The End - Rhone and Saone. August/Sept 2019

Lyon - port, Confluence

I'm writing this almost a year later from lockdown in Australia. Looking back at my diaries and photos from last summer's cruising should be cheering but it's not really. With our borders closed to international (and even internal) travel there is no chance of us rejoining l'Avenir this year. This will be our first full winter in cold, damp Melbourne since 2007 but we are hopeful for next year. 

So, I've decided to wrap up the blog for the moment. I hope every one of you stays well; those of you who manage to go cruising this summer, have wonderful adventures and those of you who don't, keep dreaming.

After leaving Valence it was only a couple of days to lovely Lyon, stopping on the way at Andancette and the good little port of Condrieu sur Roches. The town of Vienne looked interesting in passing but not a comfortable place to stop overnight. There are concrete wharves on both banks and as the river is quite busy here (one of the cruise ship stops) the water sloshes back and forth washing machine-like. A yacht travelling towards us downstream bucked and plunged through the lumpy waters almost as if at sea. 2 bikini clad women lounged completely unconcerned on the foredeck. Meanwhile, I was tightly clutching the handrail which fully encloses our stern deck; I could barely let go long enough to wave. I will never make a sailor.

And so we said goodbye to the beautiful Rhone. Through the final lock (on our own!) where 2 young students took our details and 'signed us off'. The river authority keeps track of all passages through locks so they know who is travelling. The Rhone, of course, doesn't end at Lyon - it converges with the Saone which is the navigable route north.

I love everything about Lyon. The passage through the city is quite dramatic from the striking, colourful modern buildings at the confluence through the winding channel and beneath the bridges connecting the old town and the newer city.

We hadn't booked a berth at the port but were confident that if we didn't find a place we could stop on the river on one of the town wharves. As it happened, the port was virtually empty. The capitaine (a different and much friendlier one than on our previous visit) came out to help us tie up. There is still a 4 day limit but there would have been no problem extending had we wished to. Only 2 other boats came in during that time.

We had visited many of the tourist sites on our journey south but that was no reason not to pay them another. The little Vaporetto navette still runs from the port every hour and and is the most convenient and scenic way to reach the city centre and lovely, old town. The other 'quaint' mode of transport, the funicular railway, is a fun and easy way reach the impressive Basilica de Notre Dame de Fourvière and, if you are lucky with the weather, enjoy an amazing view over Lyon.

Pusher tug and barge passing through Lyon

More Commercial traffic - sand barge in Lyon

Saone quayside, Lyon

L'Île Barbe, Lyon. 

The River Saone has an altogether more relaxed feel than the Rhone and it's not just down to the slower pace. The commercial traffic is mainly cruise ships and hotel boats, the bulk of the other large commercials terminating in Lyons. The locks are smaller and no longer part of the nuclear power generation system; not necessarily easier to negotiate mind you as there are no longer floating bollards. 

The river winds through mainly rural scenery and small towns and villages whilst cattle take advantage of the low banks to wade into the shallows to cool off.

Most of our stops were the same as on our southern journey but they were all worth a second look. 

Some more pics added......

Trevoux

Montmerle-sur-Saone

Cruise ship at Macon

Pont Saint-Laurent, Macon

Macon

Eglise Saint Pierre, Macon - stained glass refections

Eglise Saint Pierre, Macon

Maison de Bois (wooden house) Macon's oldest building. Built 1490-1510

Macon - good free town mooring

Cooling Off 

Side trip along the lovely River Seille. Locks are self operated apart from the first.

Intrepid Paddler, Zsolt, catches up with us again at Tournus

Misty morning on the River Saone

Busy night at Tournus

Tournus

Chalon sur Saone

Marina entrance Chalon sur Saone

Chalons-sur-Saone

Seurre

St Jean De Losne 

Approaching St Jean de Losne and the end of our voyage from the south of France.

St Jean de Losne. 'Au revoir,' L'Avenir. Who knows when we'll see you again? Not 2020 that's for certain. Now hoping for 2021.

Anyone for a Paddle? August 2019

Next stop was Valence. The marina itself is enormous; the largest river port in France, it has 450+ berths. A shortish hike away, through the 17 hectares of sporting ovals, is a Géant Casino hyperrmarket - a bit sad to get excited about a supermarket I know but there you go. The other main attractions at the port are a launderette and a restaurant. With all that excitement on offer we decided to stay 2 nights. 

The restaurant specialises in fish, is quite pricey but the servings are huge. We shared a plate of the biggest oysters I have ever seen followed by a giant plate each of cabillaud (cod). cauliflower, carrots, zucchini and potatoes. Everything here seemed to be super sized - including, I was a bit horrified to discover on my plate, whelks. Hot this time. Against my better judgment, I was persuaded to give them another try. Never again.

Despite the port being large and fairly full there were only a couple of boats 'en voyage.' We were joined, on the second day, by Boschplaat, a barge owned by an English couple who live aboard year round and late in the day, a kayaker gave us a wave as he paddled his fully laden boat upstream.

