Cruising towards St Jean de Losne
We decided to start our cycle from Mailly la Port, leave the boat there during the day and then return to St J de L in the evening before checking out the next day. It was another warm day and we knew that at our existing mooring we had some shade and would have the opportunity to chill and relax at the end of our ride. Good choice.
Here is a link to our route on Ride with GPS LINK TO RIDE
Setting off – already looking to be a warm blue sky day
We had a good ride through the country side to St J de L and headed into the Le Boat offices at the marina to pick up our car keys and make sure that we knew where it was parked as we were not sure if the office would still be open later that afternoon. Then after a coffee at a café overlooking the river our real ride started.
Here is a link to our ride on Ride with GPS LINK TO RIDE
We picked up a couple of delicious quiches from a local bakery for our lunch on the far side of the river and headed down EV 6 along the Saone river. Enjoyed this section of the river as we followed its meanders and there was plenty of shade from the trees planted along its banks with lots of gaps where fishermen had set up their rods and shelters. We soon reached the Deviation, a straight wide canal which lead to Seurre. Glad we did not choose to sail down this section as it was quite boring, and with the time we had we would have had to sail down turn around and come back! Fortunately we only had to ride 2km before taking road back to the river proper and the small attractive village of Pagny La Ville. Found a beautiful spot overlooking the river where we could enjoy our lunch in the shade watching the birdlife. Very special relaxing spot.
Our ride back to St J de L was on quiet lanes through small villages. One in particular (Esbarres) was entrancing with its town square dominated by an impressive church and town hall. Got Mike to cycle round the church a couple of times to get some good video footage – not the easiest on loose gravel he told me!
On a quay just before St J de L. Very warm and looking forward to a drink.
We also really enjoyed the approach along the canal path to St J de L as the outline of the church towers (St Jean de Baptiste) and town became more pronounced. Very hot so we stopped off at a small café for an ice cold coke. Saw an enormous hotel ship moored up, must have had over 100 rooms across 2 levels. Glad we did not meet that on any of our travels.
Suitably refreshed we were happy to tackle the remaining 7km back to our boat. Had another boat moored up and a lady was enjoying a swim in the river. Was also tempted but had read about issues of pollution when we were in Grey which had caused them to cancel some of the River Fair water activities and as I had picked up a couple of cuts and grazes caution won out. Enjoyed our tea in the shade before setting off for St J de L
I was very happy as Mike agreed I should take the boat into her mooring. We had to reverse in. He helped a lot by giving me very helpful instructions about which way to steer, reverse, go forward etc which as you don’t have reversing mirrors was essential. Managed the manoeuvre really well and was glad as a number of other boats were there so lots of attention. It was then time to wash down the boat, pick up the car and load it up as best we could to make tomorrows departure easier.
Iconic view of St J de L church. Totally missed this on our way out as I was so worried about managing the boat. Glad to have become more relaxed over the week
Had a lovely dinner on deck with a bottle of pink cava and both very happy to have had a good holiday. As a footnote this holiday rekindled our interest in Henrietta and we also decided to book another canal holiday at the end of our time in Europe as my foot is still causing a lot of grief.
Video of Mike riding around in circles at Esbarres!
