log blank 2000


2001


July 1 Sunday
Seveux to p.k. 334.5
Hot, dry, but pleasant.

Feeling ‘orrid - sore throat - probably been shouting and talking too much.
Or more likely, infection from sore lip resulting from chewing it whilst S. drives into the locks knitting and speaking on the mobile phone at the same time.

Lovely restful uncomplicated trip to Ray sur Saône, normally missed, as it is on the main river, and the channel bypasses it via a lock and a cut.

Not going to describe - see pic - but nothing's free - cost us Ffr 20 to fill water. Ffr 10 to find how not to use the slot machine, and further Ffr 10 to get the actual water. Sure it was very nice water, and idyllic surroundings to fill in! Worth it - hope they use the money to change nothing


July 2 Monday
p.k. 334.5 above Soing to Port sur Saône
Hotter still.

To Doctor!! Still feeling ‘orrid.
Read this, sufferers under the English NHS.
Cycled up town - Port sur Saône is a small town, slap on N road, possibly a bit half-arsed, noisy and depressed.
Found Dr’s surgery by asking at chemist. Every French town worth half the name has a large pharmacy, with an enormous green cross in flashing neon outside it’s door, somewhere in town.
Sign on Dr’s door: "Appointments, ring and enter, " - in French - so did - in English - too bad about appointment.
Entered - rang door bell a couple more times in case a receptionist somewhere. There wasn’t one.
Sat in waiting room - no one about and deathly (unfortunate word vis-a-vis the medical profession) quiet prevailing. Cool - delicious.
Decided to wait 20 mins, then go outside onto road and ring.
After 10 mins brisk young medical man appeared.
Heard opening excuses normally required in English Surgery for any request - with or without an appointment.
Medical fellow stopped chatter and ushered sick, lame and lazy self into surgery and onto couch.
Blood pressure, listen to lungs, enquire about previous medical history. Discuss BP, but figure of 10 + 3 et 80 puzzling. Metric? mms/cms/metres of Hg, as opposed to inches thereof?
Inspect throat, demand statement "qatre-vingt-dix-neuf" (99 ?)
Sits at desk, expresses sympathy, thinks long and hard over what to do, issues prescriptions - 2 copies - for lots of pills - and form required for E111 re-claims.
Pay bill (we do that) - Ffr 115.00 believe it or not.
Trot over road, get prescription filled, and back to boat.
Total time elapsed, including cycling, probably 60 mins.

The power of rumour. Went to get cash at hole in wall. Found both C.A. and la Poste with polite note on screen "out of commission".
Went to Tourist Information. Young lady - not the proper disseminator of tourist info - assured my that she had heard that all bank computers were "down".
Went to Credit Agricole and joined queue to get money English style when hole in wall doesn't work. Having made requirements known, chappy very kindly said it was a load of nonsense - there was a third hole in the wall in town at a rival bank, and he was sure it was working splendidly.

It was, but even so, having been panicked once, we both drew far more cash out than we needed, resulting in a feeling of affluence taking us out to lunch at Conflandey to-morrow.

In our rush to get an appointment we had moored on town jetty rather than P. de P. Not quite the same as a bush mooring, and few mod cons.

However, as soon as shadow available from trees on opposite side of canal, out with chairs, and consume evening drinks on pavement of jetty - after all, they put their cafés on the pavements.

Lots of gossip, lots of bon appetits (none, personally, but there you go).

Hot still evening, but cooled off quickly by bed-time.

July 3 Tuesday
Port sur Saône to Conflandey

Gently up river - S.L.L. still feeling S.L. and L.
Very hot, still, overcast, and humid.

Moored up - mid-morning - to jetty at auberge just below lock.
Watered up, established claim to cool spot in shade under trees with chairs, books, etc, then decided to try salad at auberge.

Salad "orf" but have "menu de jour" - almost same price.
Did - enjoyed it, except for the biltong in the horse d’oevres - tasted good - but hard.

