With a couple weeks to go before the start of our Camino Frances hike we had a final cruise of the season with our good friend Linda and Emerson.
We cruised to from our home port in Saint Jean-de-Losne to Dole (one of our new favorite spots) ….
…. and then on Besancon before returning. It was a nice way to finish off the cruising season.
So, where to folks living on a canal boat go when they want a little vacation? On a cruise! A much bigger boat of course. Our 40th anniversary Baltic cruise that was delayed twice by the pandemic finally happened (minus St Petersburg unfortunately).
Over seven days we visited six countries (none of which I had been to before – Roberta had been to Denmark). It was not only educational but a lot of fun. We arrived in Stockholm a day early to wander around and took (of course) a ferry out to Artipelag to visit the museum.
Then it was onto Helsinki where we did a bike tour of the city.
Then on to Tallinn where a very nice Estonian guide explained that they REALLY, REALLY don’t like Putin.
…. then Riga where, when asked, a very knowledgeable Latvian guide explained that the border with Russia was “not a Latvian-Russian border… it is a NATO-Russian border.”
Then back to Swedish territory, Visby on the island of Gotland where they have the longest continuous medieval wall still in standing. Our tour guide was a Brit who moved to Visby 40 years ago.
Okay… the places are coming pretty fast and they have several full bars on the boat so … oh right… next was one of my favorite, Gdansk Poland. The Solidarity Museum was very moving and a place I wish all our Neo-fascist MAGA folks could visit.
And, finally …… Copenhagen!
We finished off the northern navigable portion of the Saône on July 28, exiting the final lock (#1) at Corre. Our last lunch on the Saône was a typical nature mooring. Thank goodness we have a master line-wrangler in the crew!
We elected to moor at the small village dock rather than the marina in Corre which turned out to be an excellent choice.
And Corre was in occupied France during the war and, clearly, a hotbed of the resistance.
The next day we entered the Canal des Vosges heading toward Epinal. Lots and lots of locks! In 15 km we did 11 locks and most of them were quite deep (over 3 meters). Near Fontenroy-le-Chateau we met a VNF guy who asked how far we were going. We told him “Epinal” and he shook his head and said something about “bad water”.
Around lunch time, as we were passing through the Fontenroy port de plaisance, several people at the Le Boat base came out waving their hands and shouting that the canal was closed. And so… after confirming with the VNF, Fontenroy was, sadly, as far as we would be going on the Canal des Vosges this year.
This part of France is in a drought and the reservoirs (“etangs”) are very low)so the canal was closed at lock #24.
Not willing to give up (since Roberta had a scheduled hair appointment in Epinal) we rode our bikes (uphill!!!) to the Bains-les-Bains train station and caught a train to Epinal.
We spent the night at a hotel (our first real bed in over two months) with AC!!! The next day we rode our bikes out along the Epinal branch canal (that connects with the Canal des Vosges) and it was nearly dry.
So ended our trip north. After train/biking back to Fontenroy we headed back south to the Saône. We stopped at Scey-sur-Saone our second night back on the Saône. A nice little town with a very strange old building (but a good pizza place for Martini Night!)
And today we ended up a very dead little town, Soing (no boulangerie, no bar, no cafe, no epicerie) but a pleasant mooring. And, of course, they have the Eiffel Tower. So
With about three weeks left before we head off for our Baltic cruise we decide to explore the northern reaches of the Saône.
We’ve had a couple of really hot days but, for the most part, the weather has been lovely. The nights are usually in the high 50’s to low 60’s and the days usually top out in the mid-80’s.
We usually try to stay in marina’s or towns with electricity service so we would have fans in the evening (I am working on changes to the boat wiring to allow us to have fans when we are not on shore power).
We are feeling more comfortable about nature mooring (nosing up to the bank and shutting off the engine) since I think I have found (and fixed) the engine starting problem.
Most of the time we are in the river with short “deviations” through canal sections to bypass portions of the river that are not navigable. We usual do 2-4 locks per day though they tend to be pretty deep (3 meters or so). And we did have one bad experience sharing a lock with a couple who clearly did not know what they were doing – their boat kept hitting the front doors. Not good.
We often have dinner off the boat when we are in marinas since there is often little shade. We deploy our table and chairs and enjoy the shade.
