Post cruise comments

Having finished the updating of my site at
www.hotelsafloat.com
I am now enjoying contacting my clients from the 2008 season to enquire about their cruise experiences. Of course, it's wonderful when clients contact me spontaneously once back home. Those emails often arrive on a less-than-perfect day in the office, giving me a boost when I need it. Divine intervention or chance, I leave you to judge for yourselves, but we all know that warm glow when good news or praise arrive out of the blue. Being my own boss is great, but of course nobody pats me on the back to tell me what a great job i'm doing! So, to all of those who wrote to me this season, thank you! Your emails make me smile, and enable me to improve our services.
Some of your comment make it onto the guests comments pages of the site, so take a peek if you would like to see how others have faired before you take the helm!

Apple fairs and saucissons

Having been very busy at work, and in the garden tidying up for the winter, it was a pleasure to take an afternoon off on Sunday to visit the local Apple Fair. Nothing to do with iphones, ipods or computers, but a celebration of the wide variety of apples grown in France, and more particularly in Burgundy.

I am a keen apple muncher: I even have a bowl of fruit in the office and often have to wipe sticky marks off the keyboad, but even I was surprised to see the variety of colour and textures on display.

Other local produce on show and available for tasting included apple juice, honey and saucission, the latter being dried sausage which we love to eat with a glass of red wine! Try it, you might actually like it. At one time, this was the Burgundy farmers' staple breakfast and lunch!

We chose saucission de cerf, sanglier et morbiere: Deer, wild pig and a local cheese. So much for the diet this week. These are just too good to resist, and the fact that they keep for months does not interest me at all: I prefer to eat them now, thank you very much.

If you ever get the chance to visit a rural fair in France, often called La Jour de.... , do go. Not only were our tastebuds awakened, but we also met some local musicians, a wood turner, sculptor and still life painter. It's a great way to meet the locals: Even Chataigne the dog enjoyed it (especially the saucisson de cerf)

Some great new books and potential fame!

Ok, So I have nearly finished the site, and have just booked the bi-annual appointment with the Chiropracter. However much attention I pay to my posture during the website update, I always need work on my back and shoulders by mid October. So, just one more week to go before I will be back to normal, well as normal as that can be! Quasimodo out you go!

Brochures for the 2009 cruise season have started to fill up the office, waiting to be despatched over seas. One of the nicest surprises in yesterdays arrivals, was the introduction of some new boats to the Locaboat fleet. Known for the ecological penichettes, and very popular among my clients due to their great service, Locaboat are introducing three new boats to their fleet: The Europa 400, 600 and 700. Now when I have a holiday, I like to be away from TV and noise but each year I am surprised by the number of you looking for TV, DVD, MP3 and even computers when on holiday; These boats have it all ( except the PC's though there is a facility for charging them up!) So, you fellow workaholics, can now take a cruise and keep in touch with the use of a 3G key. Have a look at the Europa's at

http://www.hotelsafloat.com/ and let me know what you think.

Personally, I can see them being a big hit, especially with families. Plus they are surprisingly affordable.

Now for potential fame:

Up until now my claims to fame have been very few and far between: I have appeared on TV twice ( Songs of Praise),have drunk coffee with Richard Gere (film star: I was just 18 at the time, and thought him extremely unkempt with his saturday morning stubble!) and once stood next to Gary Linneker (footballer).

That could soon change, well sort of!

In the 2007 season, I sent a journalist on a hotel barge cruise aboard Le Premiere, in Burgundy.

Sadly this barge is now up for sale and I know that all who have cruised on her, will be very sorry to hear the news.

However, the journalist, Solange Hando, has just contacted me to tell me that she will be writing an article on hotel barging mentioning Hotels Afloat and yours truly! Due to be published next summer 2009, ' 1001 Escapes to make before you die!', will first appear in the UK, USA , Australia and New Zealand, and then in other countries once translated, in 2010. It just goes to show that in this world where politeness seems to be a forgotten art, that acts of kindness are appreciated and remembered.

As Philippe, my wonderful guy, often says: You reap what you sew, Emma.

Success with the scanner

Sorry not to have written for over a week: Shame on me!
However, among all the gloomy news of the financial world, not to mention the wars and political upheaval, I have good news: Yes, I finally managed to install the scanner much to my amazement. Naturally there are plenty of functions that I have still to discover, but I have managed to scan, copy and even print some photos so am feeling quite pleased with myself.
Let's just hope that I don't need to change anything else in the office for a while.
My absence wasn't due to the scanner but the annual overhaul of my website at
www.hotelsafloat.com
It's not complete yet but I have updated prices for the 2009 season and am now dealing with the new boats that I must add.
I am currently offering discounts of up to 15% on certain 2009 cruises so if you fancy a cruise here in France, whether it be aboard a captained vessel or a self -drive, send me an email and I will see what I can do for you.
The merger of Crown Blue Line, Connoisseur and Emerald Star under the flag Le Boat has given me a great deal of work, not to mention my site manager, and I shall be very pleased when I have finished with the site for another year. I actually enjoy updating as just as we are creeping into cold days, I can begin to think about the new boating season in the spring. The downside is the frozen shoulder that I seem to suffer with even though I have an ergonomic chair and keyboard.
Just call me Quasimodo!!
Here in France, Autumn is just around the corner: The leaves are beginning to change colour, conkers galore litter the lanes, and the evenings are drawing in. It's a magical time for us: of mushroom hunting .
Being an English girl, I would never dare to eat a wild mushroom were it not for the guidance and wisdom of Philippe, my partner. He hasn't poisoned us yet so I guess he really does know what he's doing.
The best way to cook wild mushrooms is in cream, with a touch of white wine, and freshly ground pepper. Simply delicious! We eat them as an accompaniment to Beef stew, but they are equally fantastic on freshly buttered toast: Watch out for the calories!
BUT beware: Last year our dog suffered hallucinations and was very ill after eating magic mushrooms which she found in the garden! Ever seen a stoned dog? Not a pretty sight and expensive at the vets.

Time for the early evening glass of wine here in Burgundy. A bientôt.