July 12-13 We start the Canal Rhone au Rhin

 

July 12 – Sunday – Morning in Saint-Jean-de-Losne: 

Leftover photo from dinner

68° at 7am. It was quiet on the quai last night. With restaurants and many locals not coming out until 10pm when the heat starts to drop, you’re never quite sure what you’ll get. The French overall are quieter than Americans it seems. But there are teens who are teens and some who like to play their music for everyone.

Depart the Saint-Jean-de-Losne fuel dock at 9:40am. Head up to Laperrière-sur-Saône to écluse (lock) #75. We give them all the boat info and receive a remote control to operate the écluses. At 11:39am it’s already 88°. We encounter lots of low bridges so can’t travel with the bimini up. We’re living in sun shirts, wide brim hats, cooling neck towels and sun screen. Lots of “glistening”, so showers are a nightly event. It’s even too warm for Julie! We’re traveling through farm and cattle fields, beautiful green areas and trees, interrupted by industrial zones.

écluse 67 - all that stands between us and getting out of the sun
only one gate opens all the way.

The Dole marina is just through écluse, #67, our last for the day. We get in at 2:30, go up, the gates start to open - then stop. One gate won’t open all the way. Wait for a bit, then Joan’s off the boat to the call box letting VNF know we’re stuck. Turns out a log was behind the gate. It get’s cleared and we arrive at the Dole marina at 3pm. Eight écluses and 22km.

July 13 – Monday – Dole lay day: 

Chat Perché marker

First stop is the tourist office to pick up maps, etc. Some of the bigger, more historic towns have maps with routes that take you by all the historic monuments and points of interest. In Dole, it’s the Circuit Du Chat Perché (Trail of the Perched Cat), also known as Le Chat De Marcel. Picture of marcel and medallion. Chat perché is reference to the writer Marcel Aymé (1902-1967), author of the famous Contes du Chat Perché, who spent his childhood and teenage years in Dole. We do a small bit of the walk, but it’s 97° so we’re saving more of it for our return trip through Dole. We lay low during the heat of the day. Eventually Joan and Julie wander across the bridge over the river and scout out the E LeClerc grocery store and Au Bureau Pub & Brasserie. The young man in the captainerie suggested Au Bureau would be a good place to watch the France-Spain World Cup game.

statue of Marcel the Chat Perché

An ancient house we watched being reconstructed since our first trip to Dole in 2017. No signs blocking our view for the first time