American readership rather than the Europeans, who in the main will have a smattering of French. Thus, recounting exchanges with a French waiter, where he says Je suis femme (intending to say he is hungry) kind of fell flat.. yes, it might have been funny to say he was a woman… but…

Overall, a nicely written memoir that will transport you to France and will particularly appeal to people who have an interest in barges (as he says himself, this is a memoir of “pushing 26 tons of riveted iron through France to Paris“).

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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