Red Adventures: June 2010

Port St. Louis & Port Napoleon, May 24, 2010

OUR LAST MOMENTS ON THE RIVER RHONE! Finally, Port St. Louis and our shipyard destination, Port Napoleon...Grateful Red's becoming a sailing yacht once again!

Eddie and Ken relaxing while waiting for the lock to process.

Port St. Louis was nice and we got a slip right away. Backed into a slip with shore crew waiting to take our stern line, and within moments became a curiosity for the "neighboring" boats. Our first visitor was English and he gave us some "low-downs" of the area. After checking in, we opened some cold white wine and sat in the Cockpit. People are funny and will just stop and stare at you. Rare sight to see a big beautiful red sailboat from America!!! Eddie was a hit as usual and with our big American flag off the stern of the boat, we were “ogled” by the people that would walk the promenade back and forth.

Early the next morning we paid for our mooring and prepared to leave. We had made prior arrangements with Port Napoleon to bring our boat over Monday morning and they would start work on Tuesday after taking the boat out of the water. This left us with Monday to clear, clean and prepare for the boats being taken out. We motored through the well-marked shallow canal leading into Port Napoleon. Arriving, we were greeted by the M-Marine manager who directed me to a slip close to the haul-out. Ken said I did a perfect job docking and must have impressed the Frenchmen standing around watching. Glad to show that a woman is not just a pretty deck hand, but can also maneuver a big boat.

. Checking into the Captaineres office, we made arrangements for a bungalow to stay in (setup for transients and temporary housing for boat owners) and also found we could rent a container to store our boat equipment that we would take off during the repair and mast re-stepping. We knew the boat would get dirty during this next 2 weeks so we took all cushions, clothes, fenders, bimini, sails, etc off and hauled them to our container. Tuesday the boat was promptly taken out of the water and put in a location near the marine shop. Estimates and work lists discussed and promises made.

May 22nd & 23rd, Last days on Rhone River

Saturday morning in Valence,

Mark and Mark left around 6:30 for their train, and Ken and I took off around 8am heading for the first lock. Approaching the lock, we watched as a HUGE blue barge inched its way into the lock. The tightest fit I have ever seen in the locks. We had a place to tie-up while we waited for the barge to complete his maneuver into the lock, hoping all the time, another barge would not approach in which case took precedence over cruising vessels. Leaving the lock was the same; we stayed tied up until we saw daylight on the top of his pilot house on the boat. No point in releasing earlier as we would have to “hover” in the lock for his exit. Our total time for this lock was 1-1/2 hours. We followed this barge ( Mari Lune) the entire day to Avignon through the six locks of the day and 120 kms. Mari Lune did much better in the remaining locks for the day.

Today we experienced one of the deepest locks on the Rhone River. Lock Bollene is 26 meters deep or approximately 104 ft deep and is very intimidating when you are ready to leave and look up. You feel very small when in it, especially along side the large barges and container ships.

Donzere gorge

We arrived in Avignon late in the afternoon after passing Donzere Gorge and other beautiful scenes on the Rhone. Avignon is known as the walled city of the grand Papal palace, and has the remains of the famous Balad Bridge that was bombed by the Germans.

Arriving this late made it difficult to find mooring space along the city quay, so we “rafted” along side what appeared to be an abandoned fuel barge. Worked well as we could walk across it to the quay and Eddie could have an easy time without me having to carry him. We walked into the walled city and found a very nice French bistro where we enjoyed some white wine and a light snack. The waiter was not pleased that Ken “rearranged” the table and chairs so we both could have a nice view of the street activities. After finishing and putting the table and chairs back in “order”, Ken went to do a bit of exploration and I went back to the boat to attend to Eddie and prepare for our last day on the River. After our long hot day, we were happy to make it an early evening. Ken and I were anxious for our last day on the River to reach Port St. Louis, and thus begin the new chapter of our trip. Summer on the Mediterranean Sea and St-Tropez.

Sunday, May 23rd, left Avignon around 10am after steak and eggs breakfast. Needed our energy today. We had 80 kms to go and one big final river lock and the flood lock in Port St. Louis. We knew we had to hurry toward the end of the day because the flood lock only opened one time per hour and closed for the day at 5pm. We made the last opening at 4:15 with minutes to spare. Not sure what we would have done for the night in the River, but we were glad we did not have to make that decision. The flood lock includes a lift bridge for cars so it was a slow hot process. Eddie was decked out in his fancy harness and barking at anyone and everything he thought necessary. He seemed to “feel” our excitement of the journeys end.

Mark and Mark's great 2-day adventure on the Rhone River

Thursday, may 20th, Leaving Lyon to Valence

Thursday morning before we left Lyon, Ken and Mark walked to the Gare station to get a return schedule from several locations situated along the Rhone. Mark and Mark’s two days with us would be factored around where we could be Saturday morning in time for them to catch this return train to Paris.

This first picture is where the Saone and Rhone Rivers meet.

Armed with this information our informal plans were to stop in Les Roches de Condrieu, a nice little marina across from the town of Condrieu. (a fine wine community). We would stay Thursday night and then Valence Friday night. They would then take a taxi to the local Valence GARE station for their trip to Paris. This part of the journey was wide Rhone Rivers and very deep locks. We only hit 2 locks on Thursday, one being Pierre-Benite,

We motored about 40 kms this day and arrived in Les Roches de Condrieu with a 3-4 knot current at our back. The “men” went to explore across the river some local wine shops and returned with a small assortment of Rhone wines, stating that the shop keeper would deliver any wine we would purchase the next morning right to our boat. (we already are deeper in the water due to our earlier wine and champagne purchases so I was not as excited as they were). Dinner at the nearby Hotel Bellvue, and then preparation for Fridays departure.

