Auxonne and Beyond

We have settled into port life without too much difficulty. Despite the three years that have passed since we were last in Auxonne, we had no problem finding our way to the grocery store, the bricolage, and the bakeries. We were also pleasantly surprised to find out that the local single-screen movie theater shows an occasional Version Originale (VO), and as a result, we saw our first movie on the big screen since we left Florida in April. "Deadpool & Wolverine" would not have been my first choice in movies, but it had its funny moments, and beggars can't be choosers.

After three nights moored on the pontoon adjacent to the slipway, we were asked to move to the hammerhead/T-head of B Dock (the same dock we were on in 2019-2021). It's quieter and more private than the previous space because we're not as close to the cycling-walking trail, but it's further away from the port exit. The T-head is a little bit too light to accommodate a heavy boat like CARIB for the entire winter; however, we probably won't have to move until closer to our departure date for the U.S. The port captain needs to work some "boat Tetris" and determine a more suitable winter mooring spot. 

In the meantime, our first week here was spent tackling some of the boat projects on our list. We were finally able to install the snaps for the exterior window coverings for the forward windows, but we still have to complete the caulking for all of the snaps. I've nearly finished the staining touch-ups of the exterior wood on the aft door. More to come of course, but some breaks must be taken for other things.

On Monday, August 19, we were happy to welcome our Dutch friends Joost, Yolanda, Suze, and Rosa to CARIB for a few hours. 

Our friends always seem to find time to work a "CARIB detour" into their summer vacation
trips to France, and we are always happy to see them.

On Tuesday, August 20--an absolutely gorgeous summer day--we cycled to one of the boating supply stores in St. Jean de Losne to place an order for a few items: (1) two cylinder fenders to replace the two that didn't survive the summer (both punctured or torn, one from getting caught on a gate during entry into a lock and one from a sharp edge on a steel-shuttered mooring quay); (2) one round fender in a size I can actually handle, very useful for fending the boat off concrete walls or for cushioning CARIB during maneuvers to "spring off" a mooring (one of our previous cylinder fenders died of old age, and the other was not only too large for me to handle easily, it popped within weeks of its purchase $$$); two 20 mm diameter, 15-meter long mooring lines for my use at the bow (to replace two deteriorated lines and to give me something a little lighter and easier to handle than the newer, larger, heavier lines I had to use for much of this season); and (4) air filters for the engine.

Upper: the old church in St. Jean de Losne was closed
for repairs/renovations. The roof looked so "fresh" we
wondered if it was newly redone or just cleaned.
Lower: The riverfront of St. Jean de Losne, a perfect
place to stop for lunch before tackling the hour long
 bike ride back to Auxonne.

In the evening, we shared aperitifs with Australian boaters Deb and Howard, who own the 21-meter barge Moondance. We met Deb and Howard at last year's DBA Rally, and also saw them very briefly at Port Arsenal in Paris in early December, so it was fun to catch up. They are part of what may be a veritable "Aussie invasion" at Port Royal this fall and winter.

Wednesday through Friday was field trip time for us. In all the years we've been coming to France, we had yet to spend any time in Lyon, France's 3rd largest city by core population, 2nd largest city by urban area population. Airport departures and train transfers don't count. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "bucket list" item, but we have been curious to see it, and we knew that it would be relatively easy to get to via train from Auxonne. When we ultimately decided not to "turn right" at Chalon-sur-Saone and cruise the southern Saone River this year, we also decided to try to work a short "land trip" to Lyon into our post-cruise, pre-Greece period.

