for a few days
June 5th – 9th 2023
A quick explanation to those who who not know why our cruising has started several weeks later than planned …. at the start of April I broke my ankle. Even with the excellent treatment from the French health service it has obviously taken a few weeks to get me sufficiently mobile again.
Stewart had already completed a heap of maintenance and painting on Calliope – a bright white cabin roof and Interdeck grey decks were proof of that.
The extra weeks gave us a chance to have good friends (and master marine engineer!) Ian and Nicky over to stay, so Stu took the opportunity for expert help to service the engine and check out some electrics.
Plaster off and two weeks of physio later the Captain decided I was nimble enough around the boat to be trusted, so off we went, on an exploratory trip down the Saint Usage canal basin and into the lock that would drop us down into the river. Half hidden behind the French flag I prove that ankles in compression socks are still ok for holding ropes in locks.
And there we were, set free to wander the waterways again! We set off upstream, just for a kilometre to moor up at the local campsite but, most importantly, the crew have passed the competence standard to continue!
This is it! This is why we love the cruising so much – the wide open spaces, the water, the tranquility of many moorings, and, very often, the rosé wine on the back deck!
Calliope heaven.
After a lovely lazy evening, with beer and a light supper at the Camping snack bar and surprise visit from friends Roberto and Ursula (who had cycled over to say another goodbye!) we began to plan the next day.
Ha ha! Already the little challenges of cruising in France locked in – I remembered that there was a national strike the next day and that the one lock we wanted to go through would be closed.
Ah well – there is an awful lot worse than being here for an extra day and night!
I even managed to start washing the accumulated dust off the boat – we have been moored for two months across the quay from the council road works depot, with associated heaps of gravel. This was not a problem at all; we got to know the guys who worked there and it was rarely noisy. All part of the industrial history of the canal when the aggregate would have arrived by barge.
First task before we left the St Jean-de-Losne area was to fill up with diesel from the fuel pontoon. It is self service, or is when it works; note Stewart’s perplexed pose! But a reboot of the system by the tourist office and trying a different bank card soon had it sorted.
We were off! Calliope was heading down river to a village called Seurre. It was another beautiful day, edging into the high twenties with cloudless skies and a pleasant breeze keeping the wheelhouse cool.
As we approached Seurre écluse (lock) I went into communications officer mode, calling them on the VHF radio and found enough French to request our ‘aval’, or downwards, passage through the lock.
Then as we got closer I suddenly saw a sign informing us that we must wear life jackets in the lock.
A quick scrabble in the wheelhouse cupboard and we donned them before we passed through the open lock gates.
The moorings at Seurre are just below the écluse, and usefully have a new long pontoon for barges as well as plenty of finger pontoons for smaller boats.
There was an initial kerfuffle, asking another boat to move along a bit so that not only Calliope, but also one of her sister ships arriving later could moor comfortably. As usual with other boaters, people want to help each other and some judicious shuffling went on.
As it happens within two hours this became unnecessary when the owners of another boat returned from lunch, cast off, and left the end of the pontoon for us to move to – a perfect mooring!
Our friends on Triton arrived during the afternoon and took their place at the other end of the pontoon.
During their cruise they had caught 61 small fish and we were invited to a friture supper with them. The closest UK equivalent would be whitebait. Excellent!
A bit of a triumph for me in Seurre – my first walk to a boulangerie in 8 weeks, ie since I broke my ankle.
The flower displays around the town were bright and cheerful too – all adding to my good spirits.
The little bit of Seurre that I saw was a creative mix of old and new – just a taster here. (Captains note: the bald old bloke with the tummy in pic. top left isn’t me – though we do share many attributes….)
And then we set off – and what a wonderful morning’s voyage it was. Within the first half hour the Captain had spotted a night heron, two storks along with kingfishers, egrets and a good mixture of other soaring and swimming birds.
We were out in ‘cow country’, always a favourite for me. I love to see them wading into the water to cool down, turning their curious faces to watch us pass.
Once more we only had one écluse to traverse, this one at Écuelles. It was another calm descent – these big locks are often much easier than the smaller ones!
The bollards were a little far apart for a perfect Calliope fit, but very manageable.
A little further along the river at Chauvort we saw these ‘twin towers’ and wondered at their history.
A quick Google informed us that they had been one end of a suspension bridge originally built in 1840, rebuilt in 1828, but destroyed in WW2.
The stone obelisk shaped towers have been kept as a memorial.
We were watching out for a small pontoon mooring outside a restaurant where we had planned to meet some other friends for the night.
It was easy to find, and there was a lovely stretch of pontoon just waiting for us. It was not long before we had tied up and were considering a late lunch. But that was to be delayed for a while …..
Two animated Dutchmen came quickly along the pontoon to tell us that they were the advance party for an ancient boat being rowed by 16 people upstream, and expecting to moor just where we were for their lunch break!
A bit of adjustment meant all could be accommodated.
She was a real beauty – a dutch boat known as a Church Boat because they brought people in from outlying hamlets to church, and also to market.
The International crew of all ages were gradually rowing up the Saone; it looked very hard work to me!
Half an hour later our friends arrived. It was lucky that we had planned for them to tie up alongside Calliope. The pontoon was very popular and boats of various sizes were arriving, trying to squeeze in, with currently moored boats moving backwards and forwards, and if no space could be made the newcomers had to leave and find somewhere else.
By evening our half of the pontoon was like this – calm and pleasant, and crowded! Calliope and La Fenice are at the far end.
We had a lovely evening together, initially on the back deck and then in the restaurant. Dining out is starting to become a habit!
It was early June; the sun didn’t set until after 9.30 so we enjoyed those dusky moments when birds go home to roost and frogs call out across the water.
Next day the crews on La Fenice and Calliope were keen to get going.
A cast off time of 9.30 was agreed and by 9.34.46 (the time this photo was taken) we were following our Piper friends towards Chalon-sur-Saône.
At Chalon our ways parted as La Fenice carried on towards the river Seille while we watched out for the junction with Canal du Centre.
The junction is not massively obvious, but the ‘barber’s pole’ was a good clue and Captain Stu slowed down to turn in gently – you never know what is coming the other way, and in this particular instance there was also a family fishing who needed to pull in their lines away from our propeller quick time.
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Yes – we were going down the right channel.
Goodbye River Saône, for now. We will see you again in the Autumn.
goodshipcalliope 