St Jean des Losne to Lyon (or, Getting Close to the BIG SCARY RHONE……..)

Summer cruising on the Saone

It was an early start for our French neighbours as we were up and getting ready to leave at 9am, so the two chaps from the boat alongside came out and took their ropes which we reversed out and under from freeing us from the quay and allowing them to shuffle into our space without starting their engine and waking the ladies.

When we’ve done this route previously we cruised a few hours down to Seurre but had decided today we would go all the way down to Gergy.  When we’ve been to Gergy previously it’s been out of season and with it not being the most attractive mooring (in our opinion) we’ve had the pontoon to ourselves.  So I was confident that we’d get in, Mike was not so and sure enough, 44kms and 2 locks later we arrived to a nearly full pontoon with a gap that was just four foot short to accommodate us…..  However, the occupants of Dutch Barge Riana quickly appeared and invited us alongside, so we got moored up and immediately got the swimming gear out for a cool down.

Mike going au natural in preparation for showing off an all-over tan at the nudist beach on the Med.....

The first of many hotel barges

Off your marks!

SPLASH!!!!!

 We had a good chat with Caroline and Paul as they had just come up the Rhone, so we picked their brains on where they’d stopped and what the conditions were like and then joined them on board Riana for drinks before heading into the restaurant above the mooring for dinner.  It was the first time the seasonal restaurant had been open when we’ve stayed and they had a French Swing band playing that evening.  The campsite was occupied, the restaurant was busy and it felt like a completely different place. 

It was the night of the blood moon and having had clear skies all week we were gutted to see the clouds come in as it got dark.  We did catch the end of the eclipse later on though.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stop there but and it was with slightly woolly heads we pulled away the next morning under a light covering of cloud with promises of rain later.  The promises came true and by the time we reached Chalon-sur-Saone, it was absolutely chucking it down, but was still warm, so I had shorts and t-shirt on underneath my waterproof trousers and jacket!

So dull my photos are black and white!

Another monster taunting us from the sidelines......

Secretly enjoying the cool rain :)

There was a selection of goats and this little pony greeting us at our one lock of the day - very cute.

By the time we had travelled 47kms, through 1 lock and reached Tournus, the sun was back out and the sky clear again.  The quay was full (with free electric and water, no surprise) and we noted that one of barges was Aurigny, with Peter and Nicci on board, who we’d met in Sancerre, and alongside them was Whisper with Sue and Alan on board, who we also met in Sancerre.  With them already breasted up we slid up beside a large barge running boating and cycling holidays and asked the skipper, who was on deck, if we could breast up for the night.  He was more than happy to allow us and they turned out to be the most lovely neighbours for the night.

We had visited Tournus back in 2012 when we did a three week driving holiday through France in our darling Kitty Cate (Caterham 7) but had no recollection of the water front or quayside, so we quickly headed into town to find where we’d stayed and get our bearings from there.  We were also hoping to find the restaurant we had eaten in as we’d really enjoyed the meal and wanted to revisit it.  Once back up in the area we recognised we stopped for a drink and were sorry to see that the restaurant was closed down – plan B would need formulated……

Back at the boat we knocked on Aurigny and found Peter and his mate Pete not long back from a motorcycle ride and after greetings and introductions happily joined them for a beer and a catch up.  Sadly Nicci was back in the UK and not due to return for a couple of days, so we would miss her.

The Peters and Sue and Alan were all going out for crepes for dinner, the local No.1 place to eat so invited us to join them, on the premise that the restaurant could accommodate us, so we went back to the boat, scrubbed up and joined them.  The restaurant owners were just fab.  It was no problem to add us to the table and everytime the chef asked one of us where we were from, he seemed to have a friend from there!  Much amusement and catching up with Sue and Alan over the most amazing crepes, and then it was back to Aurigny for drinks.  Due to the heat (and possibly overindulging slightly the previous night), I was decidedly off the booze and after a glass of wine in the restaurant went on to water.    Despite this we still managed to sit out until midnight and I lost count of how many empty bottles were left discarded on the table…….

Being in your own company so much when you’re living and travelling on a boat, it’s nice when you meet up with people to socialise with and even more so when it’s people you’ve met before – it’s a small boating community in a huge country so when your paths cross it’s happy times.

Our mooring - yes, we are very small......... But even Aurigny looks tiny in this and she's huge!

Looking back to Tournus on our way out.

