Farewell Auxonne

Despite a dreary and somewhat wet morning, we were able to leave Port Royal in Auxonne this morning and head north on the Petite Saone River. We are glad to be on the move.

Our one lockage in a rather short cruising day (only 2.5
hours, perfect for a first cruise) was a little damp, but "there
is no bad weather, only bad clothing," so I tried to take 
that into account in dressing for the day.

Our departure was possible because Lon is recovering well from his fall on May 11th. Although his rib is still somewhat painful, piloting the boat doesn't put much stress on the injured area, so we concluded that he could continue to heal just as well when we are cruising as he would if we were staying in port in Auxonne.

Lon getting the tender secured in preparation for cruising. 

From now until we leave CARIB in the fall we'll be fighting
the nemesis of boaters in the north country--spiders and the 
webs they manage to produce with amazing speed in the 
overnight hours.

The new swan family is a common sight in the Port Royal
harbor, and we enjoyed watching them during our stay.
 Sadly, what were three cygnets is now just two.

A very nice result of having delayed our departure
from Auxonne is that we were able to briefly cross
paths on May 21 with our "boating buddies" of last
year, Australians Lisette and Ian. We're not sure
how they managed to look so awake on their arrival day.

We are moored for the evening on a quay at the small town of Pontailler-sur-Saone. It markets itself as a center for nature and watersports. We briefly walked through the town, but its "season" must not start until June, because that's when the Tourist Office was scheduled to open. Although the streets were very quiet at mid-afternoon, at least Pontailler still has a few local shops, including a boulangerie. Its 18th-century church was not open, and the chateau that inspired the name of the "Place du Chateau" (castle square) no longer exists. So back to the boat we went, and we will give ourselves permission to have a lazy evening.

We may have the neighborhood all to ourselves tonight.

A Superstition "Bites the Dust"

The first report from France.

Our 2025 cruise was supposed to officially start on Saturday, 5-10-2025. We were going to pull out of Port Royal in Auxonne and head upstream on the Petite Saone River. For now, at least, the Canal de Vosges is open, so--consistent with our hopes, intentions, aspirations (but not plans, never the "p" word)--that is where we were going to head. We'd been joking for a while that saying the word "plan" only invites disaster, but we found out on Friday, May 9, that avoidance of "plans" has no real practical effect. On that day, Lon decided to test the efficiency of the French medical system. While washing the boat in preparation for departure, he slipped on the deck and fell, hitting the hard steel edge of one of the stairs on his way down to a very awkward landing on the deck. Just that quickly, our initial hopes-intentions-aspirations--yes, plans--were upended. 

It was fortunate that I was on the boat when it happened, but it still took a few minutes for his banging on the hull--and finally, yelling--to get my attention. He was lying front-side down with his left arm over the side of the boat, his right arm under his abdomen, and unable to turn over. Because he was in a lot of pain on his right side, it was obvious that I should not be moving him and that we needed to get help to evaluate his condition and avoid making things worse. Cue the call to "112".

Despite some small language difficulties, my message got through and the emergency response kicked into gear--and what a response it was. Ultimately, we probably had a dozen emergency responders show up on C.A.R.I.B. III: the initial 3 pompiers (firefighters)/paramedics; 2 police officers from the Gendarmerie Nationale; 4 SAMU (emergency medical services) personnel, which included a doctor; and 3 water rescue law enforcement personnel on the inflatable boat that was used to transport Lon from CARIB to the landside ambulance. 

Just a portion of CARIB's "visitors."

Lon on a backboard being loaded onto the boat. Lon was on the portside deck, away from
 the dock, and the rescuers thought it would be too difficult and dangerous to try
 to move him over CARIB's roof and decks, hence, the call for a marine unit boat. 

All-in-all, it was about 2 hours from the time I phoned 112 to when Lon was loaded into the ambulance. Google Translate was an invaluable communication tool during this time. Everyone was very kind, and their professionalism was never in doubt. I was able to ride in the back of the ambulance when Lon was transported to a hospital 30 minutes away on the north side of the city of Dijon. After about 4.5 hours in the emergency room, Lon was released. The verdict? A break in rib number 8 on his right side. He was given a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and a drug to deal with the pain. As it was nearly 11 p.m. at this point, we arranged for a cab to take us back to Auxonne. 

Our cost for all of this medical service: no charge for the emergency response or the ambulance ride; 19.61 euro (about $22) for the emergency room charges (and that only because Lon didn't have to be admitted overnight. If he had, there would have been no cost at all); and 14.81 euro (about $17) for the two medications at the pharmacy the next day. Our biggest expense was the 200-euro taxi ride from Dijon, but we figured that a hotel and next-day transportation would have added up about the same, so getting back to the boat right away was a no-brainer. We are so grateful to the French government and the French taxpayers for funding the kind of medical system they have. It's a very different approach to what we are accustomed to in the U.S.

Lon is doing very well. He's up and moving around--that was already the case on Friday night--and the medications are keeping his pain under control. He will be on medication through Friday, May 16, and then we will be evaluating our cruising options. Because Lon's cousin Frank is still scheduled to join us in early June, we need to look at a variety of scenarios that will work with Lon's health status, the location of towns on or near the waterway with train stations, Frank's hopes for his travel itinerary, and our cruising wishes and the condition of the waterways. All in good time.

