August 31, St.-Seine-sur-Vingeanne to Reneve
Well – on this journey we certainly have learned to expect the unexpected. We got up at 7 to prepare for an 8 a.m. departure with 20km and 11 locks ahead of us. The canal was so enveloped in fog that we could not even see the lock ahead of us! On this part of the canal there are very few places where we can tie up that it is essential that our days be planned in advance to assure that we can reach our destination. Today we have 7 hours of travel and time out for lock closures at lunch. By 9:45 the fog was even thicker so we settled in for breakfast of cereal with yogurt – the last yogurts I bought are great flavors – litchi, rhubarb, citron, peach, melon and fig! It is 56 degrees in the wheelhouse and my fingers are numb at the tips.
At 10:30 the fog began to lift and we were on our way – the sun is actually shining and although it is still only 66 degrees at noon – it promises to be a beautiful day. We are not sure if the next set of locks are automatic or manned – if automatic we can travel straight through without having to wait to the French lunch hour – and if that is the case, we will be able to get to our destination of Reneve late this afternoon. By 12:30 we have gone through four locks and 5km – we’re not sure if the locks are closed for lunch or not.
Well – the locks are closed but the lock keeper kindly let us through at 1:20 and we were on our way and reached our destination at 5:15. The warm sun was a welcome change from the cold and dreary weather – it made my feet want to dance. We passed fields of sunflowers, and at one point, horses – two of which were running on a path alongside the canal. Herons followed us for most of the day again. At one of the locks I saw a darling little white calf, I wanted to photograph it but Dave told me that when we are going into a lock that I must pay attention and the 10 or so seconds it takes to take a picture were better spent lending him moral support by paying strict attention!
We tied up next to a grain silo and the town looks only to be about 1.5km away. A small British boat who tried to pass us at the lock where were waiting at lunch time, the Ewok, tied up next to us. It is captained by George and Allison, who are from Windsor.
We played a few hands of cards and walked into town. As soon as we got into town there was a bar/tabac where Dave ducked in for a pastis while I set off to look at the town – it was a short look and I met him back at the bar. The bartendress was wearing the same French gold coin on a chain around her neck as I was and we compared coins. Hers was a gift from her grandfather to his first granddaughter. There was a woman sitting at a table who had a bag of mushrooms that she showed another patron and a discussion ensued. The bartendress told her that she should clean them by brushing them gently with a toothbrush then soak them in cognac. The woman with the mushrooms said something about doing something with them with honey. Mushroom gathering is a great sport in the forests in France as the exotic mushrooms are very expensive – as the woman said at the bar – they are like gold.
George and Allison came into the bar shortly after I did and had a drink with us. She drank pastis although he offered her water, and he drank blanc cassis, cassis and white wine, which the bartendress told him is the local drink of the region. They sold commercial real estate in Windsor and just sold their house and are planning to live on their boat until a house they are building on a river near the Saone is finished. The house is a Canadian chalet kit. They will teach English to the French as their new business venture. They appear to be in their mid-fifties; he is not unattractive except for his very yellow teeth and she is more than quite plain. She never looked at me and he answered every question I asked. Although Dave thought she was pushy when they were trying to pass us at the lock, I thought she was rather obsequious at the bar – addressing each and every person there when she came in and raising her glass to the bartendress saying “a votre sante”.
Dave and I left and went back to the boat for a wonderful dinner of hamburgers and fried potatoes (cooked by him) and watched half a movie.