The next morning we three boats met up at the lock. The kayaker asked if he could travel through the lock with us as he wasn't allowed to traverse them on his own and there were no facilities for him to retrieve and relaunch his boat to bypass the huge Rhone locks. We weren't sure if this was permitted so I called up the lock keepers on the VHF to make sure. However, the only response (the standard response)  was that we were to wait at the pontoon until we got the green light to enter. He probably had no idea what I was talking about.

The kayaker, Zsolt, assured us he had permission from the Rhone authorities, so he came aboard l'Avenir and secured his kayak to our port side. Whilst we waited in the sunshine for the lock he told us a little of his impressive story.

Zsolt Bihari is a Hungarian who had been travelling solo and living on his kayak for 4 years. He began his journey in Budapest, paddling along the Danube, through the Black Sea, the Bosphorous and the Mediterranean and was now on his way upstream on the Rhone on his way home. 

The lock gates began to open, the green light came on, I went forward to my usual rope handling position at the bow, Rob started up the engine and Zsolt's amazing expedition almost came to an ignominious end. There was a lot of shouting and the engine was quickly turned off. The cooling water outlet from our engine is located on the port side and the little kayak had been tied up directly beneath it. Engine on, water spurting straight into the kayak. The men quickly moved the kayak further forward out of harm's way and we started up once again.

We passed through the lock without further incident and once we had cleared the approaches Zsolt clambered back into his (slightly soggy) kayak seat and waved us goodbye. We were to meet up with him a few times again. He seemed to make as much distance as we did each day, clearly with a lot more effort. I wondered how he could make headway when the current often was very strong and he told us that he if kept close to the bank he avoided the worst of it.

Zsolt has a website if you wish to have a look at his travels.

http://seakayakargo.com/

Another Medieval Town - Cruas

Cruas - frozen in time

After 2 nights and a rather mediocre dinner at the cafe at Viviers port (memo to self: don't buy any more menu items called 'fish 'n chips'. In France anyway) we decided to move on.
The first lock  (Chateauneuf 19m deep) is just around the first bend. We were called straight in and on our own. That was about as good as it got for the day though. We travelled for about three and a half hours in very blowy conditions, with intermittent downpours and quite a strong current: so slow-going. I remembered this section from our trip south when we were caught in a bad thunderstorm and it was quite frightening.
The river opens out into some very wide sections: lake-like and exposed. It would have been pleasant on a normal August day but what is normal these days? A couple of boats stormed past us at high speed really knocking us around. Enough we thought. We'll stop at Cruas.
This port has a tricky entrance necessitating its own special blow-up section on the navigation chart. It's on a bend, there's a strong current across the entrance, shallows and underwater walls immediately downstream. We, of course, were faffing about at the last minute. The heavens opened - the windscreen wipers couldn't cope so we were quickly unfastening and lifting the canopy windscreen in order to see through the deluge and generally conversing in a less than calm manner. All the necessary ingredients for disaster. To my surprise and huge relief we slotted through the gap without mishap. The port captain, Pierre, was very welcoming, helping us tie up in the torrential rain. Exiting the port was easier than entering, he assured us. Basically, just aim for the marker, take a deep breath and go full steam ahead.

Cruas nuclear power plant - with backup wind turbine

The port is right next to the Cruas nuclear power plant one of whose cooling towers has an ecologically themed mural of a child with a shell entitled 'Aquarius'. The commission for the mural went to Belgian artist, Jean-Marie Pierret. 9 mountaineers spent 8000 hours and used 4000 litres of paint producing the finished art work. 8000 hours...puts painting the kitchen into perspective.
The village of Cruas was a real surprise. We'd heard nothing about it and only discovered its existence whilst on our usual foray for baguettes.

The port is about 20 minutes walk to the village which, like Viviers, is perched on the sides of a limestone crag. There's virtually no information about Cruas on the internet other than about the power station and the tourist office was closed so I can only tell you what we saw.
The ancient town is slowly being restored, by the local community, from almost complete ruin. They seem to be working their way up from the bottom which is logical I suppose as the steep, narrow and winding streets wouldn't be the easiest to navigate with building materials at the best of times never mind in a state of disrepair. Some buildings appear finished and are lovely, many remain in various stages of ruin whilst others are works in progress - occasionally slightly weird ones

.

Someone on the restoration committee with an 'artisitic' bent and an eye on future young tourists has come up with a couple of ideas for the top of the town (I do hope they aren't working their way down).  Near the summit, just below the abbey, is a recreation of a medieval village complete with medievally costumed 50s era shop mannequins and an assortment of plastic chooks, ducks goats and pigs. At the top of the hill, the castle tower, still under renovation, wasn't yet open to the public but the 3 elderly workmen chatting over cups of tea just inside the door kindly invited us to step inside and view the art works in progress - a collection of painted dragons, giants and medieval maids with oddly placed cut-outs for photographic opportunities.

We are in admiration of the townspeople undertaking the huge task of rebuilding and preserving their past. Good luck to them. The cruise ship trade will pass them by and make for Viviers but I recommend stopping here too. (And it is easier leaving port than arriving).

View of the port exit onto the Rhone, Cruas