Sunday 7th May
Dijon PK212 to Velars sur Ouche PK202
10km/9 locks/3 hr 35 mins (1 hour delayed at first lock)
When we arrived in Dijon, at our last lock, there was a very helpful
eclusier who spoke really good English, and he asked us when we wanted to depart Dijon
and we said Sunday ( tomorrow) at 9am. He said no
problem. So when we arrived at our first
lock this morning, there was no sign of a lock keeper and no
where to tie up. So we pulled over the the side and I jumped off the
boat and ran up to the lock to see if there was any sign of a lock keeper, or a
telephone number to call. No sign at all
of either! So I then ran back to the
lock at Dijon (about 0.75km) to see our friendly eclusier working that lock
with another eclusier and a hotel barge was in the lock departing Dijon. He seemed surprised no one was at that lock
for us as he had passed the message on when I had confirmed we were departing
at 9am Sunday. So he drove me back to
the lock and he worked the next few locks for us. We arrived at Velars sur Ouche at 12.30am.
(We have subsequently found out that the telephone number to call is;-
06 82 50 30 10 to contact lock keeper to either book the next mornings
lock or if one doesn’t appear even when you have booked one!)
Velars is a really useful mooring as it right by a supermarket and a
fuel station.
Monday 8th May
Velars sur Ouche PK212 to Moulin Banet PK189
23km/12 locks/6 hours
We were moored at Velars within sight of our first lock, so when no lock
keeper arrived by 9.10am, I walked up to the lock and found the VNF number to
call if there were any problems on a poster. The
man on the end of the line told me “Il arrive” and about 5 minutes later a lock keeper
did arrive. He took us to Pont du Pany
lock 38 and said we could moor in the lock for lunch and a lock keeper would be there at
13.00. By 13.20 no lock keeper had
arrived so we phoned our special number and 15 minutes later a different lock
keeper arrived. We were moored up at Moulin
Banet by 3.15pm. It turned out to be a
pleasant evening after a grey day. A
large hotel barge arrived and moored up at Moulin Banet for the evening.
Tuesday 9th May
Moulin Banet PK189 to La Bussière PK179.5
9.5km/8 locks/2hrs 45 mins
The weather improved today and we had a lovely trip to La Bussière and
we were moored up by 11.45am. We had a
relaxing afternoon and enjoyed a bottle of bubbly in the evening to celebrate
my birthday. The weather was forecast to
be a beautiful day tomorrow so we booked a belated birthday lunch at L’Abbaye
de la Bussière so that we could eat on their patio overlooking their beautiful
grounds.
Two hotel barges arrived in the afternoon on Tuesday; there was just
enough room for us all. There are no
notices saying when the hotel barges are arriving but they tend to be mid-week.
We enjoyed a relaxing few days at La Bussière/La Forge mooring; it’s a
really beautiful spot. I love hearing
all the birds singing their hearts out, and the odd cuckoo calling.
There are new electric and water bournes installed at the very smart
moorings. There is a hand written note
left by some thoughtful boater saying that you can pay at the Café or the
Marie. Kev went to the Marie (town hall)
after our lunch at the hotel on Wednesday to be told he needed to go to the
café but it was closed Monday until Thursday!
We found out that the owner of the café in La Forge is also the Mayor.
When Kev went to the café on Thursday morning, Kev was told to meet him at the
Marie at La Bussière at 3pm where we could purchase a card to enable us to use
the electric and water. We bought 2kw of electric for 30 euros and 500 litres
of water for 6 euros. When we left on
Sunday morning and we had used up all our electric allowance but we had done
loads of washing, tumble drying, dishwashering, and used the electric oven to
try and use it up! Saying that it did seem rather expensive.
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| Dressed up smart for our lunch at La Bussiére (although you don't really need to!) |
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| We were there early to make the most of the beautiful place it did busier! |
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| They are left to roam the grounds, and are very friendly The ponies came up to our table before we had ordered our lunch and Kev said to the owner of the hotel "I couldn't eat a whole one!" Luckily the owner is English so understood what Kev meant! |
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| Santé! |
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Sunday 14th May
La Bussière PK 179.5 to Fleury sur Ouche PK197
17.5km/16 locks/6 hrs 50 mins
We had a great trip to Fleury sur Ouche, it was a long day but luckily
the thunderstorms that were forecast in the afternoon did not materialize until
the evening. It did rain during the day but
only at lunchtime when we were moored up in Moulin Banet Lock 34.
Kev had hoped to be able to watch the F1 highlights that evening but we
couldn’t get a TV signal where we had moored.
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| It really is a beautiful canal |
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| Moored in lock 34 Moulin Banet for lunch Storm clouds looming |
Monday 15th May
Fleury sur Ouche PK197 to Velars sur Ouche PK202.5
5.5km/4 locks/1 hr 20mins
We had a nice short cruise to get to Velars to our favourite spot by the
supermarket. So we did a
big shop at the supermarket and we were able to take the shopping trolley right
to the boat so perfect for any heavy things we had purchased, wine boxes, milk
etc. We were joined by a hireboat on its
way downstream for the evening and a wide beam barge called Avalon arrived
going up stream. It is starting to get a
little busier on the canal.
