Le grand départ

Wednesday, 10 June at 9:30am we set off from St Jean de Losne on a perfect morning for navigating - sun shining and no wind. After several changes of plan to a very rough initial itinerary, we have decided to head straight up the Saone river, then up the Canal de l'Est, which will bring us (sooner or later) to the city of Nancy. We are in no hurry. That's part of the pleasure of travelling this way. When we get to Nancy, we'll see how long it has taken us to get there and then make up our minds where to go from there. There is no shortage of options: east to Strasburg, north-east toward the Saar river and the German border, north to Metz and Luxemburg or west ans south on the shortest route back to St Jean de Losne. Whatever the route, we plan to be back in SJL in early to mid-October.

On Day One, we travelled a very acceptable 16-17km in around two and a half hours. That's quick navigating for us but we were on the river (i.e. no speed restrictions as there are in canals) and we had only one lock to negotiate between SJL and Auxonne, another advantage of river navigation. last year we averaged nearly one lock per kilometre travelled. We are now moored in Auxonne and will spend the next couple of days here looking around. It's a lovely small town boasting fortifications by Vauban (THE French specialist in designing town fortifications) and a connection with Napoleon, who began his military studies in the town as a teenager. Less famously but equally important to us, Auxonne has a market tomorrow morning and a free internet connection at the Tourist Info office.

PS Cycling on Auxonne's ancient cobblestones is not a comfortable experience!