New Plans

We were on the move today, bright and early, cold to start off but warmed up quickly.  We only travelled 18kms but that included 19 locks.  

One lock leads into another with just a a couple of hundred metres between them

Eish, lots of work.  And 4 of them had problems, either the gates didn't open, or didn't close, or the water didn't flow out, so we had to call for a lock keeper to come and reset switches or whatever in the electricity box.  These are automatic locks with no lock keeper on site.  

Some of the locks, the deep ones, have floating bollards

Fine when it all goes right, but sometimes it doesn't and it takes 10 or 15 mins for the lockie to arrive.  

A camouflage house.  Took us a while to notice it

This area was, traditionally, a producer of ceramics and many houses showed off their wares

We are the white dot all the way in the distance and this is a rental boat starting off on their first day.  I was watching from a bridge hoping they would steer straight, and they did.

We felt a lot better today after rearranging all our plans yet again.  

Plan D, I think, I have lost count

Now we are planning to go up the Saone, as before, but turn NW onto the Champagne Saone Canal, go up to the summit, through a tunnel, down to the Marne valley, turn right onto the Marne Rhine Canal, up to the summit, through a tunnel, then down to the Meuse valley, and north as planned before but heading for Roermond in the Netherlands.  We will have to do some research on marinas where we can leave the boat.   So, happy and smiley again until we get another "avis" about a stoppage on our route.  Not counting my chickens.....