On my part, even though I was bright-eyed and bushy tailed it was with some reluctance that we left them at Tournus and continued on our way, but not before I’d handed in a bunch of fresh herbs from our garden to our neighbour, who I spent a lovely 20 minutes chatting with as she prepared apricot tarts for their guests' dessert that evening.  As we’d left for dinner the previous night, she had appeared at the kitchen door of the barge and handed in two portions of chocolate mousse tart for us – so kind!

With clear skies and a calm river, we headed off for Macon, with me spending some of the journey on the roof to catch the breeze.  It was a lovely section of river with pretty countryside and there was a holiday atmosphere on the boat.  Yes, yes, I know, we’re on a permanent holiday……….

As we past a mooring to our left about halfway down, we both commented that we recognised the boat and by the way the two people on board were waving realised we must know them.  A quick shifty through the binoculars revealed it was DB Derrineel, with Trevor and Alison on board, who we’d had a lovely night with last year on the Marne and enjoyed drinks and a curry together when they moored alongside us.  They have shares in the boat and we couldn’t believe that in that small window of them being on board our paths had crossed again, and as they pulled out and headed in our direction we hoped to get a chance to meet up properly.  Three and half hours later, we pulled into the new pontoon below the bridge at Macon surprised that it was half-empty – we’d been eyeballing spots all the way through town in case it was full, or we could head back upstream to the port where Derrineel had pulled into some time back.  The fact it has no water or electric could be the reason, or it does get a bit noisy at night and we had to move some folk playing bongos off the pontoon at 11.30pm.

Having had a look around the town and art market, we stopped for a kebab and drink thinking if we ate now, we could just have a light supper and not need to use the cooker and then headed back to the boat for a swim and to relax for the evening.

There is a fantastic and well-used cycle way along this stretch of the Saone (Fran and Sally!!!)

The sun has got his hat on, hip, hip, hip hooray!!!

A cool -55 degrees at Macon????

Much hilarity when we saw they'd snapped off the UK arm of this sign - we've not left yet!!!

I'm sure the brollies looked much prettier before they faded in the sun.

A giant river cruiser a bit close for comfort at the end of the pontoon :O

In the morning, we were getting ready to move when a loud blast of a horn caught our attention and we looked out to see Derrineel pulling in.  They were stopping briefly for some shopping, so we had a quick half hour catch up and then having established that we were going in the same direction and likely to catch up again properly parted ways for the time being.

Bye bye Macon - all starting to look distinctly 'South of France' :)

This is one of the big petrochemical barges that you are not allowed to share locks with......

Today’s target was Belleville, and having passed a few empty moorings and not many boats on the move were feeling okay about there being space, so you can imagine the sinking hearts when we approached and could see a cruiser, two speedboats and some dying, gray thing moored up…..  The dumped ‘Le Rat’, the gray thing, was moored in the middle of half of the pontoon, so we pulled alongside (she was short and round-sided so going alongside for the night wasn’t an option) and Mike jumped off to see if he could move her along to the end of the pontoon thus freeing up hopefully enough space for us.  However, her door was open and she was tied on to four different cleats with four ropes in varying states of decay and stringiness in all sorts of knots.  Mike shouted but, as expected, no one was on board and he just had a bad feeling that whoever had left the boat didn’t want her moved.  There was no one on the other boats to ask – probably all enjoying a lunch at the nearby restaurant, so we pulled off and headed for the next option at Montmerle-sur-Saone.  There was plenty space for us there and we pulled in trying to ignore the signs forbidding boats over 15 metres from mooring……  We’d heard it was strictly enforced and that a barge had been told to move at 5pm in the evening, so we didn’t settle in but waited on board for someone to come and collect the fees or chuck us off.  The chap didn’t arrive until gone 7.30pm by which time we’d stayed stuck to the boat, but had great fun cooling off in the water off the side of the boat.  I was sent out as the best chance at being allowed to stay.  He asked our length and I said, “15 metres”.  He looked at me, looked at the boat, then looked back at me, to which I smiled and said hopefully, “Peut-etre un peu plus….???”  I then tried to feign confusion that I thought it was boats of over 15 meters AND 20 tons that were banned but he knew I wasn’t that stupid, but he asked where I was from, and he has friends from Scotland and from everywhere all over the world. So I smiled and ‘Oooo….’d and ‘Ah…..’d and “…really??!!”d and stroked his ego appropriately until he decided he’d let us stay and not say anything back at the campsite, which is where the port is run from.  I thanked him for being so kind and we settled down for the night.  However, other boat owners, I wouldn’t recommend you try this if you’re over 15metres………..