Prior to Lon's accident, we'd had a mostly easy re-entry into France and barge life. Our flights from the U.S. were on time and (happily for me) without too many bumps. The biggest complaint was the short seat pitch in the Air France aircraft on the Atlanta-Paris portion of the trip. It's been quite some time since we've flown with our knees touching the seats in front of us. We took advantage of our early morning arrival to make a stop at Port Arsenal in Paris so that we could meet up with barging friends Jonathan and Jeannie on "Aleau" and enjoy catching up over a "bottomless cup o'joe" at "Breakfast in America."

It's always a pleasure to see Jeannie and Jonathan, and to enjoy
breakfast in what seems to have become "our booth" at BIA. 

It was a beautiful morning for a walk along the Seine. At top, the Notre Dame
 Cathedral is still under a great deal of scaffold, despite now being open to visitors.
Below, the tourist boats on the Seine had no shortage of passengers.

Our train connections to Auxonne from Paris worked great, but I am not ashamed to say that I was dragging by our 5 p.m. arrival in Auxonne. We were very grateful that our port captain John was there to meet us and give me and our luggage a ride to the boat. Lon had to walk the mile distance, but he took advantage of the fresh air to get a "second wind" so that he could get the water system on CARIB flushed and functioning again. Our gratitude to John extended to the grocery basics that he'd purchased on our behalf and the (spicy!) beef curry that he'd prepared so that we didn't have to worry about a shopping trip or dinner preparation on our arrival day. (Thanks to him also for responding to my telephone call about Lon on Friday afternoon and for keeping us company until the paramedics arrived.)

The week was filled with the usual projects to get CARIB ready for cruising. All of the boat systems performed as required, and--despite a lingering jet lag that made sleeping a bit difficult--we managed to get everything done that needed to be done, more quickly than expected. We even managed to fit in some social time with other boaters who are completing their own cruising preparations.

The Auxonne church and adjacent outdoor market held
on Victory in Europe Day (May 8).

Swans were nesting near one of the docks
at the port. 

  

The male swan was very protective of his mate and
the nest. Here, he was probably giving Lon the "evil
 eye" as a warning to stay away.

Auxonne's commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe.
 VE Day is one of three May holidays in France.

Just in the last few days, three of the eggs in the swan's nest have hatched. Mama is still sitting on two eggs, but whether they will hatch remains to be seen.

And so, we wait. We are sorry that we are not cruising, but it's not all bad. We are incredibly thankful that Lon was not injured worse, and we can use the time for various other activities, including some projects that we had originally thought to defer to later in the season.

Cruising Aspirations for 2025

Only 3 weeks!

Hard to believe how fast this winter has gone.  It's like we just got back into our music and volunteering and now it's all coming to an end.  We fly back to Paris on the 29th of April.  After we arrive we hope to get together with Jonathan and Jeannie (on "Aleau") for breakfast and a couple of hours of catching up prior to catching the train from Gare de Lyon back to Auxonne.  A 10-minute walk from the train station will have us back to Port Royal and C.A.R.I.B. III, hopefully in time for Pat to get a quick run to the grocery store while I get the water tank filling, and the water pump primed and running.

Below is a map showing the route we hope to cover this year.

After cleaning and preparing the boat for a couple of weeks, we expect to be leaving Auxonne sometime in the middle of May.  The weather and the conditions of the waterways will determine our route towards Strasbourg, but the idea right now is to head north from Auxonne on the Petite Saone.  This will take us to the Canal des Vosges.  Some of you may remember that we started off on this route in 2021 on our way to the Netherlands; however, on that trip, just prior to reaching the Canal des Vosges, there was a breach in the canal, and we had to turn around and use a different route.  Fingers crossed, this year we will be able to use this canal.  The Canal des Vosges will bring us just to the south of Nancy and the Canal de la Marne au Rhin Est.  Here we will have a decision to make.  Do we continue to Strasbourg or do we take a side trip north of Nancy up the Moselle River to Metz?  We intend to do the cruise to Metz sometime this summer, it is just a matter of deciding whether to do it before going to Strasbourg or after going to Strasbourg.  You will have to follow the blog to see what we decide.

There is a highlight on the Canal de la Marne au Rhin Est that I am really looking forward to.  It is called the "Plan incliné de St Louis," also known as the Arzviller boatlift.

Boatlift viewed from below.  Coming from Nancy we will
 enter at the top of the boatlift.

Boatlift viewed from the top as the lock basin ascends the inclined plane.

I'm sure Pat will update the future blog when we do this, with more details.  However, for now, I will let you know that it started operating in 1969 and replaced 17 locks over a 4 km stretch and raises the boats 44.5 meters.

Another highlight that we are looking forward to is the arrival of some guests that will be cruising with us.  My cousin Frank, from Canada (who was with us in 2022), will be joining us in June.  In addition, good friends from Michigan, Ken and Brenda, will be joining us in August.

We also have a couple of side trips towards the end of the summer.  In late August, we look forward to seeing old friends in the Netherlands and attending the tall ship festival at Sail Amsterdam 2025.  We had hoped to see the 2020 version, but as we all know, COVID stopped that from happening.  In September, we are going on a 2-week African safari in Kenya.  I'm sure Pat will have a lot of pictures for the blog for both of these excursions.

Next stop--France.