Lyon has been a political and religious capitol for centuries.  Its location at the junction of the navigable Saone and Rhone Rivers was strategic heaven for communications and commerce. Capitol of the Gauls during the Roman Empire, it was the birthplace of two Roman emperors, Claudius and Caracalla. Early Christians martyred by the Romans became local saints and the city became the site of a bishopric in the 2nd century AD. The silk trade during the Renaissance contributed to the growth of Lyon, and literary activity thrived in the 15th and 16th centuries. The city picked the wrong side in the French Revolution, however. Although not monarchist, the citizens weren't enamored of the way that the Revolution was proceeding under the National Convention and rebelled. A 2+ month siege of the city by Revolutionary armies ended in October 1793 with the city's surrender, the demolition of many city buildings, and the execution of over 2000. Lyon even lost its name for a decade or so, becoming "Liberated City" until the Napoleonic years. Silk city of the 19th century; center of Nazi occupation and stronghold of the French Resistance in WWII; current prefecture of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alps region; university town; center for high tech industries; world headquarters of Interpol, International City of Gastronomy . . . Lyon has a lot going on. 

With a 12-day trip to Greece on the horizon in early September, and boat projects to finish, we limited ourselves to two nights in Lyon. A midday arrival on August 21 and a morning departure on the 23rd gave us a day-and-a-half to see what we could. Little wonder that we would need to limit our explorations to the historic districts defined as a UNESCO World Heritage site--the Presqu'ile peninsula bounded by the Saone and Rhone Rivers; the northern hill of La Croix-Rousse, "the hill that works", where many silk workshops were located; the western hill of Fourviere, "the hill that prays", with its Basilica and Roman ruins; and Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon), the medieval and Renaissance quarter of the city.

On the Presqu'ile, looking across the Place Bellecour (one of the
 largest town squares in Europe, being prepared for an appearance
 of the Paralympics 2024 torch) toward the Notre-Dame de
Fourviere Basilica on Fourviere hill.

Looking upstream on the Saone River toward La Croix-Rousse hill.

Panoramic view from the Presqui'ile toward Vieux Lyon and Fourviere hill.

On Wednesday afternoon we made a very brief walk through Vieux Lyon, but we concentrated mostly on going to the southern part of the Presqu'ile peninsula to the city port and the confluence of the Rhone and Saone rivers.

Lyon has great public transportation options. The choices to get
to the confluence were tram or boat. For us, was there really any
option? Our lovely little hotel, Hotel des Artistes, was well situated
for us to hop on La Vaporetto, the water taxi (at left, turning to
dock at the quay). The towers of St. John's Cathedral (upper left) in
 Vieux Lyon frame Notre-Dame de Fourviere Basilica.

Lots of liveaboard barges line the banks of the Saone.

The Confluence is a former industrial area of the city. It is still under reconstruction, but even at this point is awash in both residential and commercial buildings, many of extremely interesting contemporary design. And should we ever decide to cruise south--either as far as Lyon or to the Mediterranean--we would feel very comfortable using the port facilities.

Modern commercial buildings that make one
hungry for a fruity sherbet.

The Confluence Museum, a huge museum of sciences and
anthropology. It came highly recommended by the Tourist Office,
but alas, visiting museums was not possible for us given our
limited time in the city and other priorities. The building was
a fascinating piece of contemporary architecture.

The geographical confluence: the mighty Rhone (left) meets the Saone (right).

By the time we got back to the hotel in late afternoon we'd walked nearly 7 miles for the day. Lon was nice enough to go back out and get a takeout dinner for us at a Mexican restaurant. We needed to rest up for what promised to be a busy Thursday. Having seen some tourist crowds in Old Lyon in the afternoon (not Paris-level crowded, but still . . .), we knew we wanted to try to avoid any repeat of that by getting an early start for our explorations of the sights on Fourviere hill and Vieux Lyon.

We were out of the hotel by 8 a.m. or shortly thereafter on Thursday, August 22. Our first stop was to be Fourviere hill. Too steep to walk up, so thank goodness they have a funicular that runs from Vieux Lyon to a station across the street from the Basilica on Fourviere hill.

No views are possible from the funicular, as the track runs
through the hill.

The present basilica was built to fulfill a promise to God: should the city be spared invasion by the Prussian Army in 1870, a big church dedicated to Mary would be built. Spared it was. Construction on the "big church" started in 1872, and the church was consecrated in 1896.

Front view of the Basilica.

