Armida Travels Again!

 

Liou and I are back in France and Terry and Rosie are home in California.  Armida did not sell and we are not sorry.  Terry would love to be back on the canals as she really misses it, and we doubt Rosie would survive the trip, but she does continue to survive everything else, for how long? There were some issues with the cover that could not be resolved remotely, so here we are.  And while here there were other improvements that I've wanted to make, and the cover refurbishing will take some time.  So, might as well do some cruising.

So, what am I doing here?

Ok, now I get it.

Dinner and a Movie? All in one place!

The cover looks good from here.

Not so much from here

The frame was broken at the back but no major damage.  Some of the material is perishing due to the hotter summers and I have organized it to be repaired by mid-October.  At that time I'll rebuild the frame.  

So back in the water.

And around to the nice shady spot on the pontoons.   

A very good spot as the temperatures were into the 90s/high 30s and we got nice shade by 2pm.

And good sunrises.

And some misty mornings.

Saint Jean de Losne was a shabby town when we first started coming here but it has steadily improved.  It still doesn't have the charm of many other French towns it does have a unique church that they have been restoring over the last few years.  Maybe they will do the inside too.

If the French Canals are the Long Village then Saint Jean de Losne is the town square.   Ther are more inland cruising boats and boaters here than anywhere else in France and a lively social scene, on our boat included.  

And at the local bar on Wednesdays

It is also a crossroads where you reconnect with people.  This is Tom and Laurel from Washington state whom we met when they invited them on their barge when we rented a boat on the Canal du Midi in 2006.    They were one of those who convinced us that: "We can do this!".  We later heard they had sold their barge and given up cruising.  Well, yes and no.  They couldn't give it up and are now on their 3rd boat, passing though Saint Jean de Losne and heading south. 

After completing all my projects and meeting the two week rule we set off.   I've decided to cruise up the Petite Saone for a couple of weeks and turn around.  The Saone river transitions from the Grande Saone to the Petite Saone at the St. Jean de Losne, where the bridges are lower, the locks smaller and no big river cruise ships.  That meant I left the port and turned left to the north.

By now the weather had changed after a front and storms moved through.  It was mainly clear but with a chill north wind and afternoon clouds. As we go north the flat flood-plain lands fade and the woods close in.

After about 6 hours cruising (a long day for me) we had the visitors pontoon at Pontaillier to ourselves.

A nice town and a chilly morning.

After the sun got up, we left for a pleasant cruise to one of the more pleasant moorings, Mantoche

Lilou loves it with the enclosed grass right next to the boat and keeps bugging me to go out. 

There is a Swiss couple with their custom built boat that they retire to permanently.  They have three herding dogs that Lilou is interested in playing with, but they are not reciprocating.

Still chilly days not getting above   the 60s/low teens and cold at night.  We will stay here for two nights, After two weeks of getting up and checking my to do list it is nice to relax.   Now I can check the item: Write Blog.