Received - yet again - big lesson vis-a-vis hire boats.
Normal terrorist drove up with enormous female on front making like figure-head, swinging coil of rope.
Boat turns in current and come in to jetty neatly. Luck?
Figurehead steps ashore with rope and doesn’t - from a distance - appear to be doing incompetent things with it - same with driver at back - but we're not desperately interested. They are not floating downstream crying "help".
Think no more about it - terrorists are passing across our front at a lockful every 20 minutes.
Then our own terrorists try and water with the obligatory hire boat hose, invariably 1 metre short for all water points. Offer loan of extension and relevant fittings, and all is joy.
Get gossiping - learn guy owns boat on Lake Geneva and hires in France every year.
Moral - don’t lump them all to-gether and get arrogant - some have a lot more experience - and boat - than we do.

Visited "covered market" in evening - not a success, most of the stalls had seen us in Port sur Saône this morning, anyway, and it was just too hot.

Astonished that hotel/restaurant closed up in afternoon.

Peaceful evening, except for some idiot doing a factory demolition job 1 km away beyond the trees dropped 15 empty 44 gallon (200 litres in France) drums from a great height in the middle of the night, all at once.

July 4 Wednesday
Conflandey to p.k.389, Cendrecourt.
Much cooler, slightly overcast.

Saône changes character completely as one leaves Conflandey lock to smallish river (more like the Avon) in pastoral valley.

Total parkland appearance, short mown grass, scattering of large and very beautiful trees.
Hay making nearing completion - country littered with cotton reels of baled hay.
Don’t understand modern hay making. We used to have to cut the hay and make sure it was utterly dry before stacking it - and even then it was left in loose haycocks for days and sometimes weeks, because the heating effect of herbage when compressed to-gether, and the slightest green-ness remaining before stacking, ruined the hay, and would probably caused a fire.
Now-a-days it seems cut to-day, maybe and sometimes ted it tomorrow. and bale it the next day. Sure it works - they wouldn’t do it else - but up to date I am obviously not.

Pulled in to our favourite mooring here - 3 times in the last 2 years, under trees, full floating, straight bank, trees and stumps to tie to.
No nest this year.
Idled rest of day away.
S. up to village on bike - not a success!


July 5 Thursday
p.k.389, Cendrecourt (River Saône) to Basse Vivre (Canal de l'Est, Branch Sud).
Still calm, semi-overcast, and very hot and sticky.

Up the last - and probably nicest bit, of the Soane.

Lunched against the pontoons outside the "would be" marina half a K west of Corre - just keep on the river, ignore the canal cut. Pontoons in total shade, but almost total wind shelter, breathless!. The direction sign broke 2 years ago, bit left just promises showers in German!
Into Corre P. de P., moored up at the end - enough length for us. On previous occasions moored to pontoons, but back end dangles in canal and gets badly affected by constant current surges as the lock is emptied and filled.
P. de P. used to be a jolly place, with genial husband and wife as capitaines, and lots of private, as well as hire, boats coming, going, or just stopping to shop and pass the time of day.

This time - dead.

No hire boats - not unnatural - they should all be out. But only one private boat moored up, and an abandoned boat. No Capitaine - just large sign saying Ffr 50.00 per night.

Did S.M. opposite, very languidly, had to take bikes - all of 100 metres - far too far to walk.
Got Poste Restante safely - thank you.

Had thought of staying, but hot and dull concrete and gravel, and lack of anyone else discouraged us.
Went on up a couple of locks, had received a "zapper" - "telecommander" to those knowledgeable in these things - that worked the gates and paddles, at the lock below Corre - the entrance to the Canal de l’Est, Branch Sud.
Moored up for night on same strange wide water and jetty in the forest that we have stayed at before, where we were entertained by the very good Swiss glee club all evening the year before last.
Found some shade, and flopped.


July 6 Friday
Basse Vivre (glee singers in the forest in 1999) to lock 33 above Fontenoy le Chateau.
Slightly cooler, but still muggy and overcast - last night's rain has not cleared the air.