The interior decoration was floor-to-wall-to-ceiling mosaics. Absolutely amazing. It put
the mosaics we saw in Briare to shame. At left, the altar in the crypt below the main sanctuary,
dedicated to St. Joseph. Right, a part of the main sanctuary.

The Council of Ephesus issues a proclamation of the
dogma of Mary Mother of God.

The view over Lyon from the plaza adjacent to the basilica was pretty spectacular. The
Saone flows at the bottom of the photo, the Presqu'ile district constitutes the bulk of the 
buildings seen, and the Rhone River is slightly visible toward the top of the photo. The business
district is beyond the Rhone. Our hotel was on the street to the left of the small
 red-brown brick building facing the Saone.

From the basilica it was just a short walk to the ruins of two of the three Roman theaters in Lyon. The larger of the two theaters, the Ancient Theater of Fourviere, was built starting in 15 B.C. and was finally finished at the beginning of the 2nd century A.D. It could seat 10,000 for theater productions. It forms a pair with the smaller theater on the site, the Odeon, which was built in the early to mid 2nd century as a covered building used for musical performances and readings that could seat about 3,000. Starting at the end of the 3rd century the venues were gradually abandoned, and over the next centuries their stones were "quarried" for use in other building constructions. By the 1930's the sites were covered by vegetation. Excavations to uncover what remained began in 1933.

Two views of the larger, Ancient Theater. As part of the works conducted
on the site, seating was restored and a new stage installed. Since 1946,
a "Nuits de Fourviere" festival has taken place here in the summer, with
theater, circus, music, dance and film events. We tested the acoustics, with
me on stage and Lon in the spectator area. He could hear my normal
speaking voice.

Lon on the stage of the smaller Odeon. It's no longer a covered building, but it, too, is
used for performances. It was just past 9 a.m. and we had the site nearly to ourselves.

What goes up must come down--rather than take
the funicular down to Vieux Lyon, we decided to
walk. A good way to see the neighborhood, 
although it did get rather steep toward the bottom.

The Cathedral of St. John, whose construction started in
the 12th century. It's the principal religious structure in the
city and the seat of the Archbishop of Lyon.

The cathedral interior was well-maintained,
although it struck me as rather plain. Not
plain was this 16th century astronomical
clock, which still works.

Vestiges of Lyon's silk manufacturing past are numerous traboules, or covered
passages, that could be used to transport the silk fabrics between buildings and
keep it out of the elements. The entryways (at left) were not always easy to see.
 Traboules were also valuable for moving Resistance fighters in WWII.

The traboules hid some beautiful
Renaissance courtyards.

Shopping streets in Vieux Lyon were narrow
and cobbled, and on Wednesday afternoon,
full of tourists and souvenir shops.

The northern part of the Presqu'ile and the slopes of the Croix-Rousse revealed other treasures.

Taking a break at the fountain in the Place de Terreaux.

Stairs up . . . 

Stairs down . . .

The Amphitheater of the Three Gauls is the third amphitheater in Lyon
and was dedicated to the Gallic cult of Rome and Augustus.
 Construction is dated to 19 A.D. What remains is only a small
 portion of the original.

The Church of Saint-Nizier, begun in the
14th century, but not completed until the 19th.
Relegated to flour warehouse after the 
Revolution.

After seeing so many churches this summer, we're probably a bit jaded. Except . . . in Saint-Nizier I was fascinated by what they had installed for their Stations of the Cross. It was totally unlike anything I'd seen before, and it really had an emotional impact for me. In 2019, an artist was commissioned to paint the stations of the cross depicting contemporary people interacting with Jesus. It seemed to me that it brought the events of Jesus' life and death out of the dry and dusty past and made them so much more real and relatable.

These still give me chills.

The Theatre des Celestins, a 19th century theater on the 
former site of a convent and church of the Celestine order.

Wall art: Bibliotheque de la Cite (city 
library) showing works by several hundred
writers from Lyon and the surrounding region.

