And We’re Off

Verdun sur Doubs
At last we are on our way.  Nearly a month here and we have taken  the  out boat twice – to do laundry! Summer is not here by a long shot but at least it isn’t raining all day and there are signs of improvement, so we set off down the River Saone.  River cruising is not our favorite but in unsettled weather like this it is the better choice as there are few locks where you need to be outside. Steering from inside the bubble is quite comfortable and steering from inside the boat is even better. The rain has not gone and the clouds are moving quickly over the sky bringing short bursts – and in between splashes of glorious sunshine.


Previous posts may have given the impression that we were miserable and depressed with the rain; no, just frustrated.  The frustration was mitigated by our first long term immersion in the boating community.  The marina at Blanquarts is a particularly friendly one and our pontoon may have had the highest concentration of US flagged boats on the French canals, along with Australians, New Zealanders, Brits, Germans and others.

Our days were made up with chats on the pontoon (in between the rain) drinks on peoples boats, including ours, meals out with friends and other social activities. Some in our little circle were, Pete and Allison from the UK, Pete and Lil from Florida, Tony and Kay from New Zealand and Al and Gail from Canada. We miss them already.  When we left there was a contingent on  shore waving and hollering - we felt like we were leaving on a cruise.  Wait a minute - we were!