Return to Chalon sur Saone

Some of you may remember our first attempt to visit Chalon sur Saône a couple of years ago. It was at the end of our first season of navigating and was also our first experience of navigating on the Saône, a major river, if not one of France’s big five. When we came down off the Canal du Centre late in the afternoon, we found the river running with some force and a good metre higher than its normal levels. We tried to get into the port at Chalon but were turned away by a singularly unhelpful port official because it was full. Getting out of the port involved a hairy time getting through a low bridge with the water running strongly against us. J swore then that she didn’t ever want to go back.

So here we are in September again and our friends M&M, who were with us during that first aborted visit, are with us again. On our way from St Jean de Losne to Louhans, on the Seille river, we had to pass through Chalon but we were expecting, even planning, to stop elsewhere. However, as we approached the time when we needed to make a decision about mooring, J decided that she needed to face her demons about that port and try again. This time – fortunately - things could not have been more different. The day was a gloriously sunny one and the river was quite benign. We moored up to the guest pontoon and received a friendly welcome into what turned out to be an extremely well-situated and well-run port. We were allocated a mooring spot and once we were securely moored up for the night, laughed to find ourselves neatly tucked in between two other kiwi boats. We’d met Simon and May on Joie de Vivre about a week earlier at Dole; the other boat was a hire boat with a group of eight on board. In one of those “you wouldn’t read about it” moments, it turned out that one of the occupants was a Wellington primary school principal that M+M have had a lot to do with over the years. It was hilarious to see Marlene do a double-take when she realised that actually knew the person that she had just said hello to!


During our short stay, we were able to have a wander around the old town at night and decided we’d like to see more of it. We also visited one of the bigger supermarkets we’ve seen in France, the wine section of which was particularly impressive, and were able to do a quick email check at the nearby McDonalds before heading away. We would happily have stayed longer but we’ve been told that the market in Louhans is not to be missed and since it’s only held on Mondays, we needed to hoof it to get here in time. We’ll make our way back in a more leisurely fashion and will look forward to a return to Chalon – as long as the weather and water conditions remain fair.