Tuesday 30th May - Baume-les-Dames to L'Isle- sur-Le-Doubs

As the two slow boats, Polaris and The Black Pig, had caught us up yesterday and were moored ahead of us we decided to leave fairly early and departed at 9 a.m.  We had sun and cloud and a much more bearable temperature with a promise of some rain later.  The fresher weather made lock work so much easier, also helped by the fact that the locks were mostly in the region of one to one and a half metres depth, with nice low walls, enabling Skip and Crew to practise their lassoing skills!  A very tranquil cruise through the lovely countryside.All went well until our penultimate lock when, as we were approaching, a VNF lady gesticulated for us to retreat - a fat log was in the lock, so we reversed and waited until it floated past us.  We arrived in L'Isle - sur-Le- Doubs at three o'clock and were assisted in by a nice Swiss man.  The mooring is free but electricity is paid for by card.......turns out that the electricity is more expensive than most moorings €14.80!!!!  Crews' sugar level was dangerously low as no food had been taken so a quick, strange lunch of croissant and white wine was taken!!  The mooring is next to a school playing field and the children were playing lively team games - hmm.......siesta??  Around 5.30 we went into the town which was very close to the mooring, with a good sized Intermarche easily walkable.  We did a shop then Skip took the heavy things back to the boat whilst Crew made for a handy bar, passing the restaurant we thought we might patronise later.  Unbelievable!!  Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays!!!  Oh well - looks like an on board pizza!  It was very pleasant, imbibing a couple of beers and chatting to some locals however before we made our way back to Aphrodite.  Now that school was out, we were 'treated' to some drum practice before partaking of said pizza and red wine.  Managed to get Channel 4 at last, so watched Gogglebox before retiring.

31 km14 locks 6 hours

Monday 29th May - Ougney-les- Champs to Baume- les- Dames

First of all apologies for the wrong destination on yesterdays' blog!  Not being sure whether or not we could cruise today we didn't rush too much to be ready. Around 9.30 Skip called the VNF to enquire as to the state of lock 40......he was told to call back at 11 which he duly did and got a message not telling us anything.  So he went to find the VNF man at our lock who told him that the lock was repaired and being tested.  We decided to go and slipped our lines at 11.20.  Two easy locks (in stifling heat with no breeze!) and then we reached the part of the river where Henk, our Dutch friend hit some rocks last year and had to be towed to Baume-les-Dames.  Unfortunately his gearbox had broken down, resulting in him overwintering there, instead of cruising on to Holland which was his plan!  Needless to say we navigated this part of the river with great care.  Through our last lock and a 2 km cruise along the canal that led to Baumes-les- Dames where we tied off alongside easily.  It's a lovely place to moor but the facilities are a bit of a walk - certainly in this heat!  There is a restaurant nearby called The Capitainerie but Henk has told us that it's not good.....in any case, it is not open on Mondays of course!! We had a bit of lunch then Crew put a wash on and retired to the cool of the cabin for a read (and a sleep!). We re- assembled on the back deck......still warm but more bearable!  Skip had been shopping whilst Crew was slumbering - he was worried about the depletion of his beer stock after our 'kayak party' yesterday!!  As the restaurant is closed, Skip bought a ready meal and a pizza, trying to make things easy for the chef!  Decided on the rognons with mushrooms in a Madeira sauce, served with pasta - Crew made what she calls an interesting salad as a starter to compensate for the lack of vegetables.......it's all in the balance you know!!  As the inside of the boat was warm we didn't descend till almost 11 o'clock, watched a DVD then bed.

