buy provigil amazon We left St Jean de Losne about 9:45 AM after multiple rain showers. Before we left Carol ventured into town to mail her postcard and to get a croissant for herself and Mike. The skies were so threatening that she even took her umbrella. W got underway with minimal chaos and headed downstream. We had planned a full day of cruising, and needed to head out regardless of the weather.
We cruised through some bucolic countryside. The difference between the Midi and the Soane is that so much of the land is dedicated to farmland – grazing cows and crops, few vineyards.
The Country Side of Burgundy
We entered the BIG Soane at the big gauge lock at Seurre. From here downstream the river becomes wider and according to the cruising guide we have a better hance of running into commercial traffic. We did not encounter big barges and almost felt we had the river to ourselves. The first commercial lock was very different from previous locks, it was not automatic, it was manned by a lockkeeper, and the bollards were so far apart we had barely enough line to feed around the bollards to secure our boat while it dropped almost 12 feet.This part of the river is well marked with many markers all along the way.  There ended up being many diversions (straight canal areas to shorten the overall traveling distance). Our second commercial lock was not exactly what we expected. We hoped that Shoe and I would step off onto the side of the lock, loop our lines around a bollard, and get back on the boat. Unfortunately, the walls of the lock were too high, and the bollards too far apart and we were only able to secure one line. We kept asking ourselves – why were the bollards so far apart – and then suddenly realized it was set up for commercial barges not pleasure craft.
The Big Soane River
We left the Soane and entered the Doubs River where we moored (backed in, very competently I might add) at the municipal dock at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs. We made great time and arrived about 2 PM, going through 2 locks and covering about 37 kilometers. The dock fee included a refill of water this afternoon and tomorrow morning, and WI-FI access.
After we arrived, we ate lunch and then toured the town. The town was established by the Romans in the 1st century AD. The town is very picturesque and we enjoyed walking through the old part of town. We found 4 bakeries and many shops – all closed until later in the afternoon.
When the captainerie opened at 4 PM, we paid our slip fee and obtained the key to fill our water tank. More showers in the afternoon as Mike prepared traditional Beef Bourginone in the galley.
A “tres jolie†boat, Dutch-made, pulled in adjacent to us at the mooring dock. It had a dark blue hull, its bumpers were actually a wound rope. The captain and his wife were from Switzerland and sailing with their grand-daughter who was 5 years old.
