Another day on the water under the torching sun. Our last day on board. The plan for the day was to go further upstream to Trave, have lunch there, return to Savoyeux, and then to clean the boat as we needed to return it the next morning. We realized that it would be spending a lot of time on the helm.
We got up soon, had breakfast and managed to leave our mooring place at a quarter to 10. We ascended through lock #10 at Soing, passed an auxiliary lock, and then lock #9 near Chantes. Here, a technician was servicing the lock system. I had entered the lock a little bit too quickly, which the technician conveyed to me in a kind and funny manner thereby pointing out that the lock will almost certainly not move should the boat bang against the walls 🙂 The talk then went on with other unrelated topics. All in all, a entertaining chat with nice guy during a relatively long ascent. Remarkable were also the deep grooves that the ropes of the boats have left in the stones in almost 150 years of operation.
We arrived at 12:15 in Trave, secured the boat and then went to town to look for a restaurant. There were not too many option, not to say none, so we went back to the restaurant in the harbor that went by the uninspiring name “L’Embarcadère” or “landing stage”. That turned out to be a good twist of fate as lunch was really tasty. At around 14:30h, we were back on board, started the engine, and commenced our return to Savoyeux. The journey was uneventful, and we arrived at 18:00h. As always, packing and clean the boat took longer than anticipated We finished at around 9 pm.
The boat tethered to our mooring site en sauvage. (GPS coordinates are 47.581306, 5.857806)We are leaving our camp siteA canal near the barrage of SoingTrees, fields, hay bales, and the village of Fédry in the distance — a very pleasant view gently passing byA lone tree on the river bankAuxiliary Lock – Écluse de garde near Cubry-les-SoingLock #9 — Écluse de Chantes Lock #9 — Éclusede Chantes — downstreamLock #9 — Éclusede Chantes — upstreamPont de ChantesChâteau de Rupt-sur-SaôneLock #8 — Écluse de Rupt sur Saone. It leads to tunnel. We had no time to explore it. Should we be in the area again will surely pay it a visit.The Saone.An unregulated part of the river — nowadays a sidearm.The shoreline seems no longer be fortified. Trees are obstructing our way. We are making our way through a jungle.The bridge of Trave aheadA sandbank. Luckily well marked for the unsuspecting river boat captain. A heron is looking for fish.Shallow water aheadSign leading to the bayNoonish. It is hot. There are no waves nor wind. The scene is relaxed and quiet. Even idyllic to some degree. The people in the boat in front of us are sitting on the deck and are having a long lunch. Roundel in Trave with a Christian symbol in the middle and a church in the backTheTempête de Joie safely tied to the jettyBridge of Trave in shallow water near its pillars. Caution required.Trees in the water and the tow paths are no longer visible. Nature has partially claimed back the river.Leg of the seventh day.
(The Copyright of the maps belongs to ÉDITIONS DU BREIL who kindly gave me permission to use it)
