Thursday, 9 September 2010 - Lyon
Eliza B
Ron & Elizabeth HOWARD
Sun 12 Sep 2010 12:48
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We spent the month of August at home, catching up
with friends and all the local news. At the end of the month we went back
to Norfolk for the Bank Holiday weekend to enjoy a family party and celebrate
Ron's Mother's 90th birthday. The photograph shows Mother with her brother
and two sisters, her 5 children, her 8 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
It was good to get everyone there and the party went well.
 On Thursday 2 September we left home just before 7
am to drive back to the boat with friends Peter and Ella. Thanks to
Eurostar and Peter & Ella's driving we arrived at St Jean-de-Losne at 7 pm
(local time) and got ourselves installed back on Eliza B. We then went out
for supper at the restaurant next to the church.
  On Friday we renewed our journey south on the Saone
- until we came to an unexpected stop on a sandbank near one of the bends.
Fortunately we didn't need to resort to launching the dinghy and dragging
ourselves off with the anchor. After a few minutes wiggling we
managed to back off and continue our journey in beautiful sunshine and making
good use of the new bimini we had had made when we were home. We stopped
at the Halte Fluviale at Verdun-sur-Doubs and were delighted to watch a
kingfisher (Martin Pecheur) flashing across the water and catching fish
(although it settled too far away to get a good photo).
   The Saone provides a very pleasant environment, it
is a beautifully tree-lined, wide river and there is still plenty of wild-life
to admire: cormorant, heron, egrets and grebe - as well as this season's
cygnets and ducklings. The following day we saw two stork circling over
the river. The countryside is no longer green and growing; all of the
cereals have been cropped and the fields re-ploughed. The fields of maize
and sunflowers are brownish and are awaiting harvest.
The navigation hazards continue to keep us awake
and we meet English narrow boats and large hotel boats (whch only just seem to
fit into the locks and under the bridges), as well as the occasional dredging
activities (and the related complicated warning sign).
    On Saturday we reached Chalon-sur-Saone about
lunchtime and then finished the day with a vey nice dinner at La Bourgogne in
the nearby Rue de Strasbourg. The sun continued to shine on the Sunday and
we made a lunchtime stop at Tournus - and inspected a large but uninspiring
"Vide Grenier" (= "empty attics" the equivalent of an English "garage sale")
which was stretched along the river bank. We then continued and found a
very smart Halte Fluviale at Macon for our overnight
stop. Fortunately the elderly organ-grinder, who had pitched himself
next to our pontoon, decided to call it a day before we had to resort to
violence. There is, after all, a limit to the number of times one needs to
hear "Jingle Bells" on an organ while enjoying a glass of pink wine in the
evening sunshine!
  Peter had identified two possible threats to
our future sailing itinery: a day or two of heavy rain forecast
starting on Monday afternoon and a national strike on the Tuesday which would
include the lock-keepers. As a result we decide on an early start on the
Monday and a long day of motoring in order to reach Lyon (where we had planned
to stop for a few days sight-seeing). In fact, Monday proved to be a pleasant
day with a mix of clouds and sunshine and we arrived in Lyon just as it
started raining very gently. We explored all the possible mooring spots
and found none which offered electricity or water - or indeed anything
resembling a purpose-built Halte Fluiviale for visiting plaisantiers.
Rather disaapointing when you consider Lyon is France's third largest city
(after Paris and Marseilles) and is the confluence of two major rivers -
the Saone and the Rhone. So we tied up against the wall at the Quai de
Marechal Joffe, but with a beautiful view of the cathedral and TV
transmitter, and prepared supper. The rain started at 3 am and
continued, heavily, for the next 24 hours.
 Despite the rain, the four of us equipped
ourselves suitably and explored the centre of Lyon on foot - taking occasional
refuge in cafes and coffee shops. That evening we dined very well in a
small elegant restaurant, Jofe, Elizabeth and Peter identified quite near
the boat. We had an excellent meal accompanied by a fine bottle of St
Joseph Rhone wine. Apparently Lyon
developed its reputation for fine eating from the Mamans (housekeepers) who were
employed by the wealthy many years ago. It made a point of retaining and
developing that reputation.  Lyon is an interesting place and is attractive
(in the sunshine). It did not suffer from any war damage so it still has
its 19th century houses, mostly with 5 storeys, many large sqares and many small
streets. It was the centre of the French silk industry for many years until
the Revolution (wearing silk fell out of fashion - it lost street cred -
and other essential body parts in the 18th century). The popularity of
silk made a comeback under Napoleon and then suffered a further eclipse when far
east silks became available plus modern artificial fibres. Among its
famous sons Lyon claims A-M Ampere (electro-magnetism), Jacquard (of
silk-weaving), the Lumiere brothers (inventors of the cinematograph) and the
world-famous chef, Paul Bocuse.
On Wednesday morning we waved goodbye to Peter and
Ella who caught the train back to St Jean-de-Losne to recover their car and
continue theri exploration of the Jura region. Although the rain
threatened, it did not appear and Ron and Elizbeth explored more of Lyon
courtesy of an open-topped bus tour and witnessed many 'animations' provided by
students from the large medical schools in Lyon. Activities seemed to be
based on dressing up as chickens, or one sort or another, and jumping in one of
the many fountains around town. We also (re)discovered the wonderful
trompe d'oeil wall decorations which depict all the famous people who have been
associated with the city through the years.
  On Thursday the rains returned and we decided to
remain here for a further day and catch up on domestic chores.
When we restart our journey, we join the Rhone as
we leave Lyon and then experience our first Rhone lock, with a drop of 9
metres. Further south there is one with a drop of 20 metres but we
are assured they all have floating bollards which make it very
easy. We will enter the Rhone wine region at Condrieu and then onto
the home of North Rhone wines at Tain l'Hermitage. We will then
visit Valence, Chateauneuf du Pape and Avignon. We have booked a winter
berth at Port Napoleon, part of Port St Louis at the mouth of the Rhone.
We expect to arrive there about the first week of October and leave Eliza B on
the hard for the winter and return home by mid-October. We have requested
that the mast is shipped by road from Le Havre so it can be reunited with the
boat when we arrive. Depending upon the amount of work to be done before
relaunching in April, it seems likely that we will be travelling down with tins
of anti-foul during February or March.
A bientot, Ron & Elizabeth.
Ron & Elizabeth HOWARD
Eliza B, Moody 36
+ 44 7768 816 579
+ 33 (0)6 11 66 79 08
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