Friday 24th July 2009 Mâcon to Tournus. R Saone

15.3°C overnight - cooler at last! Grey clouds with small holes to let the odd ray of sunshine through. Set off at nine through the old multi-arched stone bridge of St Laurent. There was only one medium sized Dutch cruiser on the pontoon on the St Laurent side, plus the tripper. (It would have been much quieter overnight on that side.) First boat past was an ex-Connoisseur hireboat with a Belgian flag which passed us at KP91. A British cruiser overtook us at the start of the passage around the Ile de Brouard KP95; he was moored at Crêche the day before. A downhill LeBoat hireboat with a Swiss flag went past before we left the island behind. Three lads in a punt were extracting weed from the stretch of river in front of the campsite at Fleurville KP97. It was midday as we went under the Pont de Feurville, passing loaded boat Koumac from St Jean-de-Losne (101m x 11m, 2,288 tonnes). The wind was getting chilly so I made us a cuppa soup and put my fleece on. 

A string of four empty péniches overtook us around KP100, by the former café Jean-de-Saône; Saint Laurent from Conflans-Ste-Honorine, next a very smart Belgian boat called Helene from Gent flying a defaced Belgian flag, then Doma from Abbécourt, and finally RO-GI, another  from Conflans-Ste-Honorine, an old boat with a very yappy Doberman in the wheelhouse. Lunch. Overtaken by another Dutch cruiser, then a French cruiser went downhill at the Pont d’Uchizy. I took a photo of one of the many former ports that are named in our guide which no longer have usable quays due to the changes in water levels when they altered the number of locks. 

The Port de Farges still showed signs of the old quay but a 10m wide field now had built up in front of it. We passed the junction with the little river Seille at 1.30 p.m. Another LeBoat went past heading downhill at KP110. Into Tournus. The pontoon was full with several Dutch boats moored side by side, the upstream half of the pontoon was reserved for Pavillon de Saône hireboats. The stone quay was full, but with odd short gaps. There was a gap several feet too short for us at the upstream end. Mike poked our bows next to the quay behind a little yacht and he asked the crews of a British replica Dutch Barge and a small French cruiser if they’d mind moving down a bit. There were no bollards or rings so we had to knock pins into gaps in the concrete, just as Graciosa went past heading uphill empty. Mike moved the small yacht in front of us up a couple of feet too, which made life easier. It was 2.55 p.m. by the time we’d tied up. He went to say thanks to the Brits. Got the moped off the roof easily as the top of the quay was halfway up the cabin. New electricity sockets had been installed up by the road at the top of the big flight of wooden steps, so Mike rewired our 3-phase red plug and added it to our longest extension lead. I took it up top to try it (both the blue sockets - there were only two - were in use, but not the two red ones) but our plug wouldn’t fit. Its diameter was, strangely, slightly too large . Mike went off to retrieve the car from Jassans at 3.45 p.m. I put all the cables, sockets and plugs away.

Thursday 23rd July 2009 Jassans-Riotter to Mâcon. Saone

Hot and sticky overnight. Grey clouds threatened thunderstorms, big gaps in clouds hot and sunny. We were away for nine after Mike had collected a loaf. Three tugs had gone uphill before eight and the five Belgian fast cruisers that had arrived the day before were still attached to the pontoon when we left. One cruiser passed heading downriver as we set off. At KP42, in Beauregarde’s port-de-plaisance there were three small cruisers moored and next door at Nautic 1. there were two dozen small speed boats. A sand pit at KP44 was occupied by a pan and tug of Ganulates Rhone-Alpes. An uphill tug called Paon pushing an empty pan went into the arm to the sand pit. A French cruiser went downhill at KP47. At Montmerle a sign on the wall said 10€ for boats over ten metres in length, 8€ for those under 10m. One Dutch boat was moored at the upstream end. Another boat had set off from the pontoon heading uphill a few minutes earlier. Paused at a new pontoon at Belleville and refilled our water tank. Set off again at 11.30 a.m. The skies went really black and a few drops of rain fell as we set off then the sun came out again. Two cruisers and two British yachts went past heading downriver at KP 57 above the islands Genouilleux and Tapanas. Dracé lock, N° 23, was empty with a green light (he must have a camera somewhere as the lock was round a blind bend) so we went in and up 2.9m. Although the large Saône locks fill from the front the yo-yo effect in this one was negligible. The keeper leaned out of the window of his cabin way up above us to say hello - and au’voir when we left. Graciosa, an empty commercial (108m long x 9.5m), was moored above the lock on the left. Couldn’t help smiling at the home port on the stern of Longeuil-Annel, that boat had never been there, it was far too big! Maybe he used to have a péniche registered there. The mooring at Thoissey seemed to be completely taken over by speed boats with a diving platform next to a campsite, but there was a section was marked as being a port-de-plaisance with a board saying the depth was 2.5m. Above the bridge there were two old short stone quays with steps and rings. A fast cruiser overtook us just after St Romain-les-Iles. Lunch. A downhill French cruiser wished us bonne appetit as we were eating lunch on the move. 