We'd had a great intro to Lyon, but like Paris, there's much that one could do in subsequent visits. If we're ever back in Lyon I'm sure we'll figure it out. The train trip back to Auxonne on Friday the 23rd was a breeze. It was good to be away, it's good to be back "home". The boat projects beckon--and we would be well-served to do a little more research on Greece before we depart for our Orly Airport hotel on September 4.

It was getting rather breezy on Friday evening, so we were surprised to see these two
hot air balloons getting airborne as we were enjoying happy hour on the back deck.

Cruising Stats 2024

Although our time in Europe won't finish until October 1, the cruising portion of our season has wrapped up. The "bare bones" statistics of our cruise were as follows:

Start: May 21, 2024, from Auxerre, France

End: August 13, 2024, in Auxonne, France

Cruising Days: 47

Engine Hours: 172.1

Distance: 745 km (447 miles)

210 Locks

4 mobile bridges

The profile view of our route that follows shows the "ups and downs" along the way. It may look like we climbed a mountain or two--we did not. The graphic merely attempts to give an impression of the general nature of our climbs and descents, from the relatively gradual altitude changes on the rivers and the Canal lateral a la Loire to the steeper passages of the Canal de Briare and Canal du Centre.

From left: down the Yonne; up-and-down a short stretch of the Burgundy Canal; continue down
the Yonne; up-and-down the Petite Seine; up the Canal du Loing and the Canal de Briare to the
Briare summit (the peak mid-graphic), then down the Briare; a lock-free stretch as the Briare Canal
flows into the Loire Lateral Canal; a gradual ascent up the Loire Lateral and the Canal du Centre
 to the summit of the Centre (the highest peak); finally, a relatively steep descent on the Canal du
 Centre (those 11-lock cruising days!) to the Soane River and its slight rise. 

The pre-season possibility of including a cruise down the Saone River to Macon and then Lyon fell victim to our "no rush" pace along the canals, and that's OK. We were really pleased with the waterways that we did complete: beautiful scenery and interesting places to explore, so many towns that thoughtfully provided mooring sites, friendly and helpful vnf employees, and water of sufficient depth with little of the weed that infests so many French canals these days. In the end, those are the "stats" that really matter. There were a few maintenance glitches along the way, but nothing catastrophic, and to be expected when one has a BOAT (Break Out Another Thousand.)

We would be remiss if we didn't include a "shout out" to Ian and Lisette on the barge Catharina Elisabeth. We got to know them a bit last year as we made our way to the DBA barge rally in Auxerre, and met up again this May. The Bourbonnais Route was in both of our travel itineraries this year, and we managed to leap-frog each other throughout the cruising season. When we were in front, we provided scouting reports on moorings to them; when they were in front, they returned the favor. And when we were moored in the same place at the same time--which was fairly often--we talked about all manner of things over aperitifs. Most of our social encounters with other boaters this year were one-off events and were certainly enjoyable, but the opportunity to come to know Ian and Lisette in a less superficial way was the "icing" on our 2024 cruising "cake."

L to R: Lon, Pat, Ian, Lisette at Chateau de Couches

The End is in Sight

As we relaxed at the Santenay mooring, it was hard to wrap our heads around the fact that we probably only had three cruising days left in our 2024 season. Our prospective stops would include one more full day on the Canal du Centre. On the second day we would reach the reach the end of the canal and enter into the Saone River just upstream of the city of Chalon-sur-Saone. Day 3 would see us reaching Port Royal in Auxonne, where CARIB III will spend the winter.

As laid out in a blog post on March 23, our prospective cruising route as of the pre-season included a "right turn" when we reached the Saone in order to head south toward Macon, and, perhaps, Lyon. We decided a few weeks ago that, given an upcoming trip to Greece in early September, it might be pushing ourselves too much to try to fit in a cruise on the southern Saone. All summer we'd been keeping a relaxed pace in our cruising. The decision to skip the southern Saone allowed us to relax our pace even further in these final cruising days and extend our stays in our last two stops on the Canal du Centre, Santenay and Fragnes. A concurrent heat wave also had an impact on our decision making.

