So we’ve been in our home port of St-Jean-de-Losne for two weeks now and we were planning on heading out on our next adventure today but although we finally have our water pump issue sorted at long last (am I tempting fate?), and we’ve caught up with all the usual suspects (this is a Kiwi boating enclave, outnumbering all other imports and very sociable and friendly), the weather has turned cool and wet again.

Last time I wrote the weather wasn’t very pleasant but in the last week we have enjoyed fabulous warm temperatures and stunning blue skies interspersed with stormy thunder and lightening and the odd bit of rain. Muggy too. Last night there was quite a storm with squally rain and a stunning electric display in the sky and the temperatures dropped considerably. This morning we woke to a rainy and rather cool day so we were tossing up whether to leave our cosy home port or to head out. In the afternoon the rain stopped and the sun came out so we decided to go.

This seems to be the year of the dodgy water pump as it has been a common fault in some of the other boats here. Our issue turned out to be the hot water bleed off valve and once we had it replaced the pump has stopped turning itself on every six minutes! It’s quite revolutionary for us to not have to listen to the stupid thing going so often! What an amazing difference. It’s the little things 👍🏼

The fine weather has meant I have been doing my yoga on the deck every morning which I’m loving. It’s so enjoyable to practise while listening to the birds chirping and being on the water is very restful, albeit a little tricky with the balancing postures! On Saturday we headed to the book exchange, offloading about 20 books we had read last year and picking up another haul that should keep us going for a while. That evening we had a drink with some of the Kiwi and Aussie contingent here in the local Bar du Port. We also picked up some cheapish duck breasts from the Lidl which I pan fried and served with a mandarin and ginger sauce.  A good day!

So off we went in the afternoon to Auxonne. One lock and about two and a half hours. Our vague plan from Auxonne is to continue on the Petit Saone to the Canal des Voges which runs from Corre, through Epinal and on up towards Nancy and the Moselle River. From there who knows? We may continue north to Metz and further up to the German and Luxembourg border. There are so many variables in this boating lifestyle it never pays to make any firm plans as we have found many times in the past. But that’s half the fun of it and we feel lucky that we can go with the flow (pun intended) and see how we feel every morning. There’s no rush!

So we are on our way. A bientôt.

Big stats for the week:

St Jean de Losne to Auxonne

Engine hours: 2.5

Kms: 14

Locks: 1

A storm on its way.

A weed eater trying to get on top of the mess in St Jean de Losne port area.

Off to do some shopping. Note the colour coordination. Oh yeah. 

le Monsieur heading into the abyss. I mean engine bay.

Checking out the hot water valve issue.

Bit of engine work. Who knew Alan could fold himself up like a pretzel!

Walking along the Saône River towards St Jean de Losne from the train station.

Cute tug boat in the lock.

One of my favourite places in St Jean de Losne. The book exchange.

I couldn’t resist taking a pic of this cute letterbox.

Finally back on the river Saône. The adventure begins!

The first lock of the year. Heading onto the Dérivation d’Auxonne, a couple of hours north of St Jean de Losne on the Petit Saône.