<\/p>\n
We left Chalon-sur-Soane about 9:45 AM, after we filled our water tanks, and executed a flawless maneuver to pull away from the dock.\u00c2\u00a0 We rounded Ile-St Laurent and headed back into the main Soane and headed downstream.\u00c2\u00a0 The skies were promising, the weather warmer than we have experienced so far. We were approaching Gigny-sur-Soane a little after 11:00 AM, since we had little head wind and the current really improved our mileage.\u00c2\u00a0 Carol and I took the helm most of the time, until we got into tight spots and Mike took over.\u00c2\u00a0 We reached our last commercial lock just before the noon hour, the lock gates were open (a boat headed upstream had just vacated the lock), our lights were green so we entered the lock and looped our bow line around a bollard.\u00c2\u00a0 Our stern was too far away to loop a line, so as the water dropped, Mike gave the boat some forward thrust to keep the stern against the lock wall.\u00c2\u00a0 Again we were the only boat in this huge lock \u00e2\u20ac\u201c almost 200 to 300 meters long.\u00c2\u00a0 When we vacated the lock, there was a line of boats waiting to enter and head upstream.\u00c2\u00a0 We passed several commercial enterprises along the shore, coal, gravel, etc.\u00c2\u00a0 The 30 kilometer trip to Tournus was completed by 12:30 PM.\u00c2\u00a0 We tied up to the city dock, ate Shoe and Mike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s soup that had been cooked underway.\u00c2\u00a0 After we cleaned up we headed into the city center to check out the town.\u00c2\u00a0 Since it was Monday, everything was closed, but we did get to visit the abbey of St Philibert.\u00c2\u00a0 A rain shower forced back to our boat, where we spent the rest of the afternoon, listening to doo wop CD\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and watching as Mike roasted a chicken for dinner, along with garlic mashed potatoes, and haricot vert.\u00c2\u00a0 We are now down to two bottles of wine. \u00c2\u00a0Naturally, it rained most of the night as the front moved through.<\/p>\n
Tomorrow we will enter the Seille River to continue our journey to Branges.\u00c2\u00a0 The Seille
\nis where we will encounter our last three locks \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all manual and to be operated by us!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We left Chalon-sur-Soane about 9:45 AM, after we filled our water tanks, and executed a flawless maneuver to pull away from the dock.\u00c2\u00a0 We rounded Ile-St Laurent and headed back into the main Soane and headed downstream.\u00c2\u00a0 The skies … Continue reading