2017 - Auxonne on the River Pettit Saône

After nearly 12 hours of flight and transfer time we made it from Seattle to Paris and picked up our luggage then off to the car rental location. An hour later had us driving to Auxonne, a three hour drive. We only sleep bonked once and after a 1/2 hour nap were back on the road.

Driving on the French toll roads has a culture all on its own, and once we figured it out it was probably the nicest freeway driving I've ever done. The speed limit is a moderate 130, with truck limited to 90 (and they all follow the speed limit). No one will pass you on the right - if you forget to get out of the center lane a car will come up on your right, swerve around you, then cut very close to let you know you're not following the rules as he returns to the right lane. You quickly learn to drive only in the right lane, unless passing. And only use the left lane if passing cars in the two right lanes at the same time. Another nice feature was rest stops every 10 or 12 miles, many with gas and food.

Arrived at our AirBnB which was about a 2 minute drive or bike ride from "Juniper" and then down to the boat for dinner with our Seattle partners.

Our living room at the AirBandB - also had a kitchen, bedroom, toilet room and bathroom. Great hosts - we didn't speak a common language but with the aid of a translation program and a cell phone all went well.

The next day was spent taking advantage of having a car to move things about and get our basic provisioning ready to load. Returned the car to Dole and spent some time exploring the town before catching a train back to Auxonne for dinner with our Seattle partners, Tom and Mary,

Friday we will begin this season's adventure by going down the Saône River to the Canal Rhone au Rhine  then up the canal to Dole.

Thursday we were able to spend the day exploring the town of Auxonne as well as finalizing our provisioning before taking off early the Friday morning (an important date, as we want to be in Dole for the Saturday market).

 Michael with a box on the back of his bike and a pack on his back, hauling groceries back to the boat

 Notre-Dame Church in Auxonne - dominates the skyline of this beautiful small French town

One of the remaining town gates from a time when Auxonne was a walled city. Tomorrow we begin our trip. Auxonne is known for its military presence as it is where Napoleon did his training as a young officer.