Now very much in the forested valley this section of the canal is known for - and with the zappers, and no L.K.s it becomes a bit of a marathon, with locks only 1 to 1.5 kms apart - tidy up after one lock, just in time to do it all again!

It is, of course, nice being completely independent of anyone else, but on the other hand, it is equally nice having someone to talk to, and can be quite lonely on automatic sections.
All went well yesterday and this morning with the autos, seem to remember that this flight of automatics are reliable, and have been added to well above Fontenoy le Chateau, where they used to end - until hamlet rejoicing in the name "la Pipee".
Both red lights shining red. Means out of order, switched off by L.K. or someone has left the lock and zapped the opposing gate as he went out - a major crime, as the lock just waits for the non-existent boat to come in, and seizes up.
Walked up, and found everything stopped with top gates opened, and nothing in sight,
Tried tirette - no joy.
Little white van arrived with tee shirt friend of 1999, who hailed us as best friends ever, recognised us before he saw the boat, so must have been speaking the truth (how can an L.K. recognise boaters from 2 years ago, when he only sees them maybe twice for a few minutes, and he sees so many of us?).
Anyway, sorted lock and put us through, but as we came up in it, there was a loaded crocodile glaring balefully at us through the gates, closely followed by another.
Suspect boss man of section had switched autos off for the peniches, but our bloke wasn’t having any, and put us through anyway.
There was quite a string of private boats behind them going down, and if we hadn’t got through, it would have been a good long fidgety wait.
At end of autos, several locks with new gates, new equipment, tirette recess in walls, and electrically driven by L.K. - presume will be auto in due course.
Then back to old ones with the 4 small low geared paddles worked by frantically winding L.K.s - perfectly adequate, but some do leak rather badly.
Found a straight section of bank concreted, with - believe it or not - more than enough water to moor in.
Water was desperately fidgety, although we chose longest pound available, it was still short and affected by locks at both ends, but managed to catch and subdue boat, and tie up to 4 trees, - rather than moor up. Curbed fidgeting completely.
Comfortable mooring, quiet, shaded by oak trees.

Late at night mother and father of storms hit us - probably part of same storm as killed the people in Strasbourg. Incredibly powerful wind gusts, lightening, thunder, rain, etc.

Good thing we were really safely tied up to, and were under, oak trees.

July 7 Saturday
lock 33 above Fontenoy le Chateau to Forges d’Uzemaine.

Cool (what a joy) partially overcast morning.
At least an hour cleaning trash from last night’s storm off boat.

Then on up the valley, opening out at villages and hamlets, and for the odd lake, but on the whole closed in by forest.
L.K.s all present and correct - but none were residential - pity, and most were students, but infinitely better than on the Bourgogne!
As yesterday, through lock, tidy up ropes etc, just in time for next.
Lunch at Hautmougey jetty.
Large restaurant here, but not a guest to be seen. All tables beautifully laid out in the open.
Begged some bread, then came the rain - a nasty sharp, heavy, storm, soaking tables.
Cowered in boat, whilst watering, watched unladen peniche go down - they are huge, then weather improved so set off again.
Due to cleaning and idleness in leaving late, it seemed a bit of a marathon - we were aiming for a picnic site with a lovely mooring we stayed at in 1999.
Couldn’t find it, and started squabbling - quite difficult tying up in locks, as they are all 3 metres deep or more, and passing rope around bollards on top of walls from boat 2.7 metres down, with invented gadget requires exact driving, timing, and team work. Wind and over enthusiastic paddle opening precluded accurate driving, and bollards - due to lock depth - were, at the crucial moment, invisible.
In principal, as the system obviously works, will make up a proper gadgets in the winter.

Pulled into old peniche halt at Forges d’Uzemaine. Stayed here before when it was full of boats - this year - nothing.

On today’s and yesterday’s run to-gether we have been conscious of only 1 boat going the same way as us, and crossed over with about 5.