Par Teo Zuili
Published on
“It’s taking advantage of nature in the city… The water calms and reassures me”. For Geneviève Brichet it is unthinkable to separate from her house, a barge 38 meters longlocated downstream of the Morrand bridge in Lyon.
She has lived here along the water with her husband Paul for 40 years: Geneviève recounts a life like no other, rocked when she buys a barge On a whim.
It’s not about raising your kids in an apartment
This is the story of a Mâconnaise who lives in Paris. Soon a mother for the first time, the idea of seeing her daughter grow up in the capital is repugnant to her. Working in communications, Geneviève had no choice but to live in a big city.
La Mâconnaise chose Lyon, but it was out of the question for her to live “squeezed between two apartments”. The couple moved to a farm in Mont Thou, but “it took an hour’s drive to get to work in the morning”.
His neighbor invites him to accompany him on an unusual visit: a barge is for sale, he is thinking of setting up his premises there. ON a twist of fate, agree to keep him company. “We meet a desperate sailor who was retiring and fighting to get his old 1930 boat back. He was about to send it for scrap. »
A life changing decision
The barge does not suit its neighbor, who abandons the idea. Geneviève, 30, makes a decision that changes his life “I am visiting the hold, I ask how much the scrapping costs. Overjoyed, the boatman sells his barge for 6,000 francs to this atypical lady.
I went back to the farm telling my husband that we now owned a barge that was 38.50 meters long and 5.05 meters wide. He replied: “poor woman, you are still crazy”. Maybe that’s why he loves me!
“Solvay 69” becomes “Balthazar”, inspired by the wizard king of the same name. The barge was then moored in Vaise. “We used it as a second residence, we had parties there every weekend. »
The first barge converted into an apartment in Lyon
The one who had never piloted such a car had an idea so far never seen in Lyon. “When I lived in Paris, a colleague lived on a barge. It didn’t seem really stupid to me ”: with his friends he draws the project and organizes himself to transform this merchant ship into accommodation.
We didn’t want to stay in Vaise due to traffic jams. We chose to live in the city, so we might as well walk to work. We walked along the Rhone, there were mostly parking lots. We pass our pilot’s license, moor here, and yay!
“Without asking anyone”, Geneviève and her husband fitted out their new houseboat downstream of the Morrand bridge, where they are still today. They themselves attract the arrivals of water and electricity.
We are in 1984 and the first barge converted into an apartment in Lyon has been installed after two years of work costing 250,000 francs.
The Rhône on one side, the quays hidden by trees on the other: lo and behold a mobile apartment of 200 m2 with terrace in the heart of downtown Lyon. A property that today is worth between 500,000 and 600,000 euros, according to Geneviève.
Don’t be afraid to get wet
The couple asked for official authorization to stay, the system was structured on the arrival of successive boats. “Now there is no more space. We have reached the number of 87 houseboats in Lyon, it will not change. We pay 5,600 euros a year to have the right to stay there. »
This atypical house in Lyon is quickly completed by a younger daughter who will live there all her childhood and it will fall several times in the Rhone.
“She was two the first time, my husband rushed over to get her. Then he asked for more, that noodle! The second time was in the winter. She was going to get the prawn and it was a fisherman who brought it back to us asking if it was mine », Geneviève slyly recalls.
“If I want to leave, I will leave”
Of course, it remains a 120-ton boat before being an accommodation:
We don’t realize the constraints of living on a boat. Checks of the highly regulated standards take place every ten years, out of the water and on the water, during which it must be moved. You also need to have a permit, anticipate flooding, manage moorings, know how to fix a leak in the toilets…
None of this outweighs the benefits for Geneviève: “It is a symbol of freedom. If I want to leave, I leave. It was a great childhood for my daughters. It is living on the water and taking care of the rivers that welcome us, protecting the fauna and flora. »
Co-president of the Les péniches de Lyon collective, the one who has become a leading figure in floating habitat in Lyon and river conservation is full of energy and is still involved in… 14 associations.
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