The next day the temperatures remained in their now constant 30+ degrees and we pootled on down the flowless Saone.  

There are still quite a lot of commercial quays shifting sand and gravel on the Saone

Things got quite shoogly being overtaken by this monster.

We had hoped for a little flow to help us along our way but our original wish for perfect conditions had been granted.  We reached the beautiful town of Trevoux 20kms and 0 locks later and pulled up on to the empty pontoon.  This pontoon was also run by the campsite nearby and is limited to boats no longer than 20 metres, however, you go up to the campsite to pay and no one comes to check you – so if you were so inclined, you could probably stay a night without owning up……  We did check in, however, and parted with the princely sum of 24 euros for the pleasure.  Our swim to cool off over the side informed us that at this point in the river there was a slight current and we found ourselves floating downstream more easily than the upstream push.  What was quite disconcerting was when a commercial barge passed on the other side, we were sucked the wrong way and pulled upstream, even though they were nowhere near us!

After paying our dues and ordering some bread and croissants for the morning we headed into town for a look, noting en route that there was a free concert on the waterfront that night hosted by the barge, “Fargo”.  Having enjoyed the music in the restaurant at Gergy we decided we’d go along in the evening.  The town is a pretty town, but probably looks more spectacular from the water than on land.  There are a few arty shops around and we were tempted to buy an old copper fire extinguisher from a second hand shop, imagining the faces of the Gerndarme Nautique when we showed them that if they board us again…!! 

Approaching Trevoux - a stunning approach to the town.

The Rhone from the top of the town.  And yes, we are in the shot - can you see us!?

Back down to our mooring and we happily saw that Trevor and Alison on Derrineel had caught us up and were in the water cooling off, so we quickly changed and joined them.  They had moored at Bellevue the previous night expecting to see us there, but the pontoon had been empty when they arrived – apart from ‘Le Rat’.  Sometimes our timings of reaching moorings is just out.

Needless to say, an invitation for drinks on Derrineel in the evening was accepted with huge enthusiasm and I have no idea how much we drank, but Alison was still off the wine three days later.  Say no more.

It was all so civilised at 6.30pm.......

August the first was baking again as we pushed off, feeling slightly queezy and less than crisp, heading for our last stop on the Saone, as on leaving Lyon, we would be joining the Big Scary Rhone – aaaarrrggghghhhhhh!!!!!  The river was very quiet and we passed barely any commercial or pleasure craft on our four hour trip downstream.

Coming into Lyon. 

We’d called ahead that morning to check there was space in the port, and after pulling onto the fuel boat for diesel just upstream of the port, we rang again as we left there to announce our arrival.  We needn’t have worried about space, the big port was nearly empty, with a few boats on the finger pontoons on the left and not a single barge on the big, long quay on the right.  It’s a really lovely port, quite new with all facilities and next to a large modern shopping centre and a quick walk from some waterfront restaurants.  We decided to stay two nights and as soon as we were checked in, we took the tram up to the shopping centre near the station to Darty to buy a portable air conditioning unit!!!  Trevor and Alison had bought one and having seen it in action at Trevoux, we decided we should get one for when we are in port (with shore power) and it is really hot, and then we can take it to the house when we move in later this year.  We took our little trolley with us that we normally use to cart our diesel back to the boat, and got surprisingly few strange looks as we wheeled it around the shopping centre and back on the tram to the boat.  There was only one scary moment when Mike reckoned we could use the escalator in the shopping centre and couldn’t quite get the tilt position required to move it at the bottom and there was almost a pile up as he manhandled the whole lot out of the way – we took the lift after that………

Nice fountain for cooling down in the centre of town.

The Rhone running through Lyon has a slightly prettier waterfront than the Saone. 

Looking very smart in his new shorts and shirt :)

Where we're headed - not Paris! 

Loved these electric signposts which not only changed information but swivel around to give you different directions.  Unfortunately my shutter speed doesn't do them justice!

And this is the trial self-driving electric bus!!  As it slows towards a stop you push the button and it stops to let you on :)

We have visited Lyon before in 2016 when we were travelling through France for a month and spent three days there so we didn’t feel the need to do the tourist thing but we had a look around and made use of the array of shops to get some new sandals for me and a couple of cool little summer dresses to wear while cruising in extreme heat and some shorts and a nice linen shirt for Mike. 