We stop during the day at any place that looks interesting (a chateau or the remnants of a 13th century castle for instance). And we took a short side trip to Traves to see the “Pierre Percée” (pierced standing stone). They have no idea how old it is or who put it up.
And we always try to slow the boat when we pass fisherman so as not to disturb them, though sometimes that is difficult.
After our shake-down cruise we welcomed Francis and Emilie on board for a week of cruising on the Rhine au Rhone canal. Still having engine starting issues but … it works most of the time.
With only a week we decide on a one-way cruise. First, a short jog up the Saone to Auxonne and then back down the Saone to catch the Canal de Rhone au Rhine (the Saone empties into the Rhone at Lyon so is considered part of the Rhone system).
Napoleon is pretty big in Auxonne – he went to military school here and they are quite proud of him. After walking around a bit we drug our chairs up to a pretty spot (out of the sun!) overlooking the river for a aperitif.
A bit later the most amazingly dirty boat pulled in right behind us. I think it belongs to Pigpen.
We left Auxonne in the morning and headed for the first lock on the Canal de Rhone au Rhine. The canal jumps in and out of the river Doube and a good part of our trip was in the river. The first lock is manned and we got a lecture about safety, locking technique and how to operate the remote that we were given to operate the locks in this canal (they are almost all automatic).
We did a longish day (7 locks and 25Km) to get to Dole. We planned to spend all next day here exploring. This turned out to be a great call since Dole is wonderful. Charming city with lots of shops and restaurants and the marina is quite nice.
And Louis Pasteur is BIG in Dole. He was born here and this year is the bicentennial of his birth. We had a nice dinner at a place on the (no longer used) Canal des Tanneurs where, incidentally Pasteur’s father had a business and where Pasteur was born.
And, because there is always something we don’t understand, here is a little gem from Dole… I especially like the DeLorean as a waffle.
From Dole we took two days to get to Besancon, the biggest city on this excursion with a population well over 100,000. We stopped at Ranchot, a little town the first night.
We wandered around the village and stumbled into a local artist exhibition in the chapel where Francis and Emilie bought a souvenir painting.
The trip from Ranchot to Besancon is highlighted by a short tunnel section and one double lock.
Besancon is a very old city (dating back to Roman times). The original city was on almost an island made by the Doube and easily defended. There are still remnants of huge fortifications above the city.
We spent an afternoon at the Victor Hugo museum (he was born there) and did the tourist “Petite Train” ride around the city.
This region (Franche-Comte) was not part of France until the 17th century when it was conquered (by Louis 14?) (though it was also part of Spain – this is very confusing). And some people obviously think that was a mistake.
After two weeks on the Saône and Seille we are back in St Jean de Losne waiting for Francis and Emilie to join us for a week. The map shows our route south from St Jean for the two weeks we were out. Total distance was about 180 km.
After leaving Tournus we did an out-and-back route on a side canal to Pont-de-Vaux. Not a great canal and not much to see or do in Pont-de-Vaux so probably won’t be doing that one again.
We got back to Tournus after a rainy day. We really like Tournus – it has a great hardware store, a Supermaché within easy walking distance and has a great little place to moor the boat right on the Saone. Also there is a pretty good pizza place right on the river.
After re-supplying in Tournus we continued down the Saone. We decide (after talking to Alex and Deb on “Sadie”) to take a little detour up La Seille. Pretty little river that is navigable (with locks) up to Louhans. The first lock has an operator but the remaining three are all manual and boaters are responsible for operating the locks.
Spent a night in Cuisery before continuing on to Louhans. Louhans is supposed to have a great market on Monday so we want to be there for it. Unfortunately it rained all day so we got completely soaked operating the locks.
It was still raining when we left Louhans but the forecast is improving. We get lucky and most of the rain has stopped by the time we hit the first lock.
Our system for these locks is for me to hop off and do all the lock stuff (doors and gates) while Bert wrangles the boat. Works pretty well – I have no idea how a solo cruiser would handle this.
Back onto the Saône heading to Macon and we saw what can happen if you ignore the channel markers. This was a Le Boat rental and it looked like everyone had been evacuated. And there are big barges on the “Grand Saone” (the part of the Saone from St Jean-de-Losne to Lyon).
