We were living in a shipyard. There was no sound of water lapping against the hull. But we could look out through the portholes or from the wheelhouse and pretend we were actually on the water – and try to imagine what life will be like once we were there.
As you can see, we had company. (The slipway holds two boats.) The one beneath us is identical in length and beam to Aleau but a bit older. About 130 years older. Most of the lovely Dutch barges (Dutch refers to the style of barge – not where it is from. This one is from Switzerland.), former commercial barges that have been converted for private use, were built in the late 1800s. As was pointed out to me, these barges were built long before the current owner was born – and will still be cruising the canals of Europe long after the current owner is dead.