We finally left St Jean de Losne on 26th April and are now in Pouilly-en-Auxois. It seems like we have been cruising a lot longer than 2 weeks, but that's the thing when you're in a different place every few days - time appears to pass a lot slower. I did read some research on that once. I think the gist of it was that time seems to go slower when you're learning all the time, or having lots of new experiences. So, as we get older, most of us have fewer new, learning experiences and time seems to pass a lot quicker.
So far, we are loving the Canal de Bourgogne. The weather hasn't been great all the time - lots of rain and wind, with some sun in between, but the scenery is fantastic. There are a lot of locks on this canal but they have been very easy. We have had an eclusier with us all the time (sometimes 2 or 3), all the locks have been prepared for our arrival, they're not too deep so we've been able to get the ropes on relatively easily and have been able to pass through 10 or 11 in a morning.
We had a cultural weekend in Dijon, taking advantage of its excellent free museums, and then left the bright lights of the city for the peace and quiet of the countryside. Or, so we thought - they have some very noisy frogs in France. We had one of our worst night's sleep with a frog right beside the cabin. David even got up and poked it with the boat hook, to no avail, the croaking continued right through the night. Needless to say, we changed our mooring the following morning!
The canal is very quiet (why isn't it busier?) but we have met some lovely people along the way. That's one of the things I will miss about this way of life. Everyone we meet is welcoming and helpful and has a different story about how they came to be cruising the canals of France.
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| We fancied a bit of colour on the rudder. |
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| Typical lockside scene. |
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| Around Barbirey-sur-Ouche. |
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| Getting all the local info from the eclusiere. |
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| Localised flooding on the Ouche. |
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| Chateauneuf - a fairy tale setting. |
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| Heading into the Pouilly tunnel. |
Johanne is handling really well without her keel. Certainly as good as before, if not better. I have painted the inside of the galley cupboards and David has been re-furbishing the cabin roof. It's been painted and he's now glazing the skylights.