Trevor and Alison caught up with us, though we only saw Trevor and the dogs on Wednesday as Alison was on the floor hugging the air conditioner…………  They also planned a couple of nights in Lyon before heading onto the Rhone for a few hours travel and then to come back, just to see if Derrineel could handle it, so over dinner on Thursday evening we arranged to go in convoy, safety in numbers and all that….., on Friday 3^rd August.  Rhone day!!

Bois la Chevre to St Jean des Losne (or, Fighting for Space with the Hire Boats……..)

One of our favourite moorings ever!

It’s hot.  Very hot.  But thankfully we are now on the River Saone, so as soon as we’re moored up, it’s swimming stuff on and over the side to cool down.  Cast your minds back though and we were still on the Canal des Vosges, it was the morning of the 18^th and we were casting off from our rural idyll at Bois la Chevre and on our way to Fontenoy le Chateau.

Another huge blue sky above the tree-lined Vosges

The Narnia lock - with the gates lined with rogue trees and plants

Despite average reports we found the town of Fontenoy rather charming with cobbled streets and both the canal and River Coney running through the middle.  All of the bridges had flower boxes in full bloom, adding to the charm.  It was Wednesday afternoon and the little corner shop and bakery were closed but the large bar was open – and we walked right past!!  As news of low water levels causing restrictions on the northern and central canals of France was dropping into my Inbox from VNF, we chatted with Jane and Billy on WB Lazybones who were stopped on the Canal du Midi in the south due to high waters!!!  It’s been rather stormy down there apparently…….. Mike then settled down to do some boat maintenance as the gearbox oil was due a change as was the air filter.

In the morning I took a walk into town for some croissants and bread and enjoyed another little saunter through the centre and back where just as we were readying to leave the capitaine arrived to take our cash for the previous night.  We had tried to pay the previous night but the capitainerie had been all shut up and she explained that it had been her day off, one of the mechanics for the hire fleet is on holiday and the other had had a call out to assist a boat, so no one had been around – if we’d been up earlier we could’ve had a freebie!!

Croissants and coffee in hand we pushed off for our last day of the Vosges.

Welcoming committee at Fontenoy-le-Chateau

The steep cutting as you leave the town

And the lock with its pretty flower-adorned bridge

Along the way we stopped off for half an hour for a look at the pretty little village of Selles.

You can just see Quaintrelle on the canal, sitting above the river.

Very cute little chaple at Selles

The old bridge at Selles

We had intended to stop for a night here but we had ordered a second (tilting) parasol and a new boat hook which we had arranged to be delivered to the port at Corres.  We’d had notification that all the goods were there so decided to crack on and collect our goodies.

As we left Selles the little German boat that had been in front of us at Fontenoy appeared behind us, so as we pulled into the next lock we waited for them to come in with us.  They were taking for ever and eventually when I could see them I waved to them to come in with us but they declined……….  There weren’t any moorings so I don’t know if they had a problem, had decided to pull in for some reason or simply don’t share locks, but we continued down and on our way.

As we neared the end of the Vosges we passed through the town of Demangeville.  The town itself is a little bit away from the canal but there were houses built alongside the canal that looked like old millworkers houses or something.  Really different from any other houses we’ve seen in France but reminiscent of the terraced houses found in the UK, especially in industrial areas.

The unusual terraced houses at Demangeville which reminded me of the mill towns in the UK

And the only chimney......

One block further back looked to be occupied but the rest looked either derelict, or like the ones in the photo, as if someone had started renovating them (new doors and windows) and then run out of money.

Slightly further on was a lone-standing chimney, probably the remains of whatever works it was that the occupants of the houses were employed at.

Soon after, we reached Corre and the final lock on the Canal des Vosges that would take us down onto the Petit Saone river.

The most flowery lock cottage we've seen!

Bye bye faithful telecommand

Out of the last lock on the Vosges and onto the Petit Saone

We took an immediate right on leaving the lock and moored on the visitor pontoon that is on the cutting leading to the marina.  Because it was on a cutting there was little, if any, flow and we didn’t like the look of it for swimming……. So we headed up to the capitainerie, collected our parcels from the lovely Doris, unpacked them back at the boat and then headed out to dump the rubbish, get rid of our old oil from Mike’s oil change the other day, and get some supplies from the supermarket.

