Hotel boats are like buses, none for days and then 4 at once

Hi, nice to see you again,

We're still heading up the canal de Bourgogne. The first few kilometers out of Dijon were extremely weedy and it made us appreciate the fact that our boat is NOT water cooled. A couple of boaters we spoke to in Dijon had had big problems with the weed clogging up their raw water cooling intakes.

Once you get past Plombieres-les-Dijon the weed disappears and the countryside becomes almost alpine. The canal is tree-lined and there are poppies everywhere.

The weather forecast said we were due for torrential rain and thunderstorms, so we decided to wait it out in the new Halte Nautique at La Bussiere sur Ouche. We didn't see another moving boat for two days and then 4 hotel boats arrived!  We moved up to let 2 moor up but the third had to moor in the rough below the lock and the fourth had to keep moving to the next mooring.  And in typical fashion, the storm totally bypassed us and the rain was minimal.

Not a very good photo I'm afraid, but you can just make out the 2 huge hotel boats tucked in behind us.  The skipper of one of them was very appreciative that we'd moved up for them and gave us a very nice bottle of wine as a thank you.

My flower tubs are starting to revive after the decimation of the frosts and I have my first flower

Don't you just love organic veggies? I bought these on the market in Dijon port just before we left........love is carrot shaped 😂😂 and would have been rejected by the supermarket.

We're continuing again tomorrow having just negotiated with one of the hotel boats to let us leave first in the morning. We don't want to get stuck behind them as they travel really slowly.

That's all for now, see you back here again soon I hope

Dijon

Hi welcome back,

We've been here in Dijon for a week now. It's a beautiful city with good moorings BUT there's no water or electric here. There are bornes all along the quay but they don't work and the lock-keepers don't know if they will ever work again. They used to be operated by jetons (tokens) but no-one wants to sell them and it's too expensive to install a vending machine.  It's a good job we're fully solar powered so we haven't had to run the generator at all, but we're down to the last dregs of the water tank and will need to find a working tap soon.

The town itself is very picturesque, full of old half timbered buildings and narrow shopping streets

and of course Dijon is famous for it's mustard, although when I had beef for lunch in a restaurant I had to ask for mustard and the waiter had to go and find some!

There are lots of open areas as well as the shops, with a couple of really  nice peaceful parks which were popular lunchtime picnic places for the locals.

The 13th century catholic church of Notre Dame wasn't particularly impressive compared to others we've visited, but it does have some unusual "dummy" gargoyles on the western facade. Dummies because they are just statues rather than water spouts and unusual because they depict animals as well as humans and monsters. I've never seen a sheep gargoyle before (centre below)

I think this was my favourite, grotesque but also quite cute 😇

The weather's finally warmed up and we've managed to get out and about on the bikes spending a very pleasant afternoon cycling round the nearby lake "lac du kir". The French take their leisure time very seriously and the cycle paths are really well maintained. A sandy beach had just been installed for the summer season and was already being well used by sunbathers. The beach volley ball courts were also full but Roger was a bit disappointed that the teams were fit young men 😉😜  There were also several well used fitness equipment areas plus the essential bar/cafe. The perfect place to spend a sunny afternoon

We cycled back along the towpath and met this character beside one of the locks. 

We also met one of the big hotel boats that cruise in this area. How about having a swimming pool on your front deck?

On Saturday and Sunday it was the local festival hosted by the friends of the port. Live music, children's fairground rides and all kinds of displays put on by local dance groups made for a good couple of days, with the highlight being a spectacular fireworks display on Saturday night. 

We've really enjoyed our time here, it's almost felt like being on holiday. To top it all off, it was our 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday.

Cheers!

That's all for now, see you again soon X