Santenay is a village of around a thousand inhabitants that lies at the southern end of the area of Burgundy famous for the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes of the Cote de Beaune. Not surprising then, that the business of Santenay is mostly wine, although it also has a thermal spa. Santenay is an "appellation" of Burgundy wine, that is, it is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where a wine's grapes were grown. Several small-scale hotel boats ply the canals in this area, and Santenay is often part of the itinerary for "wine appreciation" cruises. (We might have encountered more hotel boats during our cruise through this area had it not been for the Paris Olympics, which apparently resulted in heavily booked cruises before and after the event, but not so much during the Olympics. If that was the case, we are grateful for the timing.) Neither of us can lay claim to having particularly discerning palates, but there was something of a "when in Rome . . . " urge to try to understand this aspect of French/Burgundian culture, so we scheduled ourselves for a wine tasting session in Santenay on the afternoon of August 6.

Lon heading to assist Ian and Lisette on Catharina Elisabeth
 with mooring in Santenay. A major biking and walking path ran
 along the canal. It was busy with lots of passersby curious
about our barges. We also had access to a lovely picnic
 table, shaded from the afternoon sun, that was a natural and
comfortable gathering point for aperitifs and dinners.

Our first order of business on the morning of August 6 was a bike ride along the canal to the town of Chagny, about 5 kilometers further downstream from Santenay. Chagny is larger than Santenay and lies on the borders of two wine regions.

The port at Chagny. Had we not found space at Santenay, this would
have been our alternative. It was in good condition and had lots
of room, but it was adjacent to a tile factory and was completely
exposed to the sun. Very hot. We were so happy to be in Santenay.

Chagny is proud of its Sunday market--something we could not judge during our mid-week visit--and its 3-star Michelin restaurant (not on our list of "must-dos".) The on-line tourist guide to the town was more than we wanted to tackle in the increasing heat of the day, and nothing particularly "grabbed us" in our first impressions, so we cut our visit short and headed back to CARIB III for lunch.

Our one stop in Chagny was at the Church of St. Martin.
The original church was built during the 12th and 13th
centuries; its naves date to the 13th century. The
Romanesque bell tower is listed as
a historic monument. Lower left, a chapel housing
 a reconstruction of the Lourdes grotto was erected in 
1873 in thanks for the healing of the parish priest.

Halfway between Chagny and Santenay lies the wine village
of Remigny, where we made a quick stop on the way back to
CARIB. Its 11th-12th century church was, unfortunately, not open.

The heart of Santenay village lay about a kilometer away from our mooring point on the canal. In early afternoon it was too warm to make walking an option for our explorations of Santenay prior to our 3 p.m. wine tasting, but the bicycles worked great--for the most part. The gradual incline to reach the Moulin Sourine was fine, but at the very end the steepness of the road defeated us and we ended up walking the bikes for the short final stretch.

The Moulin Sourine was built in the mid-19th century and restored in the 1990's. Originally
 used to grind flour, it is currently the only working communal windmill in the region.

The town is surrounded by vineyards. The rooftop of the
Chateau de Santenay is just visible to the left, the tower of the
19th century church of lower Santenay is visible to the right.

An alternative view of the church as we approach from the east.

The wine tasting that afternoon took place in the Chateau de Santenay, also known as Chateau Philippe le Hardi (Philip the Bold). The castle was both a historic monument and the headquarters for a wine domaine. The chateau was built in the 9th, 12th and 16th centuries. Philippe le Hardi was the son of the King of France (John the Good) and became the first Duke of Burgundy. The castle was one of Philippe's possessions and it retained his name long after his death. After Philippe took possession of the lordship of Santenay, he passed an edict that banned the cultivation of Gamay grapes, and this was the beginning of single varietal cultivation with Pinot Noir grapes in Burgundy.

Chateau Philippe le Hardi.