Tourville, a 60m barge loaded with sand overtook us around KP68. We intended to stop at Port Arciat, where we’d previously marked on the map a new quay with bins and water. Two boats (a large British cruiser and the first hire boat we'd seen since leaving the Midi - a Locaboat) were already moored there, but there was enough room for us at the upstream end. We tied up then read the notice which said “Port de Crêche-sur-Saône” and listed the price as 7.60€ per night plus 6,10€ for water and electricity. No way we were paying 7,60€ just to moor at a little campsite. We left. A sand barge went past heading downhill. Nipped across the river, through the navigation arch and a new bridge under construction just upstream of the old girder bridge as empty commercial Apopis (63.5m x 8.16m, 911 tonnes) was catching us up. It overtook us just after the bridges. A second Loca went past heading downriver by the TGV bridge at 2.55 p.m. A new road bridge was under construction just a short way upstream of the TGV bridge. Tourville (who had overtaken us earlier) was in the Nouveau Port de Mâcon, unloading his cargo of sand. Rocambole (73.5 x 8.16m, 914 tonnes) was loading sand from a conveyor at the dolphins on the opposite bank to the sand quay, below the old viaduc de Mâcon. 

A very smart new road bridge spanned the river below Mâcon just above the derivation. Hotel ship Provence was moored at the downstream end of the quai Lamartine (our home for the month of October in the floods of 1993). A new pontoon had been installed, for private boats it said, just upstream of where the toilets used to be. We tied to the downhill end by the passerelle when we heard jazz music coming from a newly built projection overhanging the river upstream of the pontoon. We don’t like jazz at the best of times, but this sounded like a band tuning up! A large cruiser moored in front of us just after we’d finished tying up at 3.50 p.m. Mike went up on to the road to have a look around. 

The hotel boat Rembrandt arrived, winded and moored alongside the quay behind us. Later Mike went to have a look at the musicians playing at the “bandstand”; he said there were twenty of them. On the pontoon there was a group of youths drinking. We expected trouble but, luckily, had none. The tripper from St Laurent (on the opposite bank) went past fast making a big splosh around midnight.

Wednesday 22nd July 2009 Jassans-Riotter.

Thunderstorms during the night and in the morning. Clouds and occasional downpours, so we decided to stay put and do some washing. Amazingly the washing machine worked on the 10 Amp electricity supply. I did two loads before lunch. After lunch we dozed as it was still very hot and humid. Looked on InfoRhone to find G and H had locked through Châteauneuf lock at 10.30 a.m. 

Tuesday 21st July 2009 Jassans-Riotter. Saone. Day out in the Alps

Hot and sunny, clouds in some places, thunderstorms later. We decided we have a day off from boating, take a picnic lunch with us and go to see some mountains. 

Drove east across the plain de Bresse through Villar and Chalamont into Ambrieu-en-Bugey, where we paused while Mike went in the post office. Further southeast through St Rambert and Belley to Yenne, where we did a slight detour through the hills of the Mont de l’Epine and down into Chambery. 

Continuing southeast to Montmélian, then northwest to Pont Royal, where we crossed the river Isère to Aiguebelle, skirting the edges of the Massif de Vanoise, following the valley of the little river Arc as far as St Michel-de-Maurienne, where we took the mountain road south through les Aiguilles d’Arves over the Col du Télégraph to Valloire then crossed the Col du Galibier (out of the dept of Savoie into Hautes-Alpes) and the Col de Lauteret, 

following the valley of the Guisane to Briançon then up some more hairpins to Montgenèvre and into Italy, through lots of little tunnels into Susa. Northwest back into France through the Massif de Mont Cenis, 

rejoining the valley of the Arc and completing the circle of the Massif de Vanoise via the Col d’Iseran and the hugely popular (even in summer) ski-resort of Val d’Isère and followed the Route des Grandes Alpes through Bourg-St-Maurice (we stopped to get diesel and Mike helped a Danish tourist translate the French instructions on the 24 hr pump into English) and Moutiers to 

Albertville. Southwest to Montmélian completing the circle and retraced our steps back to Jassans-Riotter (almost, we missed the same turning in Ambrieu that we missed on the outward journey) and got back just after midnight. Lightening was illuminating clouds to the north, the storm must have been travelling south as it passed us later in the night.