Cruising the Saône to Chalon sur Saône

April 23 - Saturday morning we got underway at a reasonable hour, and with next to no wind and a bit of current from recent rains we were back to Saint Jean de Losne before noon. We felt like we’d seen enough of Saint Jean so we didn’t even slow down. The weather radar looked like we had a couple more hours before the rain would begin.

We followed the Saône for a few kilometers before taking the mandatory 10 km deviation around a barrage. The deviation ended with a large scale écluse (lock). The water was already up and in less than 1/2 hour we completed our passage to Suerre, a historic river town that is rediscovering itself, is now welcoming bateau pleasance (pleasure boats, like ours).

April 24 - Sunday we both felt like we were chilled and couldn’t warm up, so we spent most of the day reading. Michael made a trip to the nearest InterMarche for chicken soup fixings to see if that would get us ready to get underway. In the afternoon we took time to do a leisurely walk around town to appreciate small town life in France.

Suerre Town Walk - Stopped to watch a neighborhood Boules Game.
Joan and I have been practicing, but can't throw like the locals

Suerre Town Walk - Fishing is a huge sport along the rivers and canals of France

Suerre Town Walk - One of many interesting houses we passed

Suerre Town Walk - Yet another Rue that begs to be explored

Suerre Town Walk - Exposed beam constructed homes - one stucco and one
filled in with bricks.

April 25 - Monday morning we were ready to cast off and the weather looked like we were good for a few hours of no rain. Approaching our second (and last) large écluse, we once again encountered the gates open and waiting for us. We reached our destination well before noon. With no rain and not too much wind, we decided to push on; this turned out to be a bit of a mistake. By the time we were a few kilometers down river from Verdun sur le Doubs we had a strong headwind, a few whitecaps and pouring rain. Two and a half hours later we arrived at Chalon sur Saône cold, wet and windburned. Lunch and a warm shower helped us feel ready to go shopping by evening. We’re planning to spend Tuesday exploring the city and doing some provisioning before we start the Canal du Centre on Wednesday.

Photo above - Joan moving our écluse line from one bollard to the next as the water level goes down. No éclusier to help with handling lines.

Photo below - One of the small villages we passed traveling down the Saône today