After a shower to cool time it was then time to head for some dinner at the marina restaurant.

After a top up of water the next morning we pushed off down the Petit Saone.  Having not seen an awful lot of traffic for a week or so, there suddenly seemed to be rather a lot and as we approached our first choice for mooring that evening at Montureux Les Baulay, a cruiser came from the other direction and took the last remaining spot…..  Ah well, such is life.  It was a nice day and we continued on to the next option.  

Nice, calm Petit Saone

As we passed a tree on the bank a HUGE cloud of ravens took off but I was too late to get a photo.  So when we spotted some in another tree, Mike hooted the horn, but instead of all flying off and up, they went downwards and it didn't look so impressive.

Nice old mill opposite a mooring that was full.....

These also proved to be full and the first place we managed to get in was the town mooring at Port sur Saone, now a couple of days ahead of schedule as we’d planned hopping between rural moorings for a couple of days!!  We were not impressed and the town did nothing to lift our moods.  The only way I can describe it is a shithole.  Unattractive and with a small but main road with huge trucks rumbling through it really did leave a lot to be desired.  The nicest thing that happened was a group of kids, three boys and girl, about 10 years old, very politely asked if they could see inside the boat and stayed and chatted for ages – they were really very sweet and keen to be asked questions in English!

The icing on the cake was a massive rain storm late in the evening at which point we realised we were moored next to the drain that dispels the water from the pathway and poured a torrent of water all over us for about 20 minutes………..  We consoled ourselves watching the first of our Clint Eastwood; Man With No Name trilogy, a Fistfull of Dollars - It could only get better, surely….

The next morning we were off sharp as we only had a short hop to do and hoped to beat the hire boats to our desired mooring for that night.  As we were readying to pull off one of the cruisers moored with us in Corres came past so we had a quick chat and then shared the lock down with them a couple of km on.  They had been chucked out of Corres!!  When they had gone to pay, the chap had said 20 euros.  But the two rates were; less than 15 metres = 8 euros, over 15 metres = 12 euros.  When they pointed the rates out on the wall, the chap threw their money back to them and told them to leave!  Very bizarre as we had found his wife Doris to be exceptionally friendly and accommodating.

Anyway, exiting the lock, we turned off up the arm to the left and found our desired mooring to be free – hurray!!!!!

Taking advantage of the nice river mooring and good weather we got started on checking our safety equipment ahead of joining the Rhone in the next couple of weeks.  First up we needed to change the gas cylinders on our life jackets as they had expired, but before doing so we decided to see if the expired ones still worked.

Only slightly shocked as it deploys as I hit the water.

It's quite weird as I thought I'd be more supported but it literally just keeps your head up out of the water and is quite uncomfortable really.

Which it did, and was a good exercise to do as I’ve never had to use a lifejacket before and didn’t know what to expect, but now I do should the worse-case scenario happen.

Then we got our lifeboat out – the inflatable kayak which someone had suggested we tie to the roof and have as an emergency support should the worse-case scenario happen.  We thought this was a really good idea so got it out and then made use of to get some pics of the mooring.

Come on wimp - get in!!

Mike taking a picture of me taking a picure of Mike taking a picture of me taking a picture.......

Two dogs out for a wee evening boating.......

A few boats came and looked at the mooring but seeing us there turned around and we were left in peace and quiet for the rest of the evening.

Mike had been up through the night with knee pain so we weren’t quite as sharp on the off as we’d have liked to have been to try and get moored where we wanted, Ray-sur-Saone and sure enough, when we got there four hours later it was full of cruisers, which we can’t go alongside as we’d crush them……..  So we turned and went back up the lock we’d just come down and headed to Soing along a 3km deviation.  Which was also full of cruisers, so we hummed and hawed, had a good look at the bank but ended up heading back along the deviation to a spot at the end that we’d eyeballed as the last resort – a bankside picnic spot with one cruiser moored up.  As we pulled in we realised why no one else was there as the cruiser was running one of the loudest generators I have ever heard and as they spotted us, their two large German Shepherd dogs went into guarding mode, which they’d clearly been trained to do, so we backed away and headed back downstream almost to where we’d started and pulled up just before the deviation for the lock started.  It wasn’t ideal, a high, sloping wall with bollards on top, but the French chap in the cruiser moored up came and took our lines for us and then we found we could get onto the bank using our plank.  On a plus side we had an excellent internet signal so indulged in an evening of tv!

