travel – Our Adventures

And now for the weather…

We interrupt our regular programming of misadventures to confirm that, yes, it is hot o’clock in Hotsville, France.

You may think these are photos of a French canal but they actually show the face of the sun.

We have so far avoided being in a red alert area but that may change considering the forecast. (For those still using the antiquated Fahrenheit scale, 35C is 95F).

It’s all the news here. The inside article is about how a Carrefour grocery store chain is allowing pets into its contactless grocery area so they don’t overheat.

Not to worry, we have strategies to cope. Cruising starts early (7:30 AM) and ends early (noonish) to avoid the afternoon furnace. We’ve pulled out our little RV AC which cools our berth effectively.

Compare and contrast the temperature in the main salon with the one in the sleeping area. A 8C (14.5F) difference.

Our hero, below, with able assist from even more fans.

With temperatures predicted to go even higher we may abandon ship and check into an air-conditioned hotel in a nearby city. In the meantime you can find us hiding behind this door in our cool little cave.

Off the Boat….to Beaune

We moored Decize in Epinal and took a train south to visit friends. Ana and Frank moved to Beaune a few years ago and we see them more now than we did when we all lived in Houston. Bonus: our hiking buddies, Claire and Joe, were visiting at the same time.

Beaune is the epicenter of the Burgundian wine world. We spent the weekend eating, biking and helping Beaune with its wine surplus.

Some of these vines will produce grapes that will produce $1,000 bottles of wine, i.e. wine we can’t afford.

On theme, we had an amazing dinner at La Lune, a French-Japanese fusion restaurant that seats fewer than 20 people. Highly recommended – make reservations months in advance.

Other culinary highlights included a real martini and popcorn ice cream.

We joke that Ana and Frank are land people because they grow fruits and vegetables of all types (and keep bees). But Frank is building a dory sailboat from a kit to keep his handmade kayak company. It is beautiful.

After our lovely visit we met up with our latest expat, but longtime Houston, friends, John and Michele. They were heading south to their new home in Vaison-la-Romaine.

They were still a bit stunned with the whole moving to France thing, but their very good boy, Hansel, was very excited to be welcomed everywhere.

Roberta and Michele indulged in a bit of retail therapy. Matching shoes!

Too soon it was time to head back north to the boat. We consoled ourselves by a visit to the bar car on the TGV.

Canal des Vosges

After enjoying a few days with frequent cruisers Jackie, David and their lovely daughter on the Haute Saone we entered the Canal des Vosges at Corre. We attempted this canal several years ago but had to turn around because of low water.

First stop was Fontenoy-le-Chateau which was the last stop on our previous attempt. It’s a lovely little town with, yes, ruins of a chateau, a bar and not much else.

The canal is beautiful, unusually weed-free and with lovely spots to have a picnic or spend the night.

And locks. Lots and lots of locks. Not that we’re complaining…. they were all working.

We passed through two swing bridges that were built in the 1800s. The technology hasn’t changed: When a boat approaches a canal worker magically appears to push it around.

But locks. Lots and lots of locks. Our last morning we did 14 locks in 3 km. We were so efficient (and lucky), it only took us two hours.

We can always tell when we are nearing a city of any size because local artwork starts to appear.

We’re docking Decize in Epinal, sister city to La Crosse, Wisconsin, for a few days while we visit friends in another town.

Back in France

We started our 2026 cruising season by letting Air France wine and dine us across the Atlantic.

**Second course. Not pictured…. third, fourth and fifth courses.**

After breakfast (our sixth course) we landed in Paris where we joined the endless immigration queue. Only one hour in the priority line. Then it was time for what was for us a midnight snack …. coffee and pain au chocolate.

We arrived in St-Jean-de-Losne the next day and took a stroll around our town.

First stop, our favorite SJL dive. Jeanne, the proprietress, wasn’t serving food that day but we were only looking for a welcome drink.

And, miracle of miracles, Decize was in the water!

Long story short, jet lag sucks, every year, but we are still happy to be here.

2026 – Back to Burgundy

We are about a week away from returning for another summer of cruising the rivers and canals of France. We have gotten pretty good about preparing for our departure but we always seem forget something.

Status of the Network

We had big plans last year for a loop through Strasbourg, Nancy, Toul, Paris and Dijon. Unfortunately several canals were closed due to low water and we were unable to proceed and had to retreat back up the Rhine.

This year France received a lot of rain in January and February. In fact the Seine and our river (the Saone) flooded in a few spots.

While not good for everyone this was good news for the reservoirs that supply water for the canal system.

**Reservoir status in northeast France – April 2026. Green: >80%, Yellow >60% full**

Unfortunately other issues could present problems this year. The picture below shows the current closures that might affect us. The good news is the Canal du Centre, which was closed almost all last summer, is open again. The Canal du Loing, Canal du Nivernais and Canal du Rhone au Rhine are all currently impassable. And the Canal de Burgogne has restrictions and plans to close early in September.