Tuesday 16th May
Velars sur Ouche PK202.5 to Dijon PK212.5
10km/9 locks/3 hrs 30 mins
We were surprised when the hire boat didn’t leave at the same time as us
in the morning; we’d booked the first lock for 9am and assumed they would have
been asked to lock with us. But after
two locks the eclusiers had realised that we could fit in the lock together so
we were asked to wait at lock 48 for the hire boat to join us. It made sense and we also then had two lady
lock keepers to work the locks so it speeded things up, as one of them was
particularly slow! We arrived at Dijon
by 12.30. The quay was empty but by the
evening it had filled up. Millie, a
Piper barge with owners John and Gill onboard arrived in the afternoon and we had
a couple of evening’s pre dinner drinks together, which was very enjoyable. They are on their way to DBA Rally in
Auxerre.
The new electric/water bournes at Dijon are still not working, nowhere
to buy the jetons required. We tried the
Marie and the tourist office in the centre of the city and we were given the telephone number of the
captiniere; when we finally got through to him and asked him if the electric
points were working yet he said NON! It seems such a shame for the huge investment
not to be able to use them and give the port some revenue.
We’ve had some nice walks into the city, it is a lovely place, and we
really like it. I had a lovely run up by
the canal to the Lake, we had a lunch in town, which was ok, but not fabulous
but the weather was perfect so we were able to sit outside. Kev also had his haircut at a hairdresser and
the owner speaks really good English so no short back and sides this time
around!! I think when Kev asks for not
to be cut off to a hairdresser in France who doesn’t speak English, he uses his
fingers to give an idea of how little he wants cut off, and they think its how long
he wants it to be!!
We have heavy rain today (Friday) and its quite chilly again but it is
forecast to be better then for the next three days. We’ve booked the lock at 9am on Sunday (lets
hope the message was passed on this time!) and we will take two days to get to
St Jean de Losne arriving on Monday.
We’ve then booked Auxonne marina for Weds/Thursday, to start our trip up
the Soane/Petit Soane, once we get past Grey it will be pastures new for us.
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| Piper barge Milly moored up behind us for a couple of evenings, they are on their way to Auxerre |
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| I didn't know Herons did Yoga! |
Sunday 21st May
Dijon PK 212 to Longcourt PK228
16km/14 locks/6.5 hrs inc 1 hour for lunch
We rang VNF yesterday evening just to confirm we were leaving Sunday morning at 9am.
We were ready at 9am to depart Dijon, but a hotel barge called Danielle was
locked first and then when the lock keepers tried to set the lock for us one of
the gates wouldn’t close so they had to call the fire brigade (Pompiers) and a
diving team arrived to sort out the problem.
It was a car wheel complete with it's tyre, blocking the gate. So we finally departed at 11.30am and we had
to have lunch in the second lock as they had to go for lunch, so a short mornings cruise! We shared locks with a lovely New Zealand
couple on a new to them, cruiser, called Soltana.
We moored in a shaded mooring at Longcourt. We just caught up Danielle at Longcourt so it
was just as well we set off later from Dijon.
The section of canal up near Dijon
was still quite weedy so we were pleased to be finally past that section to
clearer water.
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| You can just make out the divers in their diving gear |
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Monday 22nd May
Longcourt PK228 to St Jean De Losne
14km/8 locks/4 hours
We had a great trip to St Jean de Losne and we were lucky enough to get
a mooring on the quay again at SJdL
We decided to stay at SJdL until Wednesday morning. The big hotel ship Avalon Affinity arrived
Monday evening and departed around 6.15pm Tuesday with a new set of
passengers. Around 6.30pm a young man with
a holdall came rushing over to us while we were sitting on the back deck. He showed us his phone
and an email with an address on Quai National, St Jean de Losne ......we said
yes, that’s where he was, he then said the word Avalon Afffinity, and we said
it's gone/departed/left here 20 mins ago….he said “Oh my God!!! Where can I get a taxi?” So we presumed he was a new crew member
joining the ship, we pointed him in the direction of the nearest restaurant on
the quay to see if they could help him arrange a taxi. I do hope he got united with his ship in the
end and wasn’t in too much trouble.
Wednesday 24th May
St Jean de Losne PK 215 to Auxonne PK 233.5
18.5km/1 lock/2 hrs 30 mins
We had a fantastic trip to Auxonne.
Beautiful sunny weather, only one lock to negotiate and we were moored
up by 11.15am at Port Royal. John the
new harbormaster was very welcoming and we have a brilliant mooring on a very
friendly pontoon.
We had ordered online a Free.fr SIM card to arrive at Port Royal and it
was there waiting for us. It took us a
little while to set up our Ipad with the SIM.
Why is it if you have problems with something not working, on a computer,
ipad, iphone, if you switch it off and switch it back on again it solves the problem
9 times of of 10?!!! We now have 100gb
of data each month and already we are pleased with the speed of the connection,
hence the update on the blog.
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| Our one lock of the day, automatic |
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| Arriving at Port Royal, Auxonne |
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| Our view from the back deck over looking the river Soane |
