Moret-sur-Loing to Melun

Funny old day today.  A bit frustrating and disappointing.
The day started really foggy but by the time we set off at 8.30 the fog had lifted but resulted in misty grey day.
We intended going only 13 kms to Samois-sur-Seine, but things don't always work out as planned. 
At the first lock we had to wait while 3 barges going upstream were processed through, then we entered, tied up and waited for about 15 minutes for a commercial barge also going downstream. That is just a fact of life on the canals, no complaints.  

The locks on the Seine are enormous, 180m x 16m.  The peniche which we waited for is dwarfed by the lock

A busy river: Elle, a peniche and big bugger

More traffic: Elle, a peniche ahead of her and big barge going in the opposite direction

A chateau

An even bigger bugger

More grand houses

Such a pity the visibility was so poor

Approaching the quay at Samois

Approaching the quay at Samois we were delighted to see a space big enough for our two boats.  A very efficient Madame Capitaine took our lines and asked how long we would be staying. 2 nights we said and she explained that if we need water we must tell her because there is some maintenance work going on and the water is shut off.  No sooner had she disappeared when a jack-hammer started up right next to Elle with copious plumes of dust blowing their way.  After a 30 second consultation we decided this was not a good place to be and we left.  Such a pity, it looks like a lovely little place, it has a good quay and is off the main canal with all the water traffic.

We passed a few more grandiose houses:

Out next planned stop was Melun, just 17 kms and 1 lock downstream. We had made a note of this quay when we came upstream a couple of weeks ago.  It is a small pleasure boat quay with water and electricity.  So here we stopped.  

It costs €7 per night for boats under 10m, including water and electricity (€12 for over 10 meters).  It is next to a modern block of what looks like offices and turns our to be the Archives of Melun so there is very little passing foot traffic. But there is a lot of commercial traffic on the Seine and some of them come through really fast so we bounce around quite a bit.
We have paid for 2 nights but we are only booked at the Arsenal in Paris from the 29th.  We are not quite sure where to go to from here for remaining 3 nights.  There are not a lot of options for pleasure boats on the mighty commercial Seine river, as we noticed on our way upstream.  If it works out Ok we will spend another night or two here.  Time will tell.