**Red Xs are current closures, star is our home port (H2O Marina).**

2026 Plan (Tentative)

We want to start by going north to Nancy via the Canal des Vosges which we attempted in 2024 and were stopped by low water. After returning from Nancy we head to Alaska for Roberta’s 50th high school reunion.

After returning for France, we want to go west via the Canal du Centre. It’s been a couple years since we visited the Loire valley and thought it would be nice to return.

Dates	Destination	Comment
May 18 – May 24	St Jean de Losne	Provisioning/Checkout
May 25 – May 31	Corre	North on Saone to C. des Vosges
Jun 1 – Jun 15	Nancy	North on Canal des Vosges
Jun 18 – Jun 26	Port-sur-Saone	Back south to the Haute Saone
Jun 30 – Jul 4	Paris	By train to visit Francis/Emilie
Jul 4 – Jul 10	St-Jean-de-Losne	Back to our home port
Jul 11 – Jul 30	Alaska!	To Alaska – Roberta’s 50th HS
Aug 1 – Sep 25	Cruising west?	To Decize/Briare?
Sep 26 – Oct 7	Bucharest	Traveling through eastern europe
Oct 7 – Oct 17	Hiking	Vampire hiking in the Carpathians

Back in Saint-Jean-de-Losne

After 1,100 Km, 408 locks and 90 days we are back in our home base of St Jean. Our hopes of doing a grand loop that passed through Paris were dashed by canal closures, most due to insufficient water. The farthest north we got was Metz, near the Luxembourg border and our westward travel ended in Toul.

Ironically the Canal du Rhone au Rhin near Besancon was closed a few days after we passed due to high water.

Cruising back in to St Jean de Losne

Bumming Around Belfort

We took a 15-minute train ride from our mooring in Montbeliard to spend the day in Belfort since the canal to Belfort is no longer open. We saw the famous lion of Belfort, created by the same guy that did the Statue of Liberty.

We walked around the citadel, the remains of defensive works that were designed by Lois XIV’s architect, Vaubaun.

And walked around the city looking at lots of old stuff.

We took an electric boat tour (because of course we did) that went right past Decize. Sadly, the guide failed to point out the grandeur of this fine ship.

But the highlight of our visit may have been the mayor of Metz, aka Schatzi, stopping by for an inspection. Or, as it turns out, a chunk or two of cheese. I wasn’t supposed to let him in a third time, but take a look closely at that last photo…who could resist that?

Time to head south for real ….

Messing Around Metz

We may have had to turn back east when we reached Toul, but before heading south, we made a detour north to see Metz, which we’d been told was a lovely stop. It didn’t disappoint.

The main cathedral of Saint-Etiennne has stained glass by Marc Chagall and Jacques Villon … and a dragon. (We now think every cathedral should have a dragon.)

The nearby church of Saint Maximin had even arty-er stained glass by Jean Cocteau. And a lot of blue carpet.

Then there was Porte des Allemands (the Germans’ Gate), a medieval bridge castle with two 13th-century towers and this charming carving of the king at the time, mooning anyone who attempted to storm the city.

We took an electric boat tour (because of course we did) that went right past Decize. Sadly, the guide failed to point out the grandeur of this fine ship.

Time to head south for real ….

Drama on the High Seas!

Exiting our last lock of the day on the Moselle near Pompey we noticed a little penichette, also a former Locaboat, waiting to enter. Or so we thought.

We moored in Pompey and went for a walk. We were nearly back to our boat when we were approached by two women with a cute white dog. After a few awkward sentences in French we switched to English and learned that they were from the little penichette, which had gone kaputt (they were German who spoke excellent English).

They asked for help towing their boat from the lock to the Pompey dock. We said sure.

After rescuing Kathrin, her two sons and her friend, Julia we had a little celebration aboard Decize. We were soon joined by Kathrin’s husband Markus, who had seen us from a bus on the bridge as went to fetch a car. The conversation was a mix of English, German, French and even a few words of Spanish.

Four gin and tonics, two voda tonics, an Old Fashioned and (Kathrin’s first) martini later we had made some new friends.

Tooling Around Toul…

… even a former professional headline writer could not resist that pun.

The Cathedral of St Etienne dominates Toul. And rightly so since you can climb ALL the way to the top AND you can see the actual relics which are hidden in most churches.

Up we go…

The views from the top were worth the 389 steps.

Back downstairs we toured the “Treasure Room” which consisted of mostly gold bishops’ staffs, but also a nail from the ONE TRUE CROSS. And, as all know, there were only three of those. Or maybe four.

Outside we found one more treasure, a plaque noting where Joan of Arc (Roberta’s current historical obsession) successfully repelled a marriage claim and was then free to be martyred a few years later.