The "boys" handling the lines - Eddie is managing them!

Friday, we pulled over to the diesel dock, fueled up and decided to for-go the “wine shopping” trip. We had 72 kms to go and 3 BIG locks to maneuver. Being in the Rhone river meant we sometimes had to give-way to the large container ships when they approached a lock. Most of the time we could still squeeze in, but it could be a potential delay of 1-2 hours. The day went well, we had fun in the locks and we arrived in Valence around 5:30. Valence is an old ancient town featuring a 17th century cathedral. Our quay was downriver of the bridge so we did not experience the city. The marina was small and I think we found the only space that would accommodate a boat of our size. After checking in to the Capitianare, getting the shower combo and making the taxi arrangements, I made salmon cakes and large greek salad for dinner. We ate in the cockpit and this was the very first time we could the entire trip due to weather conditions. Especially fine time for me!

Friday, May 14th, Eddies arrival to France and beyond to Lyon

Ken arrived in Paris with Eddie with little problem. I was told that only the US Customs insisted in “patting” Eddie down and the French Customs after asking if he had papers but not insisting on seeing them, played with Eddie and ignored Ken. Ken called me and said he thought he would have no problem getting Eddie and their luggage on the train to Dijon and I should meet them there. This being done, I found them outside the train station in Dijon at the appointed time. Ken on the phone, and Eddie crossing his legs in his crate and really wanting to get out. After his “grass” time and back on the train to the boat, he slept almost immediately. I think he stayed awake the entire plane trip out of nervousness.

We did not plan to continue our journey until Sunday mid-day so this gave Eddie a full day to get used to being on the boat and back with us. We walked to town and got a rotisserie chicken at a open market (rare for a Sunday) and last minute shopping before departing Sunday for Seurre. Sunday’s trip would be only 28 km’s and one lock. Nice, easy first day on the canals for Eddie.

When we arrived in Seurre we found a very nice Halt nautique with a new dock. There was another large motor yacht on the dock belonging to a very nice English man who came over to chat and tell us the “low-down” of the area. Soon the Capitanaire stopped by and we soon realized he had been enjoying the Sunday with a few “wines”…He did not speak very good English but tried to explain to us that there was a problem with our route that we had planned for the next day. He stated that there were closures at some of the locks in our path that would delay us 2 months! Once we realized his message, I ran to the boat to get our calendar, my English/French dictionary and our charts so we could truly understand the potential problem. Our English neighbor just stood and listened as Ken and I were getting a bit “excited” about being delayed and not hearing anything about this sooner. Soon the Capitanarie was giggling and saying “joke”, slapping us on the back. He also took Kens wrist in his hand to pretend to “check his pulse” laughing. Our neighbor explained that this is what he likes to do with all new boats on the dock. I thought ken would strangle him, but he kept his cool and said, “Yes, funny joke” as we walked back to the boat overwhelmed with relief that we would not be “trapped” in this river section for 2 months. Went looking for the hard stuff after that! Wine and beer was too meager.

Monday, May 17th

At Point Kilometer (PK) 187, we had planned a long day to PK 112 but only 2 locks to finish at Tournus. The River Saone is now wider and there is more boat traffic. We passed Chalon sur Saone, a large city that did not appeal to us so we pushed on the Tournus. Motoring with a 2 knot current with us, we moved along nicely. We are seeing more cruising boats heading upstream against the current. We assume they are just starting their “canal” journey in the opposite directions. Tied up to a nice City Quai heading downstream. Noisy on the back transom when you sleep, but the take off in the morning is like a rocket ship. We walked the town and found a little restaurant with a sign stating they would open at 7pm for Dinner (Sunday). We stopped at a small square for some wine and back to the boat. Dinner at this restaurant was wonderful. It was small and very elegant. Ken had a PILE of frog legs and I had some wonderful version of scalloped potato, Salmon au gratin.

Tuesday, May 18th

Finally, blue skies with a slight breeze. Starting to see familiar boaters that are heading the same way as we are. Met a British couple, Ann and Alex that have a sailboat with their mast tied on deck. They are also heading to the Med for some sailing, cruising. We both left Tournus Tuesday and caught up to each other almost every night all the way to the Rhone. I later took pictures of their boat in one of the deep locks. We will head to Macon or beyond today. Today’s weather was great and Macon was an easy journey so we decided to push on. We had only one lock today and eventually tied up at a small Nautique near Villefranche-sur-Saone. We have 43 kms left to reach Lyon.

Wednesday, May 19th, Lyon

We arrive in downtown Lyon (on the Saone) and tie up between city Quai’s Tilsitt, and Mal Joffre. Just 4 blocks into the city is Victor Hugo Blvd where wonderful shops and restaurants are. Victor Hugo blvd runs parallel to the river and one end of the blvd is Place Celle-cour and Place Carnot, wonderful city parks. The GARE and auto rentals were just 4 blocks further on our side of the river.

Ken got his rental car right away so he could drive to Geneva Switzerland to pick up our next boat guests, Mark and Mark. He was also going to fit in a visit to a long time friend Bill, who happened to be in Geneva with Mark and Mark at the same business conference. We had originally planned to be in Lyon on Friday and had dinner plans with Boris and Valarie, our new “landlords” in St-Tropez but because we arrived several days earlier they arranged their schedule to meet us for dinner on Wednesday night instead. All meeting at the boat around 7pm, Ken arrives with Mark and Mark about the same time as Boris and Valarie. Of course this is a great time for champagne and as I like to be prepared, had one chilled and ready. Boris, Valarie, Ken and I headed out to dinner (only had reservations for 4) and Mark and Mark went off to explore Lyon.
It was a great opportunity to get to know Boris and Valarie better as they own the apartment we are renting in St-Tropez. It was a wonderful evening for sure.