9 km 3 locks 1 1/2 hours

Sunday 28th May - Deluz to Ougney-Les-Champs

We left the port around 10 a.m.  We had reckoned on 6 locks today but on approaching an ecluse de garde were stopped by a red light (technically we should sail straight through but these locks
 normally operate when the river water is high).  Already another lock added to our list!!  Another hot  day for travelling through the most beautiful countryside - mustn't complain though as rain is forecast from Tuesday onwards.  We managed four locks without incident and reached Ougney-les-Champs to find a VNF man telling us that lock number 40 (we are at lock 42) is disabled, needing a diver to investigate the problem - never a good sign!  And he said that there was nowhere for us to moor after the lock and therefore best for us to stay put. There was a penichette hire boat on the waiting pontoon so we tied off alongside.  Looked like we were there for the night at least......no way was a diver coming out on a Sunday!  And Mothers Day too - am sure they had one of those a couple of weeks ago!!  Hmm......French shrug!  About an hour and a half after we arrived two more boats turned up, going our way so Skip went to explain what was going on.  They decided to moor on the opposite side to us - I tried to tell them that it was too shallow but they attempted it anyway....and failed.  The pontoon was perfect for our size but we persuaded the French family to move back (with us attached) to allow the other two boats (Germans travelling together) to tie off in front of us.  As we were performing this operation the Frenchman decided to tell us that he was leaving anyway!!!  Lack of communication!  So we tied onto the back of the pontoon, allowing the Germans to come in front of us.  In the end they decided to chance their arm and proceed through the lock anyway to find somewhere to moor the other side......so we were left Billy Nomates after all!!  The day is not really going too well so far and Crew missed the Archers' Omnibus!!!  .Six young people had turned up with their kayaks and Crew was chatting to their leader, Mike, an Irishman and discovered that they were on a six month trip from Ireland to the Black Sea (some coming and some going over that period).  They were hoping to come through the lock with us but decided to stop for lunch. As they had to wait until 3 o'clock to get lunch, Skip Invited them aboard for an aperitif!  Of course, six people can quickly deplete ones' beer and wine stock!!  So in the end our cheese and biscuit lunch (no baguettes for four days now!) was taken at 3 p.m.......seems to be our new lunchtime one way or another!  They were a great crowd (3 Irish, 1 French, 1 American and 1 English) and we enjoyed their company very much. The French girl, Eve has invited us for a drink with her when we reach Nancy, her home town.  After lunch they all threw themselves into the water for a swim with great hilarity.  They then set off back the way they had come - we wished them a fond farewell.  As the restaurant was closed the galley slave had to cook steak for dinner - we have to find some victuals soon.....only two steaks left!  Funny day......ended with usual DVD and bed!

9 km 4 locks 2 hours

Saturday 27th May - Besancon to Deluz

Well.......what a night!!!  Not long after we had gone below to watch TV (around 10) we heard a loud noise that sounded like an explosion!  The two Frenchmen on the boat behind us appeared as we shot up top to investigate.  In the relative darkness we found some green glass on the pontoon but this morning when Skip investigated more closely a lot more glass was to be found around Aphrodites' stern bollard - someone must have thrown a bottle from the walkway by the side of the pontoon!  Idiot!!!  He was a crack shot though......should play cricket for England,,,,!!  We sustained a little damage to the paintwork and Skip cleared up the glass.  There was a very loud disco playing across the water at the lido until the early hours which made watching 'Vera' pretty arduous.  Skip managed to fall asleep OK but Crew couldn't even get off until long after the music had stopped so a definite sub- standard Crew appeared in the morning, especially as she was woken by Skip clearing up the glass!!  Thank goodness we don't have far to go today!  Most of the locks in this area have high walls so it involves Skip having to climb ladders (which makes Crew very nervous!).  Our first lock went without a hitch but the second was much deeper making it difficult to hook our lines on.  At our final lock ( a double) a small boat was on its' way down and we operated the zapper in order for us to ascend but the lights remained on red and green - they need to be green only for us to enter.  We tried several times on the zapper but to no avail.  So we tied off on the waiting pontoon.....not directly as there was a boat moored there facing the opposite direction, so we rafted up alongside her. Of course by now, it was lunchtime......and a Saturday!  Skip went up to the lock to try and raise the VNF to help but was not successful.  He came back to the boat to await the end of the lunch break. About a half an hour later Crew tried the zapper again and it registered 'an incident' and said a repair was imminent - we saw no VNF van.......maybe they can do it remotely!  Right on cue at exactly 1.30 the lights changed and we were on - what was supposed to be a short easy run just got extended by 45 minutes....and in 30c!!  We arrived just after 2 p.m. and moored in the quiet but scruffy port.  The surrounding countryside at this summit of the Doubs valley is beautiful but surrrounded by high hills so internet connection is very intermittent and TV pretty impossible, which is a shame as Skip desperately wanted to watch the Cup Final......as it turns out, maybe a good thing!!!  Mortified, we dined up top on a cold collation!

