Friday 26th August - Cruas to Valence

We left the harbour at 10.30 in glorious sunshine again - the temperature already at 30 degrees and a promise of 34/35 with not much wind either!  Our first lock was only 2 km away and was very slow.  On exiting the port we notice a large commercial vessel coming our way......so our first Rhone lock with a 'big boy'.  They always take priority so we tucked in behind him.  Another 18 km to our next lock - again pretty slow!  The surrounding countryside had taken on a much more attractive aspect, with rolling hills and the occasional little town.  We arrived in Valence at 3.30 p.m. - we had been assigned specific spaces but as the numbers were only visible once moored, we took a double bay each, as our assigned place would have been a bit of a tight squeeze, given Aphrodites' fat middle!!  We took our papers to the Capitainerie to register our presence and after explaining all to the Capitaine, he acquiesced and let us stay where we were!  It would have been a nice touch if the bar of the restaurant was open for a cold beer but alas, it was not!  So back to the boat for a snack and drink.  We decided on dinner in the restaurant so the men went over at 7 p.m. in order to secure a table - Crew followed ten minutes later.  The early evening sun was very hot shining on us - we had to be patient for it to disappear over the hill.......blessed relief when it did!  We had a very good meal, if a bit pricey!  A couple of digestifs on board and bed fairly early.

33 km. 2 locks. 5 hours