Macon is one of the oldest cities in France, dating back at least 2,000 years but there is very little old stuff remaining because most of the city was destroyed in the religious wars. There is one strange old wooden building dating from about 1500 that still survives. It is covered in carvings of naked guys and monkeys.
The marina is very nice and there is a lovely shaded path from the marina to town but Macon itself is not particularly charming. We did a short run into town which was lovely.
Leaving Macon we headed north towards our home berth in St-Jean. We stopped for Martini Night in a an old, unused lock that somebody has converted into a mooring with services. It was nicer than it sounds.
And with only minor engine starting issues we finally reached St-Jean…
After three weeks and a few days we finally raised anchor and headed out onto the Saone!
After being evicted from Decize for four days so the mechanics could have their way with her we finally moved back aboard Friday, June 17, almost exactly three weeks from the day we arrived in St Jean. No one was around when we finally got permission to return and, of course, the engine didn’t start. But… a couple of texts later and an H2O guy shows up with the big booster and we started Decize and moved back to the marina.
St Jean had a big festival Saturday so we stayed one more day to enjoy the fun.
Sunday we weighed anchor and headed south on the Saone, still a little concerned about engine starting issues …. but hopeful. Our first day we cruised 48 Km to Verdun-sur-le-Doub passing through two of the big locks on the Saone.
It was a hot, windy day and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the Captainerie served ice cream, beer and wine.
With the exception of a few pretty impressive thunderstorms things are going well – the engine has started first time, every time so far. We spent two nights in Chalon-sur-Saone, a big city after three weeks in St Jean and we nabbed the last visitor spot, too bad for the people in Le Boat rentals!
And Roberta finally got her first Leffe Ruby.
We left Chalon after some major shopping (including a lot of fans!) and headed for Tournus, a place we have never been but will definitely return to. A great town with lots of shops and restaurants and a great hardware store (though a strange obsession with hair – I counted 8 coiffures in a four block area).
We spent an afternoon exploring, visiting the famous Abbaye Saint Philibert.
We arrived in St-Jean-de-Losne almost exactly two weeks ago. We had planned to spend a week provisioning and getting the boat ready before heading out… but things have not quite worked out.
We arrived late on Thursday and were unable to secure a taxi so …. after 24 hours of travel we had a lovely mile walk from the train station to town.
The next morning we walked to the marina looking for Decize. We were directed to the H2O workshop area where we found Decize moored on the ramp.
And on board a bottle of cremant and a nice note from H2O.
So… we are good to go, right? Tried starting the motor so we could move over to the marina but …. nothing happens. Over the course of the next week we moved out of hotel and onto Decize, we got moved from the ramp to the workshop dock and we finally met with the shipyard manager. And….the engine still doesn’t start!
After an hour or so troubleshooting (Thursday, exactly one week after we arrived) we all agree that the problem is the starter motor. So… another almost full week waiting for the starter motor.
While waiting we decide to take the train to Dijon and get bikes. The train runs a couple of times a day and takes about 30 minutes.
The first bike shop we walked into had exactly what we wanted. We bought two bikes and were told to return in the afternoon to pick them up so headed for downtown Dijon to search for things we could not get in St Jean… a picture frame and …… MARTINI GLASSES! Martini glasses are not a thing here in France and we have yet to find decent ones (though we continue to look).
And, of course, being Jason and Roberta we decided not to wait for the train (three hours away) and decided to ride out new bikes back to St Jean (about 35 kms). Did I mention these were city bikes? With not much in the way of suspension? We took the recommended route, the canal towpath which started out paved but quickly turned to rough gravel. Two hours, tired and hot, with sore butts, we pulled into the marina. But we beat the train!
Meanwhile back in motor-land we finally got our new starter in and installed. After several false attempts we finally go the motor started! We even took Decize for a quick spin around the marina but….. well more on that next post when I explain why we still haven’t left St-Jean after two full weeks.
As I type this we are 10 days from leaving for Europe for five months and….. still no word from the shipyard about the status of our boat (Decize)…
Leaving our townhome for 5 months requires a lot of lists. Lots and lots of lists. Here is one to give you an idea. There is no way we could do this without lists. This is our Townhome list. We also have a Boat Box list, a Boat Supplies list, a Medical Supplies list, and a Final Day list. Just to name a few.
We review the lists every few days and it looks like we are close to actually finishing some of them….