19 km 4 locks 4 hours

Friday 26th May - Besancon

After a short discussion we decided on a change of plan and to stay a further night.  Neither of us felt that we knew Besancon very well even though we had visited a few times before so we decided on a bit of cleaning followed by a foray into town........and lunch of course!  The city is surrounded by  water and the magnificently impressive citadel is visible on entering the city by water.  Obviously the city has grown vastly since the citadel was built but it boasts many beautiful old buildings, giving it a good feel.  We wandered around, crossing roads to keep in the shade - about 30 degrees by now!  We headed for the centre of town and came across a street full of restaurants, heaving with people.  Luckily we found The Laughing Pig with a shady table for us.  The waitress (we later discovered that it was her business) was very cheerful considering the restaurant was so busy and she only had one other waitress to help her.  We enjoyed a delicious lunch, albeit a little slow........no problem with that!!!  We wandered back, dropping into Galerie Lafayette in order to purchase a little knife and board set (for the cutting of lemons/limes for Gin/Vodka tonics at our new outside bar!) then found a little mini-market for some other essentials.  Enough shopping.......siesta beckoning so back to Aphrodite for a lovely rest.  Our aperitifs were taken on the back deck to the accompaniment of a music practice on our side and a disco going on the other side......and we're trying to listening to the Coors!!!  TV still not fully functional so another DVD - good job we have loads!!
Night night!

Thursday 25th May - Ranchot to Besancon

We left the mooring around 8.30 in order to be ahead of our two slow neighbours even though another boat had departed at 7.30.  The first two locks went well but for some reason, at the third Skip asked Crew to lasso a different bollard.  When being questioned Skip said he didn't know why he asked that so Crew carried on as normal, with a shake of her head and eyes rolling!  On entering the fourth lock Skip misjudged the entry (to be fair the locks are quite narrow!) and lost a fender - luckily Skip rescued it.  It had broken away from its' rope so a repair job for Crew!!  Unfortunately Crews' knots must have beeen suspect as said fender broke away again in the next lock, only to be retrieved again......and repaired again (fingers crossed it stays attached this time!).  Shortly after our 6th lock came the Thoraise tunnel which was lit up with flashing lights.....very pretty! Everything went swimmingly until we reached Besancon - here we had two locks close together followed by our second tunnel of the day.  As there was a hotel boat in the lock due to come out we thought that we could go straight in but a young lady came to tell us that there were three more boats to come the other way before we could lock through.  So we tied off on a pontoon and waited.  Evidently the lock doesn't respond to the zapper as all the others do and I think she indicated that we should call up but we can't find a number anywhere! Anyway, we counted the three boats out, which took a while as there were two operations - the first a passenger boat, then two cruisers.  OK time to go - we untied and presented ourselves in front of the lock.  The lady came out and said there was another boat......5 minutes!  So back to the pontoon to wait yet again!!  It took altogether an hour to get through this last lock and tunnel - not what you need at the end of a longish cruise!  There are two places to moor in Besancon - where we used to moor we like very much but the last time we were there we touched bottom all the way to the marina so we decided to moor close to the town centre. We thought we'd stay for two nights after a tiring day but it wasn't an ideal situation and at €16 per night quite expensive, so we decided to move on tomorrow.  An even later lunch today so when it came timeto decide whether or not to go into town for dinner we decided against it and just spent the evening relaxing.