The final and only available option

A wee wander around the village delivered the bare remains of an old mill with some of the mechanisms still in situ

Another hot and sunny with a slight breeze day greeted us the following morning and we set off for Gray where there were various mooring options one of which is a +100m stone quay, so we were confident we’d get in.  

The tunnel entrance reminded me of the pyramids.

This seemed an extraordinarily large tower for the size of building!

Quaintrelle sporting her new cream, tilting parasol

En route, we passed down Lock 13 which proved unlucky for us at the back behind a French liveaboard as the walls not only leaked, they gushed huge torrents of water which came in through our closed windows and soaked the settee and living room floor.  Fortunately no long term damage, but a bit scary and very annoying!!  The lock keeper must have known this would happen and had said nothing……….  The first moorings at Gray were full, so we passed through the lock and towards the stone quay, which despite its size was almost full!!  The town is rather shabby and not really worth a visit but the free water and electricity, not to mention lack of moorings elsewhere, seem to attract the boats.  We caught up with De Bomme, the really beautiful boat we’d seen on the Vosges and discovered they are heading south to pick up their mast at Port Saint Louis and head out onto the Med, so we’ll hopefully see them again – very nice couple.

 

Lovely building in the old part of Gray

Cute roundabout at Gray

Before leaving the next morning, we shuffled back along the quay to access a water point and filled our tank ahead of a 9.45am departure to cover 7km to our next desired mooring.  Our timing paid off and there was plenty of room at Mantoche with some of the hire boats not having headed off yet by the time we arrived.  A swim was in order to cool down and formed the main structure of the day; swim, laze around, get hot, swim, do some chores, get hot, swim….. you get the gist……. By evening the moorings were full again but with some lovely, chatty holiday makers all enjoying themselves and as we barbequed our tea there was a real holiday feel about the place.

Now there's a nice-looking pad!

Don't look now, but we're surrounded....!!!!

Fantastic mooring at Mantoche

Here's what to do with the kids of a summer evening......

A baking hot Wednesday at 34 degrees took us to Auxonne and pastures revisited.

Last year we came out of this junction, Canal du Champagne Bourgogne

A horrible site to see below the lock.  Looks like she was a lovely thing too  :(

The visitor moorings all full we headed back up to the marina and pulled in for a night, 15 euros.  A quick swim in the river to cool off I then showered and changed and headed into town for a legwax, to Institut Cybele where I’d been done last year and found them to be excellent.  Getting waxed in such temperatures is not such a good idea and I was like a (hairfree) wet rag by the time I was done.  The shock of getting a mention on BBC 6 Music’s Tea Time Theme Time was too much for Mike and he took to bed with a migraine around 7pm, while I watched some tv and tried to cool down.

 

Where we hoped to be popping out this year, off the Rhone au Rhin Branche Sud.......

The next day was a short trip down to St Jean des Losnes where on arrival we filled up on red and white diesel and then looked to moor on the steps, which were full.  However, we’d eyeballed a couple of potential boats to go alongside with and as we pulled near a nice French couple waved us in against them.  

We then headed to the restaurant for lunch as it was too hot to cook on the boat again so we decided to have a lunch and then would just need a snack in the evening.  Just as we finished our main course, a couple of boats left leaving a Quaintrelle sized space, so Mike left me with my ice-cream and went to move her, apparently to the disappointment of the French couple……  Whilst we’d been alongside, De Bomme had arrived and were alongside a barge at the end and as the afternoon drew to a close more boats came looking for room and went alongside others.  We took in a large hire boat with a French couple and their young adult son, one of their mothers and another lady – a friend or sister, I’m not sure.  They were from near Nice and all spoke English and were just delightful.  They were so grateful to be invited to moor alongside they took us for a beer and we spent an interesting hour or so chatting with them.  We discovered that Alain has two jobs; he is an osteopath and he trains racing car drivers!!!  Needless to say, he and Mike had a happy conversation about cars exchanging photos etc.

In the evening, it was so hot, I wasn’t hungry but Mike nipped up to the takeaway and got the last kebab of the day, which I ate an end of.

Then it was off to bed as tomorrow we leave the Petit Saone and join the Saone and the hire boats will be swapped for the large commercial barges that travel on her as we continue our way southwards.