We decided early on that with all the stuff we wanted to take to the boat we would need to either take extra luggage on the plane or ship stuff directly to the marina. We opted for the latter (neither of us relishes the idea of schlepping heavy luggage up and down stairs at the train stations).
After a little online research we settled on Sherpr , a company who promises you can “skip the hassle and ship your luggage & boxes ahead of time!” We started planning our boxes. As they say on their website “we make the customs process simple for you.” Maybe. We’ll see. We ended up with two boxes (medium sized boxes weighting about 40 lbs each) costing a total of about $350.
And the list of “Prohibited Items” is pretty extensive. I think my favorites are “Juice Liquid Living creatures” and “Christmas Crackers”. I’m not even sure what those are. And, of course, no “Pornographic material”… “of any kind!”.
The boxes were picked up by a UPS driver five days ago. A few days later we received a request from a UPS person in France (at least we think he/she was in France as the email was in French) for a signed “ATTESTATION DE NON REVENTE ” along with a copy of my passport. Basically swearing nothing in the boxes is for resale. Will update this post when and if the boxes arrive…
Box update: Our boxes arrived! We put Apple AirTags in our boxes and tracked their progress. After about a week they arrived in St Jean de Losne!
And, ten days from departure, we still have no word from the shipyard about the status of our boat. Since Decize is our home for the next five months this is a little worrisome but we are hopeful….
We are heading back to Europe after an almost two year hiatus due to the Pandemic. We did a quick trip last year to check on the work on the boat (which is STILL not done, of course) but this summer will, hopefully, be our first cruising season on Decize.
The first thing we needed was a long-stay tourist visa. The standard visa (which, for US citizens, requires nothing more than a valid passport) is only good for 3 months and we are planning on being gone closer to 5. Here is the official statement on the “long stay” visa:
For any stay in France exceeding 90 days, you are required to apply in advance for a long-stay visa. In this instance your nationality does not exempt you from requirements.
Whatever the duration of your planned stay, the duration of your long-stay visa must be between three months and one year. In order to extend your stay beyond the period of validity of your visa, you must apply for a residence permit at a prefecture.
During its period of validity, the long-stay visa is equivalent to a Schengen visa, enabling you to move around and stay in the Schengen Area outside France for periods not exceeding 90 days over any period of 180 consecutive days, under the same conditions as if you held a Schengen visa.
Official France Visa Website
Besides a fee (about $100) you have to provide a bunch of documents. The consulate in Houston no longer handles the processing of the visa (though you still have to start the process at the official French site )- they now use a private firm that verifies your documents, records biometrics (fingerprints, photos) and takes your money (VSF Global). VSF then send everything to the French embassy in Washington for approval. If everything goes well you get your passport back (in 2-4 weeks) with the visa.
Not sure what you do if you are not in one of the 10 US cities that has a VSF Global office – fortunately we are. As stated above the visa is good in the Schengen zone for up to 90 days which is good as we plan on travelling outside of France. The Schengen area is ” an area comprising 26 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders.”
Some of this is easy, the passport and passport-size photo for instance, but just what the heck is a “note verbale” for instance? You MUST have a piece of paper for each box on the list. Here’s what we provided (and it worked!):
There are lots of companies that offer travel insurance. My advice is to avoid the US companies as they are ridiculously expensive. The range of premiums is huge (from hundreds to thousands of dollars). We elected to go with a premium package from Europe Assistance .
Total cost for both of us was €477 (about $570). A minimum package (that still meets the requirements) would have cost about €300, for both of us for 5 months. This is less that we pay for one month of health insurance for Roberta in the US. (This is where I start a rant about how totally screwed up the US healthcare system is but…. I won’t.)
The interview at the VSF Global office in Houston (on the West Loop) took about an hour for both of us. You have to schedule an appointment online. The interviewer was very nice. We did not have a “we won’t work letter” (you MUST have a piece of paper for EACH applicant and EACH item on the list!) but she let us write one out by hand. We had to pay a copying fee for each page that needed to duplicated and for the actual visa application (for some reason the ones we brought were not acceptable?).
Total cost (VSF’s fee, the application fee and copying charges) was about $150 each. We also had to have our photos taken and provide fingerprints.
And… after about two weeks we received our visa-enabled passports back via Fedex… (these pics have the actual visa numbers and dates blurred out).
Our Adventures 