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| Di heading into town for a recon |
Stop it! Another glorious day. Paul is up early to cycle into Bienon for baguettes and Di and I head in (slightly later) for a recon. The bikes have been excellent (have I said that?) They sit atop the barge and are easy to throw up and down onto the canal side. Solid tyres so no worries with punctures – though a little hard on the derriere. They have meant we can duck off and tour small towns relatively quickly. We’d’ve seen much less without them.
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| Lazy morning heading towards Migennes |
Stewart and Judy are due in Auxerre tonight so we plan to head a short way up the Yonne before dropping them off and heading back to Joigny. At Migennes’ first lock, Stewart leaps off, pedals like mad, checks out trains, and leaps back on at the last lock out of Migennes. We hang a left and head up the Yonne.
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| On the Yonne |
The Yonne is vastly different sailing to the canals. It’s wider, has banks and currents and the locks are at the side of large weirs that span the breadth of the river. The river is perhaps more beautiful and the locks, with the weirs, are a little more industrial.
One lock is closed and we have to tie up to a steel rail in current, the fenders are too low (tied for the locks) and we bounce a little – fibreglass against steel – not a good combo. I picture children covering their ears screaming at the horrible screech and we quickly lift the fenders and look around with forced nonchalance. Later that night I carefully wash the tell-tail white fibre glass splinters off the crafts rubber beading and check the insurance – yep all good. 🙂
We stop at Bassou for lunch. We’re all quite knackered after the sun and a few wines and have a snooze. It seems as if we’re all a little reflective and melancholy as well at the end of our trip. A quick dip in the river wakes me up and we’re off again. The locals were swimming so it seemed safe. In the canals there’s very little flow and the dessicated barge turds, once ejected, have no where to go. Remember the moon fish mum?
Paul pulls off a perfect docking manoeuvre at a steep grassy bank back at Migennes and we bid Stewart and Judy farewell. From a distance we see them, Judy a tiny stick figure beneath her mammoth back pack, and wave.
It’s odd sailing with only the four of us, the boats too big and it seems strange and a little lonely with two on the bridge and two way up front on the bow – so we all hang together at the wheel. The upside is we each now have two bedrooms and two bathrooms and despite only having the day with this new arrangement, we spread out luxuriously.
It’s a gorgeous run heading back to Joigny and we’re all a little amazed at how different it looks after ten days and in the opposite direction. Little riverside cabins appear in the woods that I’m sure we never saw and the locks seem much bigger than when we traversed them for the first time. Perhaps we were too focused learning the ropes and not the experienced seafarers we are now 🙂 .
At one lock a family has stopped to watch the boats. A little boy, practising his English, punches out a staccato “how – are – you?”. I reply but it seems his classes have only got him as far as the delivery (a little like my French). We are on holidays but often at bridges and locks “we of the barges” are a novelty to the locals out-and-about. They stop to watch, wave, take photos and call out “bonjour!”
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| A storm builds over Joigny |
We’ll sleep our last night in the boat and head to Dijon tomorrow.