La Petite Saone

We finally left our winter mooring at St Jean de Losne a week ago and set off upstream on the river Saone. Our cruising plans are first to head to the city of Nancy via the Petit Saone and Canal des Vosges. We hope to then head east to the Champagne region and up as far as Epernay before coming back down the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne to St Jean again. The route is highlighted in pink on the map below. The areas highlighted in yellow show where we cruised in 2013/14. 

The day we set off turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far. We got to Auxonne by lunchtime and stayed in the port for a night. Despite the heat we had a wander around. The town is home to a military academy, part of which overlooks the port, and it's claim to fame is that Napoleon Bonaparte received his first training here.

At 5 pm it was still 36 degrees so instead of cooking we decided to eat out in town. We saw the most amazing sunset walking back around the marina.

We set off early the next morning and continued upstream. We stopped at a delightful mooring at Mantoche with lawns, picnic tables, willow trees and a chateau. What more could you ask for on a hot sunny afternoon. The deck chairs were out in no time and we enjoyed listening to the guy on a hire boat moored next to us as he sang and played his guitar.

The view from our window 

Next day we only had to cruise an hour or so to reach the town of Gray where we had arranged to meet up with our friends Pete and Glen who were coming downstream. Gray has been an important river port since the Middle Ages and there are still many old buildings to be admired.

The town hall with its Burgundian tiled roof dates back to the 15th century

A 16th century door

We spent a lovely evening with Pete and Glen on our boat then waved goodbye in the morning as we headed across the river to the lock to continue our journey upstream. They have given us some useful tips on good mooring places coming up and recommended a great place for lunch when we get to Nancy. Looks amazing, can't wait!

There are less mooring options on the river than a canal and there were not too many on this next stretch. We cruised 45km with 5 locks and a tunnel before mooring on the riverbank where 5 bollards had been recently placed but the gang plank was needed to enable us to get on and off safely. 

A very peaceful overnight stop

The Savoyeux Tunnel, at least there was light at the end, only 640 metres

You do see some things on the water, the boat travelling in front of this one had the female version on board!

The imposing chateau at Ray seen from the river dates back to the year 800 AD

We made up for the long cruising day yesterday by only moving on 5km next morning to the picturesque mooring at Soing. The arm of the river leading to Soing is very picturesque.

It is a popular stop so we timed it to get there before lunchtime and moored up on the 30 metre wooden pontoon. Picnic tables, lawns and trees again with a pretty village and a nice restaurant run by a young couple, Aux Rives de Saone. By the time we got up there for lunch it was already full so we booked for dinner instead.

Chris thought he would have a small dessert to finish his meal

Housework to do, sweeping leaves off the roof as we were leaving early next morning

Our purchases from the first lock of the day, wine already chilled, will do nicely later

So warm the cows have even taken to the water

He didn't even bother flying off as we went by

Our overnight stop in Port-sur-Saone last night

This evening we are now wild moored to two trees just outside the village of Ormoy. A delightful spot, only 6km from where La Petite Saone ends and the Canal des Vosges begins. In the last week we have travelled 187km, gone through 20 automated locks and 2 tunnels. It has been a great way to get back into cruising, very few locks, very few other boats and what's more we haven't spent a single penny on moorings, water or electric since we left Auxonne. The solar panels are paying for themselves already!