Nivernais Canal - Mailly le Chateau, France

 We have arrived at the next canal at precisely 10:00.  Phew!  It’s still a little overcast, but nice.  Lunch in Dames.  It is a restaurant right at the lock, and very good!  Everything made locally.  

The afternoon is pleasant with some very low bridges.  Sitting at the helm, I would be decapitated if I didn’t duck way down.  We arrive at Mailly le Château early enough to go into town. We are moored in a field on the edge of the lower village (there was no businesses there), it’s a 500ft climb to the upper village.  The upper village had a massive church, a town hall, a cafe-tobacco shop-newsstand-bar, and a little market.  

The bar was a table with six chairs, and five minutes before it opened, there were six burly men standing outside.  We decided that we had seen enough of the upper village.

Back to the boat…to pleasant pitter patter of little raindrops! 

Nivernais Canal - Cravant, FR

Waiting in line at the boulangerie 

After loosing our rafting buddies, we decide not go to the farmer’s market in Auxerre because it is too far to walk, especially with 20 to 30 lbs of fresh produce but instead head for Cravant.  It’s about an hour further than our originally planned stop, but they have a farmer market to die for.  The lock masters all communicate with each other, and know when we should be at the next lock.  Somehow we have decided that 1/2 a tank of water is not enough, so we pulled over to a wharf to fill up.  It was very high tech, using a QR code, and remote access to turn on the water.  Of course this put us a bit behind schedule, so the lock master came over on his bicycle to expedite everything.

Once we reached Cravant, we got some meat from the butcher, some bakery from the baker, and some miscellaneous stuff at the market.  (Little side note - there hasn’t been a farmer’s market in Cravant for years). 

Closing a lock

We are on the less popular part of the canal.  The lock masters have no intention of going to work until there is someone to lock-through.  So “what time are you going to be at the lock?”  We respond “about 10:00”…”NO about!  Exactly what time?”…”We will be there precisely at 10:00!”  

So tomorrow, we’ll be there at 10:00

Nivernais Canal - Auxerre, France

 A quick walk to town to get some croissants for breakfast, and a few minor requests from the boat rental place, and we are off.  The boat rental is on a little side channel, so within our first 100’, we have our first lock to negotiate.  We are getting instructions from the lock keeper, and the manager from the boat rental place.  At least, we fared better than the boat behind us, they had to have one of the boat rental employees get them into the lock.

Once on the canal, we join the convoy…five boats all travelling together, bunching up to go through each of the ten locks for the day.  We stay with the convoy until we reach Gurgy.  Our first restaurant, “Nous vous désolé!”  For the rest of the day we were in a convoy of two.

In the weeds!

There appears to be no place to tie-up in Auxerre.  I suggest a place by the boat ramp, it’s shallow, and covered with reeds, but buried in the reeds are some relic bollards, unused for years.  Finding the bollocks   Our lock-mate ( the ones that needed help) have searched endlessly for a mooring, but have come up empty.  They finally asked to raft up with us.  

Tomorrow off to Crevant.

Le Boat - Migennes

 

After breakfast, we got a taxi to the train station in a Tesla X, with Gull wing doors.  It was spectacular.  

Train ride, normal; laundry, uneventful.  Meet our friends for our canal boat rental.  Our check out time is 1:30, but this isn‘t our first rodeo.  By the time we get the keys to the boat, it’s closer to 5:00.  So our first night is in Migennes at the place where we rented the boat.  Dinner is reserved at a fancy restaurant, but  “ Nous sommes désolés” (we are completely full), so dinner was a “Dream” pizzeria…oh well!

Tomorrow, we go to Auxerre.

Maison Phillip Le Bon - Dijon, France

 

Today we explore, some rain is expected mid afternoon.  When I set up trips, I look for interesting things that we might do in the places we are staying. Dijon has some affinity with owls, and has an “owl trail” that goes around the city, identifying points of interest.  Our mission is to find the “owl trail” and follow it around the city.

The first part turned out to be quite simple, the trail crossed in front of the hotel (although it took us half a block to figure that out).  The “trail” is little brass arrows in the sidewalk.  Sometimes when they redo the sidewalks, the markers are missing.  When you come across a point of interest there is a larger square with a number or letter on it.  If the point of interest is on a spur, and the trail ends, and sometimes there’s a fork in the trail, and you have to pick one.  A little confusing, but very French!  

Cathedral Saint Benigne 

Somewhere on the trail is  Church of Notre Dame.  A Gothic church bedecked with three row of seventeen gargoyles on the front.  Actually, the original gargoyles were removed in 1240 after one of them broke off and killed a parishioner.  They were not replaced until 1880. On the side of the church, at eye level is a stone owl which is suppose to bring you luck if you rub it.  Of course, after being rubbed for 600 years, it’s a little hard to tell what is.

France is currently in a bit of turmoil because the Prime Minister quit.  There are protests called “Block Everything”. In sympathy, the railroads are having a strike which may or may not affect our train travel tomorrow. We shall see!

Follow the Chouette!

Maison Phillip Le Bon - Dijon, France

 

The courtyard at our hotel

Today we travel to France.  From Interlaken to Basel (bah (a as in father) - zel) to Mulhouse to Dijon.  There were a few weather delays, a few close connections, a little bit of angst, but we made it. 

There was a little drizzle all day, but by the time we were ready to head out for drinks and dinner, it started to pour, so it’s going to be hard to go exploring.  The restaurant at the hotel is closed on Mondays, but the bar is open.  They have some bar snacks, so we have decided that this is our final destination.  People watching is superb!  Loud William from England is celebrating his 68th birthday with ten of his closest friends. Active Tours is having their wine ride kickoff meeting with six elderly bicyclists.  A couple of bigger tour groups were off in their own dining rooms.

We finished our wine and our cheese board, and back to the room (still raining).

Tomorrow we explore, rain or no rain!

Hotel Interlaken - Interlaken, Switzerland

When you google, “Is it worth it to go to the top of the Jungfraujoch when it’s cloudy?” the answer is a simple, “No!”  But today was the perfect, blue sky climb to the top of the world kind of day.  There are two ways of going to the top: “with reservations” and “without”.  If you miss your scheduled train, you join the long line of “without.”  

The trip up was exhilarating, with a very long gondola ride along the infamous north face of Mt Eiger, followed by a cog railroad ride which was surprisingly all one tunnel to the top.  The train stops for five minutes, so you can look out the windows cut into the rocks. (Deb made the trip to the window and back to the train in about a minute - nope, not gettin’ left behind here!). Once on top there is a prescribed 90 minute walking tour, much of it displays inside tunnels.  We picked what we wanted to see and what we wanted to skip.

Mt Monch

 Took an elevator to an observatory 300 ft up, and walked around on a snow pack outside.  Ate a nice lunch and returned.  All in all, a well worth it, two hours on the “Top of Europe.”  The Jungfrau is actually the third tallest in Europe, but it’s the highest us common folk are going to get.

Back down in Interlaken, it’s downright warm, so we switch to short sleeves, eat some Indian food (but with Swiss beer) and pack for France (or as Deb says, “ Au revoir aux germanophones!”)

Jungfrau