34 km 12 locks 7 hours

Wednesday 24th May - Dole to Ranchot

1.  We woke to another fine sunny day, albeit a bit windy - I believe that most of Europe is enjoying the same fine weather.  We slipped our lines around 10 a.m. - the first lock was only just around the corner.  Skip had noticed a narrow boat and a big barge leaving the mooring about 45 minutes before we left so the hope was that we wouldn't catch them up but........that was not to be!!!  Just before our third lock lock the big barge hove into view - time for stomachs to sink!  We managed to overtake him as he was going painfully slow but alas not in enough time to avoid sharing the lock with him!  We had to move right up to the lock gate in order for him to fit in behind us.  The whole process took quite a long time and was very hard going with the gush of water hitting us, making control difficult.  We felt a bit mean but we took ourselves through the next lock alone!  What was supposed to be an 'ecluse de garde' (a lock only used in flood situations) didn't quite turn out that way!  We arrived to a red light so we tied off at the waiting pontoon and Skip went for a recce.  It seemed that we had to go through the whole operation so the gates closed then we had to use the zapper to re- start everything.  We got into the lock, started the system off then noticed that there was no movement of water at all!  So we went in, bottom gates closed then the top gates opened immediately......what a waste of time!!  We caught up with the other slow boat soon after (a wide narrow boat, if that makes sense, crewed by a nice English couple) and shared our last two locks with them.  We landed in Ranchot around 2 o'clock and the narrow boat moored behind us.  It turned out that they were travelling with the big barge so we had to try and make .space for the big boy when he turned up.......a very snug berth!!  Lunch and a siesta followed then Skip went to see what Ranchot had to offer - not much really.....a cafe (closed), a boulangerie (open at 6.30 a.m.) and a camp site with a restaurant which was closed as it's still a bit early in the season.  Crew decided to cook the venison steaks for dinner as we needed to ease the load on the freezer so venison, jacket potatoes with chive butter (herb garden going well!) and spinach and peas in creme fraiche - very good!  Still no TV reception so we watched 'Bridget Jones' Baby' and retired around midnight.

21 km 7 locks 4 hours

Tuesday 23rd May - St.Jean de Losne to Dole

Bonjour dear readers - at last we are on our way!  We have been sitting in St.Jean de Losne for over a week now, waiting to get our boiler fixed (no hot showers - Crew not best pleased!). And no heating for the chillier nights on board.  I won't bore you with the details but having been over to the office every day to ask if there was any chance of an engineer coming any time soon we finally nailed him yesterday morning.....,needless to say it took only ten minutes or so for him to fix it!!  Then, in order to keep up our reputation we ordered a drinks fridge to be installed on the back deck, which was supposed to be ready last Friday but arrived yesterday afternoon. So a busy day with engineers crawling all over the boat!  The fridge is quite a complicated affair as it is enclosed in a teak box for stability and insulation. The design turned out to be much bigger than expected as a pull out unit was at the side of the box for glass storage and a fold down seat on top for the navigator which makes it a bit of a squeeze to access (salads only for Crew from now on!). Now it was just a matter of an electrician to connect the fridge which he did this morning, whereupon Skip went off in the car to buy wine and beer in bulk to furnish our new fridge.  All shipshape and ready to go at 10.35 - au revoir St. Jean de Losne!!  At the first ascending lock onto the Canal du Rhine au Rhin we collected a 'zapper' to operate the locks - easy to use and normally failsafe (fingers crossed).......and no lunchtime stoppages!!!  We had a problem at our last lock with the zapper - it seemed it had not been delivered
fully charged.  So we had to unplug our new fridge in order to charge it.......a bit of a dilemma now as we will have to charge the zapper each day which meant turning off the fridge!  We decided to charge  up first thing in the mornings as it's cooler then.  We arrived in Dole at 3.30 - hot, tired and hungry so we sorted out the boat and had a very late lunch.  We have visited Dole several times before - it's one of Crews' favourite towns......it is the birthplace of Louis Pasteur and its' narrow streets are lined with lovely old buildings.  Some of the streets are very steep with strategically placed handrails to assist the pedestrian in the climb!  All I can say it that the citizens of this fair town must have very strong  thigh muscles!!  We decided to dine out as the town has many restaurants - there are two alongside a little backwater that we know, so we made for those, only to find them both closed!  So we wandered around and finally settled on one we had visited before in a little square.  As we had such a late lunch we weren't that hungry so settled on just one course of crab cakes which were delicious, washed down with a pichet of very acceptable Chardonnay!  We ambled back to Aphrodite just after 10 p.m. and watched a DVD as we seemed to have no TV reception.  A successful first cruise of the season!

23 km  9 locks. 5 hours