The tasting included a short tour of the winemaking quarters,
including this look at the former dungeon of the castle. It was
followed by a tasting in the courtyard of 5 of the domaine's wines.

Not the most interesting of photos, but the two large
trees at the center are listed as "remarkable trees of France."
Why? According to tradition, the oriental plane trees were
planted in 1599 as a gift from King Henri IV to thank the 
castle owner of the time. The trees are at the entrance to the 
bridge that spans the castle moat (now dry).

After a busy August 6, and with such a pleasant mooring, we decided to stay in Santenay for another day. August 7 involved the mundane task of laundry, but we also sought out another chateau a few kilometers away that housed a microbrewery whose beer Lon had enjoyed during lunch a few days earlier in St. Leger. As with other chateaux in the area, Chateau de Chamilly's main business was the  production of wine.

The village of Chamilly is old, as evidenced by the Church of 
Saint Peter and St. Paul, with its 12th C Romanesque tower
and apse. The nave was added in the 17th or 18th C.

Chateau de Chamilly. The tower at the far left is 14th C, but the bulk of the castle was built in
 the 17th C by Noel Bouton, a general in the French army and Marquis of Chamilly
 at the time of Louis XIV.

Upper: Lon purchases beer from LaBAB, which conducted its operations
in outbuildings on the castle grounds. It's a separate business entity from
the winery.
Lower: the former kitchen of the castle, now the wine tasting room. The
bottle of cremant that I was purchasing stands on the table. Beautiful label
(the cremant has not yet been tasted!).

Our bike ride to Chamilly had some steep hills that challenged the capacity of our e-bike motors. We were directed to a more bike-friendly return route by the woman who sold the cremant. Google Maps had tried to send us the easier way to begin with, but we didn't trust it. It may be the one time we would have been better off doing what Google Maps suggested.

Much as we'd been enjoying our mooring in Santenay and the company of Ian and Lisette, the next series of descending locks couldn't be put off forever. With 6 lock-free kilometers prior to the first lock of the 11 that we wanted to complete on August 8, we set off just after 8 a.m., hoping to be first at Lock number 24. Alas, our optimism was not rewarded, as we spied a cruiser ahead of us on the canal after we passed through the port at Chagny. That wouldn't have been so bad had another issue not arisen. Lock opening time of 9 a.m. came and went and the lock remained inactive. No eclusier, and my repeated telephone calls to the vnf command center went unanswered, something that had never before been a problem. The boat in front of us turned out to be a hire boat, and the folks aboard had no clue what was needed. After 45 minutes of frustrated waiting, I finally called the number I'd been given in late July specifically for the lock in Montceau. Amazingly enough, that got things going. The lock started preparing to receive the first boat, and within a few minutes a vnf employee arrived. Also to the good, the lock cycled for us as soon as the hire boat departed the lock.

We could have happily done without an additional 45-minute wait due to a lock malfunction at our 4th lock of the day. (We had some sympathy for the poor vnf employee who seemed to be responsible for keeping the 11 locks going. It was a busy day on the canal, so he was working hard.) Once that was sorted, however, we made smooth progress to the long quay at the village of Fragnes-la-Loyere. 

A former lock house, now a private residence, with an amazing flower garden.

This looked like crop rotation, but we weren't entirely sure.
Sunflowers were poking their heads up at random places
in the surrounding field of what, we don't know.

Lower: what we saw as we passed by on the canal, just upstream of Fragnes.
Upper: we visited the church by bicycle when we were moored in
Fragnes. It looks like some efforts are being made to keep it from
disintegrating further. The choir and apse are 11th C; the tower is a more 
recent reconstruction. There were several 19th century gravestones on
the property.

Fragnes was formerly a stop on the Roman road between Chalon-sur-Saone and Beaune. It's located only a few kilometers from the much larger city of Chalon-sur-Saone, which explains its more industrial based economy in the last several decades. Its close proximity to Chalon made it a very convenient place from which to visit that city by bicycle, as, having spent several days in Chalon in 2018 and 2019, we did not wish to cruise there this year.

