Back in St Jean de Losne

Started the day with an atmospheric sunrise on the Saone (roughly translated as "too foggy to move the boat yet").

Arrived back in St Jean de Losne to a fabulous welcome. Friends and neighbours waved to us from the riverbank and from other boats. The sun was shining and Lobelia slipped back into her old mooring as if she had never been away.
Nipped into town so that we could forewarn the school that the boys would be back in class. It was lovely to see Dan and Callum receive a big welcome from their school friends and teachers.
Paul and Mal arrived for coffee and a chat in the early evening. Coffee soon became wine and the early evening became early morning.
The boys went into school on Friday and we spent the day recovering!

Callum pays homage to Vincent Van Gogh

This is Callum's version of "Starry Night". A fabulous swirl of tissue and PVA glue which proved to be very effective.

Chalons sur Saone

Like Macon, Chalons used to be a barge town but has now lost the bulk of its moorings to the cruise ships and smaller holiday boats. We ended up on the disused and derelict high-sided industrial quays to the north of town. Apparently this is where they used to build submarines for the French Navy (so far from the coast!)
There was one other barge there, which seemed to be French registered, but was actually owned and lived on by an Englishman. We were soon joined by "Floan", who had been turned away from the Canal du Centre which was closed due to a lack of water.

We transformed our derelict quayside into little England and there was a roaring trade done in sections of the previous Saturday's copy of The Guardian.
Took the kids for a swim in the local pool and then, as the sun set, we contemplated our return to "moored up for winter" status.

Mistral chases us into Tournus

Still sunny and still on the River Saone and heading for Tournus. All was quiet until we reached the outer limits of the town and then the Mistral was upon us...

She caught up with us just as we were going under a bridge. That was fine. But I really did not envy the little hired holiday boat which was coming downstream and had to look up at a cruise ship and Lobelia and then search for a suitable gap.

We liked Tournus. Brilliant free mooring. Interesting shops. And fresh milk... (much rarer in France than in UK). The boys thought it was very exciting!

Saw our new friends on the commercial "Floan"- who were now heading north but unladen. Had a quick chat on the radio and they told us how they had been watching ospreys nearby. I think we had seen them too but had been unsure what they were.

We had taken a photo of another large bird of prey a week or two previously but had been unable to agree on its identification. The photo is below and all suggestions as to its identity would be gratefully received...

Cake shop found open on a Sunday

We had a friendly send-off from Saint Laurent in our "15metre" barge. Locals, whom we had met briefly, came down to wave us off and wish us well. And a man returning from his Sunday morning trip to the boulangerie complimented Lobelia by shouting - "joli bateau!" She is such a flirt.
After a couple of hours we reached Fleurville and moored up in a beautiful spot. Cycled to nearby Pont de Vaux which was a delightful little town - even on a Sunday. After helping an elderly gentleman who had fallen out of bed, we were rewarded with finding a patisserie that was open. Indulged en famille. Happiness.

Macon

After Lyon we motored north in glorious sunshine and revisited moorings which we had used on our way south. Unfortunately, due to the size and draught of Lobelia, these moorings are rare and quite often at the locks where there is very little sign of life.
We were very keen to stop off in Macon - which has a long history as a barge town. However, nowadays the long stone quays are either reserved for hotel boats only, have pontoons for boats less than 20metres long or have so little water or so much rubbish around them that it is impossible to moor. But we did spy a long, lonely pontoon on the opposite bank from Macon. Andy manoeuvred Lobelia carefully alongside and we received nods of welcome and approval from the locals of St Laurent. We moored up.

A few hours later we noticed the small sign that said the pontoon was for boats less than 15metres. But nobody was complaining, so we stayed put.
Enjoyed a walk around Macon, saw some unusual sights...

and partied onboard with splendid views of the floodlit bridge.

Flying the flag in Lyon

Motored through Lyon in sunshine with flags flying and video camera recording. There are tight bends and plenty of bridges and you must announce yourself (name, rank, length and direction) on the VHF radio as you approach each one. It can get quite exciting if you hear other boats announcing themselves and a little bit daunting when you hear them call “110 metres”.

We made it through and managed to enjoy the sights and sounds at the same time.