Auxonne and French Heritage Days

The past couple of weeks have been busy - here's what's happened the past few days - We'll try to catch up on the missing ten days soon.

Friday we left Saint Jean de Losne for Auxonne, about 20km up the Petite Saône with only one écluse. What an écluse it turned out to be. We arrived to a red light and saw that there were two boats coming down, by the time it was down we had a second boat waiting to go upstream with us. As we came up in écluse we could see six boats waiting, one long enough that it was blocking the entire diversion with its bow on one side and stern on the other. Some good boat handling got him free and back in the channel by the time we reached his location in line.

Spent the afternoon revisiting our first port of call with Juniper in the Burgundy region while our guests made reservations for a train to Paris the next day. Tonight would be our last night together so it was out for a farewell meal that included many French traditional courses that were shared all round.

Saturday – Early start. Our Jeff and Anna’s train was scheduled for 6h30 and it was at least a ½ hour walk. We got up a bit after 4h00 and were off and walking by 5h15 to make sure they would not miss the only train that had room that day. Everything came off like clockwork with Joan and I walking back to the boat by 6h31, going via the boulangerie for croissants. A few more hours sleep and we were ready for boat projects – first thing laundry. Our trip to the Laundromat or Lavarie in French made our weekend, We ran into two other boating couples that told us about the French Heritage Days that were happening all over the country for two days. The town we were in, Auxonne, had quite a schedule. Everything from the church tower being open for tours, to the military base having tours including the rooms Napolean used as a cadet, to a display put on by the people of Auxonne celebrating the cultural differences and bonds with other countries that make France what it is today. We took it all to heart and had a wonderful weekend exploring what France is all about.

View form the top of the church tower. You can see the Saône heading north and little bit of Port Royal, the marina
we are in. The buildings just under the river are the military base where Napoleon started his career - still an
active base today.

View from the top of the church - Auxonne houses and street. A lovely town we always enjoy coming back to.

We'd seen the posters but hadn't translated them, or understood the countrywide celebration of what
makes France the country it is. There were open houses at historic places, écluses having open houses,
military bases open to the public, and even more fun, ethnic groups celebrating being French.

Our first interaction (much in pantomime) was with the Confrérie lde L'Oignon
D'Auxonne. The chef is hard at work poaching eggs to go with the onions,
potatoes and ham that make up the tasty piece of history that is part of Auxonne.

Joan with two members of the  Confrérie lde L'Oignon
D'Auxonne, plus Barbara one to the boating gang we met at the laundromat that filled us in
on the options we had for the weekend.

Auxonne citizens from French Polynesia shared culinary treats that make up a large part of their culture along with
telling how their culture meets with the French culture

More treats, from mango drinks to tasty treats - again, not the France we normally think of,

Celebrating the French connection were citizens from Senegal, sharing food and drumming.

The local Portuguese community also shared tasty treats and the best Porto Blanc we've ever had. Celebrating the bond
between the two countries.

More treats and culture form Lagoa Azul

More treFinished off with our first game of boules with boaters we met at the Laundromat before enjoying some wine with them, then dashing back to Juniper before the rain set in for the evening.

Great Heron (Joan's spirit animal) keeping watch on our progress up the Saône this morning. His good spirit kept
us dry all the way to today's stopping point of Port de Savoyeux.

The next two days took us to Gray and finally to Port de Savoyeux where we’re enjoying a wonderful dinner and wine, while listening to the rain pounding on the deck (we’re warm and dry).