CARIB moored in Fragnes. The building just "above" us housed a French restaurant that was usually
busy. In the building to the far left was a great boulangerie that, in addition to tasty bread and
pastries, had some awesome hamburgers perfect for reheating and wonderful fruit tarts.

Our arrival in Fragnes ushered in several very hot days, with highs breaking into the 90's, so we decided to stay for 4 nights to take advantage of the power for our air conditioning. On the morning of August 9, we cycled into Chalon to see what the current mooring situation was for larger boats like barges. When we were last in Chalon in 2019, there wasn't much big boat mooring to be had, so we had to resort to a complicated effort that required stand-off poles and a gangplank to moor along a channel leading to the Port de Plaisance. We've also been on the lookout for a folding small occasional table, but a visit to Chalon's south commercial center wasn't successful in that respect. After an enjoyable lunch at a brasserie on Saint-Laurent Island, the best idea seemed to be to return to the boat to sit out the high afternoon heat, after an intermediate stop for groceries.

Chalon-sur-Saone is still a stop for larger river cruise boats.

Just in front of the bridge in the photo is the pontoon where large boats like barges are
able to moor. A concrete quay along the bank seems designed for short day stops.

Ian and Lisette on Catherina Elisabeth showed up mid-afternoon on August 9 after a very warm cruising day with some delays, so we were able to trade stories over docktails. All-in-all, our stay in Fragnes was light on sightseeing and heavier on socializing. Sunday August 11 was a particularly pleasant day. On Saturday we were contacted by our nephew Andy, middle son of Lon's younger brother Guy. Andy had been in Europe for work. He and his girlfriend had tacked on a bit of vacation and wanted to drive from Zurich to spend Sunday afternoon with us. Four hours plus of driving each way was above-and-beyond the call of duty for family, but they did it. What a treat to meet Mel and spend time with the both of them. 

L to R: Lon, Pat, Andy, Mel

Our very own wine tasting on city park property adjacent to the boat quay. The gentleman in 
the striped shirt was a member of the family that owned Domaine Gaudry, and he'd been
 passing out pricelists for their wine on Saturday. Ian and Lisette worked with him to
 schedule a wine tasting on Sunday evening. Lon and I were the sole Americans
 in a sea of convivial Australian boaters.

Despite weather forecasts that promised nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit temps on Monday, August 12, we decided to cast off. Only one deep lock and 6 kilometers remained on the Canal du Centre. Once we entered into the Saone River we would be able to put up our bimini again and cruise in shade. There would be only one river lock to get through on our way to the day's destination of Seurre, and the quay there would be able to power our AC. Catharina Elisabeth was also leaving on the 12th, so we were going to "buddy boat" that day.

We are following Catharina Elisabeth to the deep (10 meters) lock.
They were the first boat through at the 9 a.m. opening, and we
followed shortly thereafter.

Ian snapped a photo of us exiting the lock. I'm holding an umbrella over Lon and me, as
the "guillotine gate" has the unfortunate characteristic of shedding water.

The river cruising was absolutely great. We were able to maintain about 10 km/hr, and with the breeze and the shade of the bimini we didn't get hot until we slowed for the mooring in Seurre.

Top: moored in Seurre
Bottom: the Seurre waterfront. We had a brief time to walk around town
at twilight. Most of the activity, such as it was, was along the water.

 

Tuesday, August 13, was our final cruising day of this 2024 season. With the only lock of the day just upstream from our mooring, we were through by 9 a.m. and on our way north.

The familiar skyline of St. Jean de Losne came into view by mid-morning. We stopped for
fuel at the self-service fuel pontoon (at water's edge, below the church in the photo), and after
that pain-in-the-wallet-inducing hour, continued upriver to Port Royal in Auxonne.

We are currently in a temporary mooring space at Port Royal, but expect to be moved to a more permanent winter mooring spot soon. It may take a few days to get out of the habit of prepping for a cruise, but between boat projects and land travel, our remaining 7 weeks in Europe promise to remain busy.